I'm not defending the use of propane, specifically...but I do think it's funny how we all get bent out of shape about a few ounces of flammable fluid in a system of a vehicle that carries around 10-20 gallons of flammable fluid necessary to operate it. A fuel system is quite leak-prone as well. The only difference I can really concede is that there is an evaporator on the passenger side of the firewall. However, there are no serviceable junctions on that side.
I'm not convinced this logic is right or wrong...just kind of thinking out loud. So no need to "flame" me over it.
Valid point, but I think a pressurized gas system is more prone to leak than pressurized liquid. I had a small gas leak on one car I've owned but all of them have leaked freon sooner or later.
Of course my opinion has no actual influence on the whether or not propane works in the application.
In reply to ultraclyde :
Propane is a nearly perfect refrigerant. While yes, it is flammable generally, I do believe in this use they use a concentration of propane in a small enough amount that it is relatively fire resistant in this application. Regardless, it's used fairly extensively in other countries. YMMV of course.
In reply to ultraclyde :
Yeah...The refrigerant always leaks eventually. I'd say in the majority of cases it leaks out slowly enough to not be an issue. I'm thinking more about crashes and such where both fuel and refrigerant probably leak with the same fire-catching propensity...but there's a lot less refrigerant that disperses rather quickly.
Still not saying it's a good thing...just more thoughts (Can't tell if I'm trying to talk myself out of using propane or what, lol).
I've gotta think that, if one were to use Propane, one should use actual Propane, and not the Propane labeled as refrigerant. This is because the refrigerant Propane has had it's odorant removed, meaning that you can't smell a leak. If you had regular Propane, you'd smell it way before it reached the lower explosive limit, and hopefully roll down the windows, shut off the car, and get away from it.
Yeah, the propane isn't even something I was thinking about using but it makes for some interesting bench racing.
If all else fails, propane convert your Jeep into one of these.
