tracking freon

[bob s]

I'm interested how everyone else keeps track of making sure freon gets charged out correctly.We currently charge out 3lbs. per job.My concern is that our freon machine ends up in the shop all day and I really have no system on who has it and who is not telling parts they used freon.Having the techs. sign it out might work but how do you control someone from taking it from the other tech?.Any process that works for you would be appreciated. Thanks

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[Farfinator]

If you are loosing freon, and it sounds like you are, then sell it to service and let them bill it as a sublet. When the service manager loses enough, he'll/she'll will have to correct reckless handling of the stuff by the tech's. R12 is too expensive to screw around with. And with issues of different capacities per vehicle, amounts of recovery, the need for a fronted 30lbs on the machine etc, you're bound to get screwed. I have tryed weighing the tanks in and out. But, what if the tech forgets to secure the shut off and it slowly bleeds out, or passes it off on a busy day and accountability is lost? Even if you are able identify a specific loss and find it is tech errror, you are probably gonna be called upon to help "absorb" the discrepancy, so what have you gained by your elaborate systems? The tech isn't gonna cut you a check! Nor is the advisor who didn't observe the lack of freon on the line when closing the ticket!
Just eliminate the problem. Granted no profit on the stuff, but no stress and B.S. either.

[joe r]

We do weigh the R-12 in and out. The weight is recorded on the 30 lb. can with a marking pen. When it comes back to parts, the amount used is billed to the RO. The freon is not passed off in the shop. The extra R-12 containers are locked together with a cable lock. We have not lost any R-12 in a year and a half.
When we give out a 30 lb. R-134a canister, we manually sell one of the 30 lb. and plus adjust 30 of the one pound factory number in to stock. We lose a little because we have three machines but the two parts advisors at the tech counter keep a pretty good eye on it.

It's a little extra work on the R-12 but the techs understand and work with us.

Joe R

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[This message has been edited by joe r (edited 05-17-2001).]

[Doug]

Yeah, freon. What a problem.

It took me about 2 years of continual battle to get everyone to really get on board with the idea of accounting for freon. The coup de grace was taking the losses out of tech and advisors spiffs. All of the sudden it became a priority !

To remove the service vs parts battle and hassle, service dept buys freon 30 pounds at a time, charged to 61D/shop supplies. Freon is charged out by the advisors on the RO and the amount collected is used to off-set the supply account. So far, so good.

Cheers
Doug

[Parts007]

Joe r has the right idea. Very simple, weigh the 30 lb container when it leaves parts, weigh the container when it arrives back to parts. Ask the tech how much refridgerant they put in the vehicle. Bill that amount to the customer RO. Bill the difference to an open service RO. A simple scale costs around $35. (about the cost of a pound of R12 these days) This also keeps the techs from forgetting to close the valve on the container of refridgerant.

[Daryl]

It seems this is one problem most everyone has. The waste and abuse associated with the R12 and 134A was staggering at our shop. Blame shifting and lack of concern has finally forced us to adopt a "can" policy. The machines are in the service department with tanks, however they are dry (unless service pumps something in) If a tech requires additional refrigerant, he must draw a one pound can. The price for these is not much higher than a pound/cylinder approach. For the amount of money and headache it has saved, I am glad we made the change. We did purchase (1) each quick can connects for the service department, and told them once they are damaged or theived - they would have to provide for themselves. As long as can refrigerant is available, I cannot see us going back to the old way.

[Fixedopsmgr]

We keep the R12 machine in parts. We put 3 lbs on the sight glass before it leaves parts and when it is returned the proper amount can be charged out by the parts department. Very simple to administer this way and parts can make the profit since they are in charge of the freon.

Good Luck