6.2 Type II Evacuation Requirements by Charge Size

6.2 Type II Evacuation Requirements by Charge Size

Quick Answer: Once you know an appliance's pressure classification, 40 CFR 82.156 tells you exactly how deep a vacuum you must pull before opening, servicing, or disposing of it. The required level depends on three things: (1) the appliance's pressure classification, (2) its full refrigerant charge in pounds, and (3) whether your recovery/recycling machine was manufactured or imported before or on/after November 15, 1993 — the date EPA tightened certified-equipment performance standards.

Table 1: Required Levels of Evacuation

This table is reproduced directly from EPA's official evacuation-requirements page and 40 CFR 82.156, Table 1. Vacuum levels are measured relative to standard atmospheric pressure of 29.9 inches Hg.

Notice the pattern: for a given category, post-1993 recovery equipment must pull a deeper vacuum (a higher inches-of-Hg reading) than pre-1993 equipment. That's not a typo — EPA's 1993 certification standards required recovery machines to be more efficient, so the agency raised the bar for what 'fully evacuated' means once technicians had access to that better equipment.

For most Type II appliances you'll actually touch — high-pressure systems under 200 lb, which describes nearly every split system, RTU, and single-circuit supermarket case — the number to remember is simple: pull to 0 inches Hg (0 psig), regardless of your recovery machine's age. The 4/10/15-inch tiers only apply once the full charge reaches 200 pounds or more, which realistically means large multiplex rack systems and industrial process refrigeration.

Two Built-In Exceptions

Non-Major Repair Exception

If (a) you are not going to evacuate the appliance to the atmosphere afterward, and (b) the work is not a major repair, you only need to pull the appliance down to 0 psig — not the full Table 1 level. Under 82.152, a major maintenance, service, or repair means removing the compressor, condenser, evaporator, or auxiliary heat exchange coil, or uncovering an opening of more than 4 square inches of flow area for more than 15 minutes. Swapping a contactor, replacing a low-pressure switch, or changing a filter-drier core typically doesn't meet that bar; pulling a compressor or condenser coil does.

Leak Exception

If leaks in the appliance make reaching the Table 1 level unattainable, or doing so would substantially contaminate the recovered refrigerant, you must:

1. Isolate leaking components from non-leaking components wherever possible.
2. Evacuate non-leaking components to be opened or disposed of to the full Table 1 level.
3. Evacuate leaking components only to the lowest level attainable without substantially contaminating the recovered refrigerant — and never exceed 0 psig.

The 15-Pound System-Dependent Recovery Rule

Separate from the evacuation table, 82.156(e) prohibits using system-dependent (passive) recovery — methods that rely on the appliance's own compressor to push refrigerant into a recovery cylinder, without a dedicated recovery machine doing the work — on any appliance with a full charge of more than 15 pounds, unless the system-dependent equipment is a pump-out unit permanently attached to that specific appliance. Because nearly every piece of Type II equipment (split systems, RTUs, racks) carries well over 15 pounds of refrigerant, EPA-608 Type II fieldwork requires self-contained recovery machines almost universally. Exam questions frequently test whether you recognize that a technician 'recovering' a 40-pound rooftop unit charge by simply running the compressor into an open cylinder is violating this rule.

Recordkeeping for Disposed Appliances

When a Type II appliance with a full charge of more than 5 and less than 50 pounds is being taken out of service for disposal, 82.156(a)(3) requires the technician to keep records for three years documenting the company name, appliance location, recovery date, and refrigerant type for each appliance; the total quantity of each refrigerant type recovered from all disposed appliances each month; and the quantity transferred for reclamation or destruction, including who received it and when. This recordkeeping duty is separate from — and in addition to — the evacuation-level requirements in Table 1.

Worked Example

Consider a 300-pound-charge R-404A supermarket rack (a high-pressure appliance) that needs its compressor replaced — a major repair under 82.152's definition. Because the full charge is 300 lb, this falls in the '200 lb or more' row of Table 1. If the shop's recovery machine was manufactured in 2015 (post-1993), the technician must evacuate to 10 inches Hg. If instead the same rack only needed a contactor swap — not a major repair, and the technician isn't evacuating to atmosphere afterward — the non-major-repair exception applies, and only 0 psig is required, regardless of the machine's age or the 300-lb charge. Recognizing which rule applies, based on repair type as much as charge size, is exactly what Type II exam questions are built to test.