CFC Gases

[admin]

How do we know when our fridge is emitting CFC gases? We have a small crack in the insulation – is this dangerous?

[Dave_Conway]

Re: CFC Gases

How old is the unit ?

It’s very unlikely that any harmful gas is escaping. 99{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the CFC’s will be or were (dependant on age) in the actual cooling system rather than the insulation itelf, which only contains tiny pockets (if any) left behind after manufacture.

Please don’t worry, there’s a vast amount of refrigeration out there with cracked and/or damaged insulation.

Dave.

[admin]

Re: CFC Gases

:DHi Dave
Thank you so much for reassuring me. I was very worried but now I know I dont have to buy a new fridge .

[admin]

Re: CFC Gases

in a single unit the cfc propellent used to make the cabinet is insignificant to the problem of global warming. There is no danger from a small crack in the surface insulation at all. The real problem lies not with fridges and the cfc’s either in the insulation or within the gas used as a refrigerant…no the real problem is called America which spews out over 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of worlds total harmful waste which damages the ozone layer.
The whole issue of recovering cfc is made a mockery, by America, although that does not excuse us from trying to help. In reality we make no difference, all the legislation and time and effort of engineers all over the uk counts for Zip.

kevin

[kwatt]

Point of technical note that is probably not at all that important, the CFC used in the production of the insulating foam actually exceeds the charge of gas in the fridge by a considerable margin. Then, if you want to go down the environmentalist route, there is the actual production effects on the environment which are far more harmful than the chemicals actually in the appliance. Then to cap that there’s the huge disposal issue as the waste is still, to my knowledge, an ongoing problem with refrigeration.

This is why, even under warranty, if we exchange a door (foamed) we are not legally allowed to pick it up as it is, in the eyes of the law, hazardous waste product I think.

Woz could probably elaborate further on the actual legalities involved.

However, with all that said Kevin is quite right, the quantity of harmful chemicals or CFC’s in any refrigeration unit is pretty much insignificant in the grand scheme of things and the legislation surrounding it pretty much a typical political knee-jerk reaction. After all politicians have to be seen to be doing something. 😉

This is something that many, many customers don’t give a fig about when buying a product, it’s only a white box that sits in the corner churning away, the price of it is far more relevant to most customers.

But to answer the original question, no there’s no danger at all from the crack in the liner and any escape of CFC from it woudl be so minute it would be almost inperceptable.

K.

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