Buying R14 In the USA or alternatives

[[XC] gomeler]

AirGas and praxair have gone into acquisition mode for R14/CF4. There is a global shortage of CF4 and they are having trouble fulfilling their contracts and not releasing supplies to small orders. Does anyone know of another supplier besides Matheson Tri-Gas that can ship refrigerants? Otherwise would it be possible to create an R1150/R50 blend with a similar effective boiling point to R14? R50/R1150 are much lighter gases than R14 so would I need a larger volume of said mixture to achieve similar results to R14?

[n00b 0f l337]

I hear ya, problem also is Refron is now gone as well :(
I think small quantities might be impossible, maybe consider a subcooler and r50 with r1150 ?

[[XC] gomeler]

Time to get a quote on R50 I suppose. Will have to talk to the owner of the cascade, don't fancy re-piping anything but I don't think a straight charge of R1150 with a bit of R50 will work without crazy discharge pressures.

[PhilippF]

Just what Google turned up:

http://specialtygasesofamerica.com/tetrafluoromethane.htm

http://www.electronicfluorocarbons.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=40



Perhaps you drop them a mail?

Regards,

Philipp

[chilly1]

gomeler;3271800']AirGas and praxair have gone into acquisition mode for R14/CF4. There is a global shortage of CF4 and they are having trouble fulfilling their contracts and not releasing supplies to small orders. Does anyone know of another supplier besides Matheson Tri-Gas that can ship refrigerants? Otherwise would it be possible to create an R1150/R50 blend with a similar effective boiling point to R14? R50/R1150 are much lighter gases than R14 so would I need a larger volume of said mixture to achieve similar results to R14?

How much do you need? I got R116 and R14

[[XC] gomeler]

Need enough for 1, maybe 2 cascades. Call it 2/3 to 1 pound?

[chilly1]

gomeler;3279020']Need enough for 1, maybe 2 cascades. Call it 2/3 to 1 pound?
Well better to tell me how large a volume you have inside your fourth stage, you will want to get to no more than 200 psi at room temp maybe a few ounces. DO you have the system planned out? doing multple compressor or interstage autocascade with two compressors???

[[XC] gomeler]

It isn't a system I built. It's the 3 stage cascade that NoL built that has since leaked out all it's 2nd and 3rd stage charges. Reason why I want ~1 pound is that it's typically the minimum purchase from the likes of AirGas and I might as well have extra for another 3-stage system.

edit: as for the volume needed, no clue as it's still insulated and I haven't had a chance to look at it myself yet.

[sacha35]

Looking at this post I would be very interested in seeing also if R50 could be mixed with R1150, as you know I tried the R14 route only to have loads of problems with blocking cap tubes ect, it seems as if this R14 refrigerant turns thicker as it gets colder, I know this sounds silly but I have changed the oil in the oil sep and compressor with recommended oil shortened cap tube and triple evacuation down to 60 microns, the system runs fine until it gets down to around -100c then the problems start, it will drop down to -140 but that is it, then the temperature will just start to increase as if the cap tube is blocked and goes into deep vacuum.

Running the system on R1150 is no problem at all even though it runs at -110c, it is as if the R14 refrigerant just does not want to flow when it hits -100c.

R1150 plus another refrigerant that will drop temps to around the -120 to -130c and will be able to hold loads imposed on it without too high pressure increase I would also like to hear about this due to the problems I have had.