Over the years, I have heard technicians say that refrigerant can wear out or “lose its blend” by sitting in a tank. Refrigerant does not wear out or “lose its blend”… at least not like that. What can and does happen is called “fractionation.” Refrigerant blends are composed of a mix of refrigerants with different […]

Before we convert temperature scales, let's take a step back and think about what temperature is in the first place. Temperature is proportional to the average kinetic energy of the random microscopic motions of the constituent microscopic particles, such as electrons, atoms, and molecules. Translation: Temperature is the average “movement energy” of the molecules in […]

I got in one of these tiny torches the other day to experiment with brazing aluminum in tight spots, and one of the techs walked in and asked, “What type of torch is that?” I answered, “It's oxy/acetylene.” He picked it up and looked at it a bit, then asked, “Does that get hot enough […]