How will the low temperature affect the job?
Recovery techniques · EPA 608 Core. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Keeping refrigerants unmixed and what affects recovery speed.
The question
A technician must recover R-22 from a rooftop unit on a cold winter morning. How will the low temperature affect the job?
- Faster, because the cold refrigerant is denser
- The recovery machine cannot run below 50 °F
- No change; temperature does not affect recovery
- Slower, because refrigerant pressure is lowerCorrect answer
Why “Slower, because refrigerant pressure is lower” is correct
Refrigerant pressure falls as temperature falls. In cold weather the pressure pushing refrigerant out of the system is lower, so recovery takes longer. Warm ambient conditions speed recovery.
Source: EPA: Test Topics
Why the other answers are wrong
- Faster, because the cold refrigerant is denser — Lower pressure, not density, governs how fast vapor moves; cold slows recovery.
- The recovery machine cannot run below 50 °F — There is no general rule that machines cannot run below 50 °F; follow the maker's limits.
- No change; temperature does not affect recovery — Ambient temperature is one of the main factors in recovery speed.
Practice more of this
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