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Just 'topping up' refrigerant levels
Page 19
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would be a gno-no under EU rules IN A RECENT issue of CM, there was an article called 'Hot savings, cool runnings' (CM 12 March) which featured a statement made by myself.
What concerns me, however, is the copy in the paragraph immediately following my statement. It says that "...refrigerant levels have to be topped up from time to time': This is a hugely sensitive issue in the temperature control industry because due to the potential environmental impact of their escape, the act of 'topping up' refrigerants is an illegal practice outlawed under Article 17 of EC Regulation 2037/2000 and the Fluorinated Gases Regulations.
When a service engineer attends a breakdown for a unit that has failed due to low refrigerant, there are, in a great many instances, huge amounts of pressure exerted by the operator on the engineer to 'top up' the gas if the source of the leak can't be found and fixed in order to stop produce spoiling. This becomes especially sensitive if the leak is suspected to be in the cargo area of a vehicle or trailer in a loaded state because you then face the added inconvenience of having to remove the loaded produce in order to access the refrigeration equipment.
To simply 'top up' the gas in these situations without rectifying the source of the leak would contravene statute and could have significant ramifications not only for Carrier Transicold and our repairing agent, but also for the operator themselves.
Carrier Transicold will not under any circumstances top up refrigerant without identifying and repairing the source of the escape. This is rigorously enforced and there are no exceptions.
in support of this. all Carrier Ttansicold's service engineers are qualified to City & Guilds 2078 Level in Refrigerant Handling and carry an ID card that confirms this qualification and summarises our approach to top ups and compliance with EC reg 2037/2000.
It is not my intention to be critical of the article. I feel CM is providing readers with some excellent information and valuable industry tips which will help their operation, but, as the market leader in the transport refrigeration sector, I feel it is the duty of Carrier Transicold to clarify this key point. Scott Dargan
Operations director Carrier Transicold UK