Lubricant must be miscible with the refrigerant.
If not, lubricant will not be returned back to the compressor.
If oil do not return, compressor will get damage.
Mainly mineral lubricants were used with CFC and HCFC refrigerants.
With the new refrigerants (HFC) mineral oils are not miscible.
Therefore, Synthetic lubricants are used with the HFC refrigerants.
They are hygroscopic and reactive than the mineral oils.
In the presence of air and moisture synthetic oil and refrigerant reacts together and forms acidic
components. Due to these reactions colour of the oil will be changed. They are detrimental to the system. They are slow reactions and take long time to change the colour. But when colour starts to
change the damage has already been taken place.

TYPES OF LUBRICANT
 Fossil /Mineral
 POE (Polyol ester)
 PAG (Poly Alkylene glycol)
 Alkylbenzene (AB)

RECOMMENDED TYPE OF LUBRICANTS FOR REFRIGERATNS

 R-12 – Fossil oil
 R-22 – Min.. POE, AB
 R -134a – POE PAG for Mob… a/c
 R -404A – POE
 R -410A – POE
 R -407c – POE
 R-1234yf – PAG
 Carbon dioxide – PAG

POLYOL ESTER(POE)

EMKARATE RL (Use for Air conditioning and Refrigeration systems)
MANUFACTURERS OIL CODE ISO VISCOCITY
 RL 22H 22
 RL 32H 32
 RL 46H 46
 RL 68 68
 RL 100H 100
 RL 170H 170
 RL 220H 220

POLYALKYLENE GLYCOL(PAG)
For mobile air conditioners with R-134a, R-1234yf and Carbon dioxide, PAG is the recommended lubricant
PAG -46
PAG -100
PAG -125(GM)
PAG – 150
WITH – UV
UV dye has added to lubricants to facilitate the leak detection.
Equipment manufacturers use their own codes to identify lubricants.
Lubricant manufacturers also do have their own lubricant codes.
For the selection of the correct lubricant for a particular application, Equipment and Lubricant manufacturers codes are need to be matched.

LUBRICANT CODES FOR MOBILE AIR CONDITIONERS

 TOYOTA – ND-08 – PAG-46
 TOYOTA – ND -09 – PAG-100
 NISSAN – KLHOOPAGSO- PAG-46
 NISSAN – KLHOOPAGRO – PAG-100
 NISSAN PLANETELF-488- PAG-150
 SP-10 – PAG-46
 SP-15- PAG-68
 SP-20- PAG-100
 SK-10 – PAG-46
 SK-20- PAG-100
 ZXL100PG – PAG-46
 ZXL200PG –PAG-100
 DH-PS – PAG-46
 DH-PR- PAG-100
eg. ND-08 is the oil code of Nippon Denso.
The chemical name of the equivalent oil is Polyalkylene Glycol(PAG)
Viscosity for ND-08 is ISO 46(Cst 46 at 40C)

LUBRICANT CODES FOR OTHER AIR CONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

 BITZER BSE-32 = EMKARATE RL-32
 BITZER BSE -55 = EMKARATE RL-68
 BITZER BSE-170 = EMKARATE RL-170
 HITACHCHI – SR-30= EMKARATE RL-220
 DANFOSS- 160PZ = EMKARATE RL-32H
 DANFOSS – 160SZ = EMKARATE RL-32H
 DANFOSS – 160P = 3GS
Here BSE-32 is the Bitzer compressor manufacturers lubricant code.
RL-32 is the Emkarate oil manufacturer’s code.

FAKE LUBRICANT
Most of the lubricant in the Sri Lanka market are fake.
Quite a few genuine lubricants are available.
Majority of the fake lubricant cans do not show the chemical composition
Or chemical name of the oil.
But some fake manufacturers give wrong information.
Good quality lubricant manufacturers print chemical name, chemical composition
ISO Viscosity and their web address and postal address.
But fake oil manufacturers do not give such information.
Therefore, the chemical inside is unknown.
The compounds synthesize when they mix with the correct oil also unknown.
Therefore, those unknown chemicals could be very dangerous to the system as well.
Some fake oil manufacturers print other manufacturers details on their cans.
But by searching in the internet, correct details could be obtained.

The new vehicle from the factory comes with PAG lubricant.
If another oil with different chemistry is mixed, harmful substances can synthesize
due to the chemical reaction between two different chemicals.
Then the colour of oil changes and system can be damaged.
If fake lubricants are used system can damage easily.
It will cause environmental pollutions.
Therefore, use of fake oils should not be allowed.

In Sri Lanka majority of breakdowns in Air conditioning and Refrigeration systems are caused
by improper usage of lubricant. PAG Lubricants are expensive than mineral lubricants.
Therefore, some workshops use mineral oil instead of PAG oil. Recommended quantity of
oil for average cars varies from 60ml to 300ml. If mineral oil is used in these volumes, oil will
not return back to the compressor and it will get damage. Therefore, these people add more oil to the system. Then compressor will be over filled at all the times. Even though compressor will not get damage at once, refrigeration system will become inefficient and compressor and rest of the system will get damage in the long run.
Due to the damage caused by improper lubrication, compressor need to be replaced.
Cost of car Air conditioner compressor would be around Rs. 15000.00 to 300000.00.
But the cost of lubricant is very much less when compared to the cost of the compressor.
Cost of genuine PAG lubricant for 01L is around Rs.3000 Then cost for 300ml would be
3000 /1000 X 300ml = Rs. 900.00
Cost of fake oil is around RS. 1200.00 for 01L. then for 300 ml of lubricant the cost would be
RS. 360.00. All these are to save Rs. 900 – 360 = Rs. 540.00.
Rs. 540 is nothing when compared to the lowest cost of the compressor.

Therefore, to protect our systems, this information should be pass to the end user.
Then the end user can take all the precautionary measures to protect his equipment.

Equipment manufacturer has recommended the correct type and the quantity of the oil to be used in a system

Some recommendations are as follows.

CARMODEL YEAR OF MANUFACTURE TYPE OF OIL ml
PICK-UP NAVARA (D22) 98-04 PAG 100 200
PICK-UP NAVARA (D22) 2002-07 PAG 46 200
MIT.COLT/ LANCER 96 -03 PAG 46 60
MIT. COLT 2004-07 PAG 46 100

HYBRID OIL

In the high voltage electric compressor insulation resistance is very important.
Therefore, hygroscopic oil cannot be used with these compressors.
HYB 11 is the special oil formulated for this application.

Vehicles charged with R1234yf need PAG oil with special additives.
HFO-PAG 46e and HFO-PAG 100e are recommended for 1234yf systems