leaking of refrigerant into tank

[reefpix]

Has anyone experienced a chiller's heat exchanger fail and leak refrigerant into the water (it would be gas R134A in my case).

Ive just sent my chiller away for warranty repair and it was regassed for testing and appears to have a gas leak somewhere
.
Around a month after the chiller failure i had some retraction of one of my soft corals and some rapid tissue narcosis on 3 of my sps's. None of my LPS's were effected (50% of my corals are LPS).

This was not caused by a temperature problem as it was a time of the year where the chiller doesnt run too often.

Its only a thought of mine but if the chiller was to have a gas leak in the heat exchanger could this gas have caused the coral problems? I cant really say that anything else in my water paramaters had changed at the time. I know there's only a tiny amount of this gas in the average chiller but i know nothing about it or what effects it would have if it leaked (or should i say gassed) in my water.

 

[o.c.d.]

My wife runs a refrigeration repair company and I just got of the phone with a refrigeration tech who works for her, he said if the heat exchanger cracked potential metal leaching depending on what the unit is made from (stainless or other) now he said yes the R134A is a gas but also has oil in it Alkalin benzine (my spelling unsure). He's not a reefer but he said not good for the fishes. I may be able to get more of a break down of the actual components that make up R134A. Just a very busy person hope this helps

 

[wingmans10]

X2 on the alkabenzine oil. I would recomend water changes, run carbon , and make sure your skimmer is running good and could be a good idea to skim wet.

 

[tynmissy]

just stop in at any hvac company you drive by and ask to photocopy the MSDS(material safety data sheet) for 134A. that will give all the info plus some on the hazards of any component in that particular chemical

ty

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, the risks are very low. Carbon will bind any oil, but I doubt too much leaked, and I doubt it is very toxic to begin with.

here's a quote from the FDA on general tox issues (obviously not reef tanks):

http://epa.gov/Ozone/title6/609/technicians/retrguid.html

R-134a Refrigerant
Toxicity, Flammability, Corrosion
R-134a is regarded as one of the safest refrigerants yet introduced, based on current toxicity data. The chemical industry's Program for Alternative Fluorocarbon Toxicity Testing (PAFTT) tested R-134a in a full battery of laboratory animal toxicity studies. The results indicate that R-134a does not pose cancer or birth defects hazard. In addition, R-134a is being used in metered dose inhalers in Europe.

OEM engineers and chemical manufacturers have examined the flammability and corrosivity of each potential R-12 substitute. Like CFC-12, R-134a is not flammable at ambient temperatures and atmospheric pressures. However, R-134a service equipment and vehicle a/c systems should not be pressure tested or leak tested with compressed air. Some mixtures of air and R-134a have been shown to be combustible at elevated pressures. These mixtures may be potentially dangerous, causing injury or property damage. R-134a is not corrosive on standard steel, aluminum and copper samples.

When handling R-134a, as with any other chemical, service techs should be sure to work in a well ventilated area. It is never a good idea to inhale any vapor to such an extent that it replaces the oxygen in your lungs.

 

[TIMMYE]

I agree mostly wit what has been said. One other thing that could be helpfull is runing a air/O2 pump since any Refrigerant can deplete O2. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[ordy1]

I work in the HVAC field and with R134A.

If you have a leak in the heat exchanger chances are pretty good that you're also leaking oil as well as refrigerant into the water in your tank. The refrigerant will boil off into the atmosphere since it's boiling temp is really low, below zero. The oil, that travels with the refrigerant in small quantities, will stay in your tank and, most likely, float to the surface. I believe R134A calls for a Parafin oil. How that will react to salt water is a mystery to me.

I would imagine that running your water through carbon and filter floss will recover what ever oil leached into your tank. Would the oil adhere to your animals and cause stress? I don't know.

Good luck.