Refrigerant analyzers can be expensive, so you can get a rough idea of what kind of refrigerant you have by using the Testo digital manifolds and seeing which refrigerant the PT data match up with. Using this method, you can prevent refrigerant mixing in recovery tanks, which helps the refrigerant retain its value.

Bryan connects the suction side to the vapor side of the tank and purges the line as he opens it. The Testo instrument is set for R-22, and the refrigerant is at around 72 degrees Fahrenheit according to the app and the probes (905i). However, the saturation temperature doesn’t match the Testo instrument, so we can conclude that we DON’T have R-22 in the tank.

We can scroll through refrigerants until we find a match. As we scroll through the refrigerants, we realize that R-410A’s saturation temperature is closest to our saturation temperature and pressure.

Although there is a bit of a tolerance, you have to be careful using this method on a system. On an active system, you wouldn’t have the temperature consistency that you’d have in a tank.

Testo: https://www.testo.com/en/