Which Car AC Refrigerant Brand Wins?

freon recovery machine recovered very close to 3 lb of R134 in around 15 minutes

took around 13 minutes to fully extract from the system into a separate recovery tank, kept apart from the R134 tank

claims to be equivalent to 16 oz of R134A per can, claims eco-friendly, made in USA; must be installed as a liquid using a puncture-style adapter, can inverted while charging

claims to be equivalent to 21 oz of R134A per can, made in USA, claims non-ozone depleting and zero global warming potential, claims smoother compressor operation and improved cooling; must check and repair all leaks before charging per instructions

first can was a slow process, took a while for the compressor to power on; after 2 cans, vent temperature still not good at around 65 F, requiring a third can; the vehicle holds around 3 lb of freon total, so 3 cans (48 oz claimed equivalent) was used

fills quickly, about 2 to 3 minutes per can versus longer for a genuine self-sealing R134A can; first can added while the shop was warming up, vent temperature still around 80 F after just one can; second can took only about a minute to add

confirmed flammable, produced a blue flame like natural gas or propane when tested with a propane-style torch nozzle

confirmed flammable, produced a blue flame like natural gas or propane, tested safely at a distance using a propane nozzle equipped with a check valve, pressure relief valve, and flame arrester

genuine R134A refrigerant, made in USA, used as the real/baseline product for the test

ambient temperature just below 80 F; system fully charged at around 85 to 86 PSI static pressure (spec for that ambient is around 84 to 85 PSI)

per infrared thermometer, around 43 F per thermal imaging camera (described as probably a little more accurate)

to 41 F per infrared thermometer, high 30s F per thermal imaging camera

low side pressure 45 PSI after charging (close to spec); high side pressure around 185 PSI (a little low); after cooling for several hours at 93 F ambient, static pressure around 109 PSI (pretty close to spec); vent temperature around 45 F stationary and 43 to 44 F while driving at 55 mph

R134A chart calls for low side no more than 50 PSI and high side 175 to 210 PSI; ZeroR's third can started around 80 PSI low side, settling at 50 PSI (the higher side of normal) with the high side lower than it should be per the R134A chart, since narrator notes this isn't actually R134A and behaves differently

not impressive at around 62 F while sitting still

improved to around 45 F, described as doing better than expected once the vehicle was moving and the compressor was at higher RPM

second can started around 90 PSI low side, settling at 52 to 53 PSI, described as about as high as the narrator is comfortable going given it is a flammable gas; head pressure measured around 85 PSI, confirming the manufacturer's claim of a lower head pressure than R134A

to 52 F, described as doing better than expected