Local contamination scare

The counterfeit refrigerant problem that continues to spread across the globe has reached Australian shores, with Heatcraft announcing a product safety recall.

The recall was issued in April by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

It followed the discovery of units charged with counterfeit refrigerant, specifically medium-temperature applications sold between September 2011 and April 2012.

Serial numbers and details of the models affected were listed on the ACCC website with strict instructions on how to return the units and minimise risk during the swap.

Despite the seriousness of the issue, Heatcraft’s diligent safety processes ensured the problem was immediately contained and rectified.

Heatcraft has a warranty department in Sydney’s south-west which is dedicated to investigating failures.

The contamination was found in one distinct batch and as the receivers were account customers, Heatcraft could easily identify and locate those affected.

Heatcraft’s global technical manager, Kevin Lee, said it affected 187 units, 180 in Australia and seven in New Zealand. Lee said all units have been taken out of circulation.

“Customers were a mix of supermarkets, mining camps and farming stations and fortunately the volumes discovered were low,” Lee said.

The problem began in China when the factory purchased 134a from the same supplier it had been using for the past three years.

“But tests showed there was no 134a in it at all,” Lee said.

It was actually made up of R22, R143b and R40 (methyl chloride), which was used back in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Production of the units actually began in August last year but after shipping and being in the warehouse for a period of time we didn’t start selling the affected units until November, 2011,” Lee said.

“In February 2012, two compressors failed so we sent them off to our Milperra facility for investigation. Luckily we have good safety processes in place to quickly identify problems and get them rectified.

“There were two more failures in March and as part of the investigation we pulled the compressors apart; the aluminium rods were so corroded they broke.”

Lee said it wasn’t difficult to realise what had occurred when they put all the pieces together.

“The units were manufactured in China and we remembered an email that had been sent out in December last year warning about 134 contamination,” he said.

Heatcraft has been able to contain this problem and resolve it quickly, but a much bigger concern is the discovery of R40 turning up in the general refrigerant reclaim circuit.

As a precaution it was decided to check the contents of reclaim cylinders returned to Refrigerant Reclaim Australia, only to find traces of R40 among the cocktail mix in cylinders.

Lee said this is far more serious because the contaminated units cannot be located.

As a result, industry representatives met with the federal government’s ozone and synthetic gas team director, Patrick McInerney, to coordinate a response.

Lee said testing is underway to locate what other contamination is out there.

“All local refrigerant is tested and clean so it is pre-charged equipment and imports that are a real concern,” he said.

“With refrigerant becoming so valuable the potential for this problem widening is magnified.”

Following the meeting held with McInerney, industry expects the government will issue a communique to importers and technicians in late May.