Refrigerant Courses & Questions

Disposal of Refrigerants

The Wholesalers of refrigerants have a national program that will dispose of all refrigerants collected from ELVs.

R12 cannot be reused and must be disposed by the Wholesalers.

HFC134a can be reused by shops as long as it is not contaminated with propane.  You can get a “sniffer” to test for propane in the refrigeration unit.   Lordco has some different brands of “sniffers”.  The White brand is the best brand and it costs approximately $350.

If you want the Wholesalers to dispose of your refrigerant, go to Their website and go to the very bottom of the page, select the closest city and find the wholesaler nearest you.

Note that the only cost of disposal is the shipping costs back to Ontario – that’s about $80 in BC. 

I get asked occasionally about where to get  the”sniffer” for refrigerants.  Ben’s Towing in Salmon Arm uses a Robinair 16009.  Ben says it works well and costs about $300.  I am sure there are other models but I thought I would forward the website to you www.Robinair.com

In speaking with Ben, about 50% of the HFC134a is contaminated.  This was a high percentage.  Refrigerant businesses will use your HFC134a if the HFC134a is not contaminated.  The contaminated HFC134a will need be be disposed of at a Refrigerant Wholesaler.

Remember that the R12 cannot be reused and must be disposed of at a Refrigerant Wholesaler.  To find the wholesaler nearest you go to www.hrai.ca

 Ben also designed and built a mobile refrigerant stand for the bottles, evaculator and sniffer.  Ben will forward me some pictures.  Contact Ben directly if you are interested in having Ben build you a slick refrigerant stand.   

Refrigerant Courses

To remove refrigerants from End-Of-Life vehicles, the person must have completed an Environmental Awarness Course and obtain an Interprovincial Certificate issued by the HRAI (Heating, Refrigerant and Air Conditioning Institute).  In addition, the person must have a valid mechanic certificate or had one-year of experience in dismantling vehicles.

The following Colleges offer the one day course.

BCIT – Automotive

Shirley Butler

604-432-8205

BCIT – HVAC

Nancy Naylor 

604-456-8027

College of the Rockies

 

Cynthia Touzin

250-489-2751 ext 3337

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Cathy Anderson

604-598-6103

North Island College

 

Cindy Adams

250-923-9750

JARTS - Joint Apprentice Refrigeration Training School Ltd.

Nancy Naylor 

604-456-8027

Northern Lights College - Fort St. John

Karen Mitchell

250-787-6211

Northwest Community College

Tom Logan

250-635-6511 ext 5289

Okanagan College

 

Nancy Ankerstein

250-762-5445 ext 4424

Selkirk College

Andy Gullen

250-352-6601

Thompson Rivers University

Heather Hamilton

250-371-5658

University College of Fraser Valley

Bernie Duncan

604-504-7441 ext 4354

Vancouver Community College

Vancouver Island University - Nanaimo

Shannon Cesari

250-740-6134

Certificates

 Upon successful completion, participants receive an HRAI/Environment Canada/B.C. Environment Certificate in CFC/HCFC/HFC Controls, and a certificate number for refrigerant handling as required under current BC regulations.

The BCIT Course is a one day course offered once a month on Saturdays.  The cost is $175.  Go to http://www.bcit.ca/study/courses/hvac0145 for more information or registration.

The Okanagan College course is also a one-day course and an online (internet) course.  The one-day couse is offered periodically with no set schedule.  Contact Colin@area-bc.ca to register with this course.   The internet course can be completed at any time.  Go to Online Course to register for the online course. 

1-888-638-0058 if you have any problems with the online registration instructions below.

On the Okanagan College online registration form, select the appropriate time in the TERM section (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter).  Then select the Kelowna in the CAMPUS section.  Then select Trades and Apprenticeship in the CATEGORY section.  Then hit SEARCH.

The couse number is CON 022.

The cost of the online course is $150.

The Course Outline is CFC/HCFC/HFC Control in the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Training

A 1-day environmental awareness training course program based on Environment Canada’s “Code of Practice for Reducing CFC Emissions in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems”. The course and the accompanying Participant Manual deal with environmentally-correct equipment design, proper handling of CFC/HCFC/HFCs, and will prepare participants for complying with provincial regulations covering refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Participants who attend the course and successfully achieve a mark of 75% or higher on the exam will receive certification in the form on an Ozone Depletion Prevention (ODP) card (Ontario only) or an Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) card (all other provinces). HRAI will conduct on-site training for this 1-day environmental awareness training course.

This course is suitable for residential, commercial, industrial, domestic, automotive and mobile applications. Specific topics covered are: CFCs and the ozone layer, isolation valving, recommended components, leak detection methods, system charging procedures, special maintenance provisions, and refrigerant recovery, reuse, recycle and reclamation equipment.

The course includes:

  • CFCs and the Ozone Layer
    • Global Efforts to Reduce CFC/HCFC/HFC Emissions
    • The Significance of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry
  • The Code of Practice
    • Minimizing Emissions
    • Recommended Standard Practices
    • Commercial/Industrial Systems
    • Residential Systems
    • Domestic Appliances
    • Mobile Systems
  • Summary of Current Federal Regulations on CFC’s and Halons
  • Recovering, Reusing, Recycling, and Reclaiming Techniques
  • Provincial Regulations
  • Supplementary Information for the Recommended Standard Practices

This course is strictly theory and does not incorporate hands-on training.