Knowledge/Refrigerants/Identify refrigerant by the label, never by the colour
Identify refrigerant by the label, never by the colour
We don't colour the whole cylinder like the Americans do. Here, refrigerant cylinders are white or galvanised, with a coloured band. And we couldn't find an official Australian band colour for R32, R454B, R290 or R744. So the rule is simple. Read the label.
- Australian cylinders
- White or galvanisedwith a coloured band
- Band colours
- Set by AS 4484colour names from AS 2700
- R32, R454B, R290, R744
- Not verifiedno official Australian colour found
- Imported cylinders
- May differBOC's own note
Which band colours are on the chart?
| Refrigerant | Band colour |
|---|---|
| R134a | Aqua |
| R22 | Moss green |
| R404A, R407C, R408A, R409A, R410A, R416A, R507 | Brown |
| R717, ammonia | Slate |
Notice that one colour covers seven different refrigerants. Brown is shared by R404A, R407C, R408A, R409A, R410A, R416A and R507. So even where a colour exists, it doesn't tell you which gas is in the cylinder.
No
guesses
here
The new refrigerants aren't in the chart
R32, R454B, R290 and R744 aren't in that chart, and we couldn't find an official Australian band colour for any of them. Those are four of the most relevant gases in the market right now.
We could have found a colour on a supplier's page and published it. We won't, because a wrong cylinder colour is the kind of mistake that ends with the wrong gas in a system.
So the safe rule is this. Go by the cylinder label, never the colour (AS 4484:2004). It holds up if anyone asks, and it beats matching colours even where a colour does exist.
Do imported cylinders use the same colours?
Not necessarily. BOC's own note says the colour coding of cylinders filled in Australia complies with AS 4484, and the colours of imported cylinders may differ.
That says it all. If the colours only hold for cylinders filled here, you can't trust them in a store room that has both local and imported cylinders.
This goes with the recovery rule. If you can't identify a refrigerant, don't vent it, and treat it as flammable and toxic. Label first, always.
Working out what the transition means for you?
There's a lot of noise about what's banned and when, and most of it is either early or wrong. What matters is what you buy and stock this year.
Kevin will give you the straight version.
Who this is for: small and medium HVAC contractors in Victoria. If you're a homeowner after a rebate or a repair, you need a licensed contractor, not us, and yours can point you the right way.
Related
- Glide, and why blends can only be charged as liquidPure refrigerants can go in as vapour or liquid. Under the Australian code, every blend goes in as liquid, glide or not. R513A is where people get caught.
- R744 CO2 is a different world: 63 bar at 25 degreesAbove 31°C, CO2 won't condense, so transcritical is normal running for a CO2 heat pump water heater here. Ordinary HVAC gauges aren't rated anywhere near it.
- R410A: what's actually banned, and what isn'tThe phase-down limits bulk gas, not equipment. The equipment ban is narrow and ducted is exempt, the opposite of what a lot of contractors have been told.
- R290 and R454B: where they actually are in the marketR290 air conditioning here is almost all portables, not splits, and the reason is electrical law, not refrigerant law. R454B has only just started arriving.
Review date: 1 April 2027. Figures in this area change without much notice and this page carries some that will go stale. Every number above is dated and sourced so you can check it yourself. If you find something out of date here, tell us and we will fix it.