Friday, November 1, 2013
What Are the Blue Red Valves on a Refrigerant Recovery Tank
Standard refrigerant recovery tanks come equipped with both red and blue valves located at the top of the tank. The colors designate the different forms of refrigerant they recover.
Red Valve
The red valve is a vapor valve used to recover refrigerant in a vapor state. Vapor recovery takes more time than recovery of liquid refrigerant. Care should be taken when recovering refrigerant in vapor state as it is under pressure and combustible.
Blue Valve
The blue valve is designated as a liquid valve used to recover liquid refrigerant. Removal of liquid refrigerant is a faster process than removal of vapor refrigerant, but the user may be exposed to additional hazards. Care must be taken in recovering liquid refrigerant as there is potential for frostbite if the refrigerant comes in contact with skin. Eye injury is possible in the event of a refrigerant splash.
Safety Tips
Users should be licensed to handle refrigerant. Safety gear such as protective eye wear and protective gloves should be used. Always refer to the manufacturers instructions before attempting to operate any machinery.
If anyone could please cite the standard that designates blue for liquid ports and red for vapor ports, I would very much appreciate it. I agree that this is, and always has been, the case, but recently acquired a valve assembly (new) with the opposite designation. I regard this as a production defect, but the manufacturer assures me that red designates liquid and blue designates vapor. I refuse to connect my red hose to the blue valve, and vice-versa.
ReplyDeleteRed has the dip tube. This valve is used ONLY to distribute liquid, the blue valve is to receive liquid,(less restricted, no dip tube) and distribute gas.
ReplyDelete