609 ESCO QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT
ANSWERS
Who Must Be Certified? Any person that services Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning (MVAC) must
be certified. Servicing of motor vehicle air conditioning includes repairs, leak testing, and
"topping off" of air conditioning systems low on refrigerant, as well as any other repair to the
vehicle that requires dismantling any part of the air conditioner. NOTE: Service performed on
HCFC-22 air conditioner systems typically found on busses, is NOT covered under section 609,
but rather section 608 of the Clean Air Act. Technician certification IS required under section
608. For more information on Section 608 certification, contact The ESCO Institute at (800) 726-
9696. Test Format The certification test contains 50 multiple-choice questions. All of the
information necessary for the technician to achieve a passing score on the certification test is
contained within this manual. The certification test will contain a variety of qu - CORRECT
ANSWER -frist page
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion During the last 100 years, refrigerants such as; CFCs, HCFCs,
HFCs, and HFOs have dramatically changed our lifestyles. Little did we know that the use and
release of these compounds into the atmosphere would have devastating effects on the Earth's
environment. One of these effects is far removed from the Earth's surface, in the Stratosphere.
Located between 7 and 30 miles above the Earth's surface, the Stratosphere contains the Ozone
layer. The Ozone layer is the earth's security blanket. The Ozone layer serves two important
functions. Ozone protects us from harmful Ultra Violet Radiation and helps to maintain stable
Earth temperatures. Depletion of Ozone in the Stratosphere causes: Increased eye disease Skin
cancer Crop loss Deforestation Reduced marine life Increased ground level ozone An Ozone
molecule consists of three oxygen atoms (O3). When CFC's are released into the atmosphere, t -
CORRECT ANSWER -2nd page
Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement (treaty) regulating the
production and use of CFC's, HCFC's, halons, methyl chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride
entered into force in mid 1989. This landmark agreement initially called for a production and
consumption freeze. It currently calls for a stepwise reduction and eventual production phase
out of various ozone depleting substances. The production phase-out of CFC's was completed
on December 31, 1995. At present, HFC-134a is used by most new car manufacturers as a
replacement for CFC-12 and older vehicles may be converted to use HFC-134a by following
, proper cretrofit cprocedures. cAlthough cHFC-134a cis cconsidered cozone cfriendly, cit cis cnot
cwithout cenvironmental cimpact. cIt chas cbeen cfound cto cbe ca cgreenhouse cgas cand ccontributes
cto cthe cproblems cof cglobal cwarming. cEffective cNovember c15, c1995, cHFC-134a cmust cbe
crecovered.
Penalty cSection c609 cof cthe cFe c- cCORRECT cANSWER c-page c3
Recover/recycle cequipment cmust cbe ccertified cby can cEPA capproved cindependent cstandards
cte csting corganization, ci.e. cUL cor cETL, cto cextract cand crecycle crefrigerant cfrom ca cmotor
cvehicle cair cconditioner cto ca cstandard cset cforth cby cthe cSociety cof cAutomotive cEngineers
c(SAE). cThe cequi cpment c standards c were c SAE c J1990 c for c CFC-12 c and c SAE c J2210 c for
c HFC-
134a. c A c motor c vehicle c air c conditioning c industry c sponsored c research c project
c indicated c that c e cquipment c designed c to c meet c SAE c standards c J2210 c did c not c recover
c refrigerant c from c MVAC c sys ctems c as c well c as c was c previously c assumed. c As c much c as
c 30% c of c refrigerant c remained c in c an c M cVAC c system c when c J2210 c recovery
c equipment c indicated c all c refrigerant c had c been c recovered.
MVAC cservice ctechnicians crely con ccomplete crefrigerant crecovery cto crefill cMVAC csystems
cacco crding cto cthe cmotor cvehicle cmanufacturer cspecification. cIn clight cof csubstandard
crecovery cperf cormance, c SAE c revised c their c standards c to c include c performance c -
c CORRECT c ANSWER c -page c 4
Contaminated crefrigerants cmust cbe chandled cwith csome cextra cprecautions. cIf cyou care
cunsure cabout c a c refrigerant, c EPA c strongly c recommends c (but c does c not c require) c that
c technicians c obtai cn ca crefrigerant cidentifier cas ca cuseful ctool. cWhen ca ctechnician
cencounters ca c"mystery" crefrige c rant, c it c must c be c recovered c using c a c piece c of
c equipment c dedicated c to c this c purpose. c Unapprov ced crefrigerants cmay ccontain ca chigh
cpercentage cof cflammable csubstances, csuch cas cpropane cor cbutane, c and c a c fire c hazard
c may c result. c Check c with c your c equipment c manufacturer c to c be c sure cthe cequipment
chas cprotection cagainst crisks cof cignition. cOnce cthe crefrigerant chas cbeen crecov cered, cit
cmust cbe cproperly cstored cand/or csent cto ca creclamation cfacility cto cbe creclaimed cor cde
cstroyed. c Refrigerants c From c Non-Mobile c Sources c Refrigerant c recovered c from c non-
mobile csources, csuch cas cresidential cor ccommercial cair cconditioners cor crefrigeration
csystems cmay c not c be c used c in c MVAC c systems c or c reco c - c CORRECT c ANSWER c -
page c 5
HFO-1234yf c The c Hydro c Fluoro c Olefin c Refrigerant c HFO-
1234yf c was c developed c through c a c joint c project c between c Chemours c (Formally c DuPont)
c and c H coneywell. c HFO-
ANSWERS
Who Must Be Certified? Any person that services Motor Vehicle Air Conditioning (MVAC) must
be certified. Servicing of motor vehicle air conditioning includes repairs, leak testing, and
"topping off" of air conditioning systems low on refrigerant, as well as any other repair to the
vehicle that requires dismantling any part of the air conditioner. NOTE: Service performed on
HCFC-22 air conditioner systems typically found on busses, is NOT covered under section 609,
but rather section 608 of the Clean Air Act. Technician certification IS required under section
608. For more information on Section 608 certification, contact The ESCO Institute at (800) 726-
9696. Test Format The certification test contains 50 multiple-choice questions. All of the
information necessary for the technician to achieve a passing score on the certification test is
contained within this manual. The certification test will contain a variety of qu - CORRECT
ANSWER -frist page
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion During the last 100 years, refrigerants such as; CFCs, HCFCs,
HFCs, and HFOs have dramatically changed our lifestyles. Little did we know that the use and
release of these compounds into the atmosphere would have devastating effects on the Earth's
environment. One of these effects is far removed from the Earth's surface, in the Stratosphere.
Located between 7 and 30 miles above the Earth's surface, the Stratosphere contains the Ozone
layer. The Ozone layer is the earth's security blanket. The Ozone layer serves two important
functions. Ozone protects us from harmful Ultra Violet Radiation and helps to maintain stable
Earth temperatures. Depletion of Ozone in the Stratosphere causes: Increased eye disease Skin
cancer Crop loss Deforestation Reduced marine life Increased ground level ozone An Ozone
molecule consists of three oxygen atoms (O3). When CFC's are released into the atmosphere, t -
CORRECT ANSWER -2nd page
Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement (treaty) regulating the
production and use of CFC's, HCFC's, halons, methyl chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride
entered into force in mid 1989. This landmark agreement initially called for a production and
consumption freeze. It currently calls for a stepwise reduction and eventual production phase
out of various ozone depleting substances. The production phase-out of CFC's was completed
on December 31, 1995. At present, HFC-134a is used by most new car manufacturers as a
replacement for CFC-12 and older vehicles may be converted to use HFC-134a by following
, proper cretrofit cprocedures. cAlthough cHFC-134a cis cconsidered cozone cfriendly, cit cis cnot
cwithout cenvironmental cimpact. cIt chas cbeen cfound cto cbe ca cgreenhouse cgas cand ccontributes
cto cthe cproblems cof cglobal cwarming. cEffective cNovember c15, c1995, cHFC-134a cmust cbe
crecovered.
Penalty cSection c609 cof cthe cFe c- cCORRECT cANSWER c-page c3
Recover/recycle cequipment cmust cbe ccertified cby can cEPA capproved cindependent cstandards
cte csting corganization, ci.e. cUL cor cETL, cto cextract cand crecycle crefrigerant cfrom ca cmotor
cvehicle cair cconditioner cto ca cstandard cset cforth cby cthe cSociety cof cAutomotive cEngineers
c(SAE). cThe cequi cpment c standards c were c SAE c J1990 c for c CFC-12 c and c SAE c J2210 c for
c HFC-
134a. c A c motor c vehicle c air c conditioning c industry c sponsored c research c project
c indicated c that c e cquipment c designed c to c meet c SAE c standards c J2210 c did c not c recover
c refrigerant c from c MVAC c sys ctems c as c well c as c was c previously c assumed. c As c much c as
c 30% c of c refrigerant c remained c in c an c M cVAC c system c when c J2210 c recovery
c equipment c indicated c all c refrigerant c had c been c recovered.
MVAC cservice ctechnicians crely con ccomplete crefrigerant crecovery cto crefill cMVAC csystems
cacco crding cto cthe cmotor cvehicle cmanufacturer cspecification. cIn clight cof csubstandard
crecovery cperf cormance, c SAE c revised c their c standards c to c include c performance c -
c CORRECT c ANSWER c -page c 4
Contaminated crefrigerants cmust cbe chandled cwith csome cextra cprecautions. cIf cyou care
cunsure cabout c a c refrigerant, c EPA c strongly c recommends c (but c does c not c require) c that
c technicians c obtai cn ca crefrigerant cidentifier cas ca cuseful ctool. cWhen ca ctechnician
cencounters ca c"mystery" crefrige c rant, c it c must c be c recovered c using c a c piece c of
c equipment c dedicated c to c this c purpose. c Unapprov ced crefrigerants cmay ccontain ca chigh
cpercentage cof cflammable csubstances, csuch cas cpropane cor cbutane, c and c a c fire c hazard
c may c result. c Check c with c your c equipment c manufacturer c to c be c sure cthe cequipment
chas cprotection cagainst crisks cof cignition. cOnce cthe crefrigerant chas cbeen crecov cered, cit
cmust cbe cproperly cstored cand/or csent cto ca creclamation cfacility cto cbe creclaimed cor cde
cstroyed. c Refrigerants c From c Non-Mobile c Sources c Refrigerant c recovered c from c non-
mobile csources, csuch cas cresidential cor ccommercial cair cconditioners cor crefrigeration
csystems cmay c not c be c used c in c MVAC c systems c or c reco c - c CORRECT c ANSWER c -
page c 5
HFO-1234yf c The c Hydro c Fluoro c Olefin c Refrigerant c HFO-
1234yf c was c developed c through c a c joint c project c between c Chemours c (Formally c DuPont)
c and c H coneywell. c HFO-
