What does this most likely mean?
Recovery techniques · EPA 608 Type I. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Identifying refrigerants, access valves, passive recovery and solderless fittings.
The question
A recovery cylinder of R-134a has sat at 75 °F for several hours. Its pressure is well above the chart pressure for R-134a at 75 °F. What does this most likely mean?
- The cylinder is nearly empty of liquid refrigerant
- The refrigerant is subcooled
- The gauge is reading in inches of vacuum
- Noncondensables such as air are in the cylinderCorrect answer
Why “Noncondensables such as air are in the cylinder” is correct
A pure refrigerant with liquid present sits at its saturation pressure for its temperature. Air and other noncondensables add their own pressure, so a reading well above the chart value points to contamination.
Source: EPA: Test Topics
Why the other answers are wrong
- The cylinder is nearly empty of liquid refrigerant — A cylinder with little liquid reads at or below saturation pressure, not above it.
- The refrigerant is subcooled — Subcooled liquid would not raise the pressure above the saturation value.
- The gauge is reading in inches of vacuum — A vacuum reading would be below atmospheric, not above the chart value.
Practice more of this
More EPA 608 Type I practice questions, or see every EPA 608 practice test.
Unofficial, not affiliated with the EPA or any EPA-approved certifying organization. Questions are original practice written from public EPA material, not real exam questions.