ArcticPRO®RHS®980 Fast Operation Cycle Times

Recently, RTI Technologies, Inc. OF York, PA conducted comparative testing of three SAE J2788 certified mobile air conditioning service machines manufactured by RTI Technologies (ArcticPRO®RHS®980) and two other large and well-known competitors (A) and (B). The specific purpose of this test was to compare A/C service equipment performance in the following areas:

1. Total elapsed charge and recovery service time
2. Total charge accuracy
3. Total recovery accuracy

All testing was performed by RTI technicians under identical conditions in the same climate-controlled service test area on three different vehicle types representing three different air conditioning system capacities. The competitive equipment was procured through traditional distribution channels and represents the most up-to-date versions from their respective manufacturers. The ArcticPRO®RHS®980 was randomly selected from warehouse inventory for testing. The three vehicles that were tested were:

1. 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe with front and rear air conditioning system (2.5 lb total system refrigerant capacity)
2. 1999 Acura (1.4 lb total refrigerant system capacity)
3. 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt (0.9 lb total refrigerant system capacity)

Testing on all vehicles with all machines was conducted simultaneously utilizing a "round robin" test format and following strict SAE J2788 certification methodology. Before vehicle charge testing was conducted, refrigerant was recovered from all three vehicles. Then, identical vacuum pumps were connected to each vehicle A/C system and run overnight followed by charge testing to measure refrigerant charge duration and accuracy. Next, recovery/recycle tests were conducted to measure recovery speed and amount. Identical testing procedures were utilized for each combination applied over identical ambient conditions to ensure all test results could be reasonably compared.

Test results were then averaged across the three vehicles for each manufacturer's A/C service unit. A summary is presented on the following page.

Test Conclusion

Within the boundaries of this test, RTI's ArcticPRO®RHS®980 turned in the best three-vehicle performance average in regard to elapsed charge and recovery time, charge accuracy and system recovery percentage. Applying this to real life A/C servicing processes, the technician should experience over time and across differing vehicle types, faster service times and less wasted refrigerant when using RTI ArcticPRO®RHS®980 service equipment. This should result in increased vehicle owner satisfaction with the service and dramatically fewer comebacks.

Note: it is important to understand SAE J2788 certification is granted by testing mobile A/C servicing equipment on only one vehicle type, a 2005-2007 model year Chevrolet Suburban with front and rear A/C systems. Because of the difficulty in meeting the certification criteria for the Suburban it is expected that mobile equipment performance would be the same or better for smaller capacity vehicle systems. As this evaluation illustrates, this is not always the case.