“I say, ‘All right, I'm gonna put my salesman's cap on, you guys. You gotta buy all new tools, even the hammers, even the pliers — even your pens. Because you have to make sure your click is not sparking, right? It's got to be a spark-proof click.’” 

That gets everybody laughing, which lightens the situation a bit. 

At the AHR Expo, The ACHR NEWS asked five tool companies and one refrigerant company to share their top-selling A2L-compatible tools, as well as FAQs about working with A2L refrigerants and setting the record straight on some common A2L myths. Here is what they had to say. 

 

Fieldpiece 

“A lot of contractors come in with pessimism, like, ‘This is just a money grab by the industry and by manufacturers,’” Gonzales said. “So what I do to ease their concerns is tell them in order for you as the contractor to be in compliance with the updated regulations for your tool sets on A2L, you just have to confirm that your tool is A2L compatible from the manufacturer of that tool — and more than likely, the tools that you currently own already are. You just need to go to your manufacturer's website and look up your part number and check.” 

 

TOP TOOLS 

-DRX3 leak detector 

It can sense refrigerants, including A2Ls and A3s, and natural gas, including forming gas and trace gas. 

“If you have a leak on a system but there's no refrigerant in it — it's just empty — you put a little bit of this trace gas in there, and you charge it up with nitrogen, and then that's going to force a leak, and our leak detector can pick up like that tracer gas as well,” Gonzales said. “And it does all those gases with just one sensor. You don't have to swap out sensors to be able to detect those different refrigerant types.” 

-VP833 vacuum pump 

“It's compatible with A3s, A2Ls, and A1s, so it’s also suitable to use on equipment that has propane and butane and all those hydrocarbon refrigerants.” 

-Smart wireless probes 

“We have our Job Link System, which is the integration of our wireless test tools and our mobile field service app, which is called Job Link,” Gonzales said. “And we have a set of small wireless probes that connect directly to the system. The benefit of that is, instead of having to use a hose connected to a manifold — where every time you connect that hose to the system and you disconnect, you're taking, like, an ounce or two of refrigerant away from the system — these probes are designed to connect directly onto the equipment without any hoses. When you disconnect, you aren't taking out any of the A1 or A2L refrigerants. That is probably our biggest seller in regards to supporting the A2L movement.” 

-Analog gauge sets 

“A small family of standard analog gauges that also supports R-32 and R-454B gases. It just gives another option to the HVAC technician in the field: digital, analog, whatever they feel comfortable with.” 

 

DiversiTech 

“When it comes to A2L products, the main thing is really getting through all the information out there of what technicians truly need to service an A2L unit,” said Scott Mieras, product line manager at DiversiTech Corp. “They have to be concerned about what products come in contact with the actual refrigerant.” 

Vacuum pumps and recovery units need to be spark-free design — an enclosed electrical box, with sealed connections, so there’s no chance of spark. 

“The biggest change we've seen is more so on the recovery tank side of things, where you have those left-handed threads, which are going to be the same type of left-handed threads on the units themselves,” said Mieras. “So all the new recovery tanks that we have are identified for A2L use with a red stripe, and the unit on top does have those left-handed threads on it. We do offer those left-handed thread adapters where they don't have to go buy a special hose. They can put our left-handed hose, left-handed thread adapter on the recovery tank and use their standard refrigerant hoses.” 

Sometimes Mieras is asked if DiversiTech has any A2L pliers, but things like pliers and hammers don’t need to be A2L compatible.  

“I let them know that, hey, your hand tools are safe. You can keep using what you have in your tool bag,” he said. “It's only those tools that come in direct contact with the refrigerant, like their manifolds.” 

 

TOP TOOLS 

-Lineset cleaner 

“Especially when you're in a situation where you can't run a new lineset, that helps us clean out that existing lineset for that refrigerant changeover, whether it's from R-22 to R-410A, but now it's going to be R-22 to R-454B, so it's able to clean those linesets for that new refrigerant.” 

-Heated diode and infrared leak detecting units 

-VP12 12 CFM DCBL battery-powered vacuum pump, which includes a brushless motor and built-in cooling fan. 

“The digital manifold (launching soon), the battery-powered vacuum pump, and our new vacuum pumps that are A2L compliant are really going to give the technician the tools they need to perform the jobs they need to do,” said Mieras. “Hopefully, the industry will all come together and understand that spark-free is a good thing, and that A2L certification through the different nationally recognized testing laboratories like UL 1650 CSA 22.2 … those are great things. I think as we continue to go forward, we'll see more and more requirements for some of these tools that come in direct contact with that refrigeration and the equipment.” 

 

Yellow Jacket 

Gary Lampasona, vice president of sales and marketing at Ritchie Engineering Company Inc. / Yellow Jacket, said Yellow Jacket put an “A2L Compatible” logo on all their packaging and literature, because a lot of techs are still getting up to speed. 

“All of our analog manifolds and the couplers are selling like crazy,” he noted. “Even our pumps and our recovery machines. In 2024, we saw at least double-digit growth on all of this.” 

Lampasona said he’s heard from some techs who think the actual A2L equipment is left-handed connections. “Those are still right-handed,” he said. “It's only the refrigerant tank that's left-handed, at least as far as we know today.” 

 

TOP TOOLS 

-Titanmax digital manifold 

“The A2L refrigerants are new, so you've got to have tools that can have … the right programming, if it's digital, or the right gauges, if it's analog,” said Lampasona. “All of our analog manifolds that we came out with a year and a half ago are now equipped with not just the two A2Ls, which are R-32 and R-454 B, but we maintain R-410A, which is pretty much the installed base today. All of our digital products, including our white YJack probes, have the firmware in it for A2L refrigerants.” 

-Vacuum pumps and recovery machines 

“You have to have non-sparking vacuum pumps, as well as non-sparking recovery machines. That means it's a DC motor,” he said. “That means your electronics are all sealed so that when you're using them, there's no chance of a spark. Your power cords have to be at least 10 feet long, and if it's not permanently connected, it has to be a locking connection so it can't trip out, give you a spark, and have something bad happen.” 

-AccuProbe IR leak detector 

“We have an infrared sensor in our AccuPro IR, so it gives you more sensitivity — not that your alternated diode version can't detect it, but it's not nearly as sensitive as an infrared sensor.” 

 

Testo 

European HVAC transitioned away from HFCs a while ago, so everything German manufacturer Testo offers — smart vacuum pumps, smart scales — is A2L- and A3-ready. Not only that, but much of their older equipment can be updated over the air, as long as it’s Bluetooth-enabled, to work with those refrigerants. 

“They link the equipment to an app, and the app will tell it whether or not it needs to do an update,” said Jamie Chadwick, regional sales manager at Testo North America. “If it does, it'll update it — put the updated refrigerant levels in there.” If it doesn’t have Bluetooth, they can mail it to Testo and have it updated that way. 

 

TOP TOOLS: 

-558s digital manifold 

“The touchscreen gives a little more flexibility to the contractor — being able to operate the equipment, get the readings that they need, and be able to solve the problems that are going on with the equipment,” said Chadwick. 

-565i smart vacuum pump 

“They link with our app and they link with our new manifold, so you can actually operate that from a remote distance. You can set it to however many microns you want it to vacuum down to; we can do up to 10 decay tests so the system can operate and evacuate the system as it needs to, which helps eliminate the need for callbacks from other companies.” 

-560i smart scale 

“This allows the refrigeration tech to charge the system automatically … by either superheat, subcooling, or by weight,” said Chadwick. “All they have to do in the app or on the manifold is put in the desired measurements, and that scale will automatically charge the system perfectly, the way they need it to.” 

 

Navac 

“When it comes to A2L refrigerants, the media, I'll be honest, is blowing this up to make it sound a little scary,” said Brad Adcox, national sales manager at Navac Inc. “It’s not scary. It's almost an identical cocktail to what the guys are working with today. Just do common procedure — what you learned in school.” 

If a tech just bought tools last year, chances are they’re already A2L ready, he said, so no one needs to freak out and spend another $15,000 on tools right away. 

“Start with kind of your nitty gritty,” he suggested. “You’ve got to have core tools. Start with a recovery machine. That’s something you use every day. Then go to a vacuum pump. This year, every tech is going to be looking to swap out the recovery unit, vacuum pump, and set of gauges.” 

Which tools to pick, in particular? 

“It comes down to the tech,” he said. “Am I going to be an analog tech? Am I going to be a digital tech? Do I want them both? Am I a little more of a residential guy, or am I a commercial guy? Because this buyout really is going to make these guys look at, ‘What am I using every day?’ A lot of these techs are not just staying in one sector anymore. Most of these HVAC guys you see now are doing HVAC and plumbing and electrical, so now they're buying one big tool for that crew to share.” 

 

TOP TOOLS 

-Flex72 manifold gauge 

This tool accommodates 72 refrigerants, eliminating the need for multiple gauges. 

“So you can take the three, four gauges that are on your van right now, swap it to that one gauge that's ready for A2L, and now you’ve got less clutter, less mess in the truck.” 

-NR7 (residential) and NRDD (light commercial) recovery machines 

“Most of the time, these will all be needing some type of like an ice bath,” he said. Navac’s machines, however, have a built-in interior fan. “Most of the competition doesn’t have a dual style coil. This one, you have an oversized fan that’s going to move all the air over all the electrical components, so anything that's heating up in here is now getting cooled off by that oversized fan. It’s just like your car.” It cools fast enough, he said, that users don’t have to worry about the cylinder ever getting hot. 

-Hoses 

“We have A2L hoses that are specifically made for recovering or the vacuum process,” said Adcox. We have an adapter for the cylinder, so you can have your left-handed thread, but we also have a full hose that is already the left-handed thread, so that way you can have your separate hose setup. We keep them orange. That way, when you look in your truck, you're just grabbing for your orange hoses, and you know you’re not going to contaminate your other hoses.” 

 

Arkema 

Refrigerant manufacturer Arkema is always getting asked what exactly “mildly flammable” means. 

“I explain to them, ‘Well, an A2L doesn't sustain a flame, and it takes a lot of energy in order to actually ignite it, meaning that you can't just ignite it with, you know, a cigarette or something like that,’” said Scott Swan, business manager, refrigerants at Arkema. “It takes a lot of energy in order to ignite those. It's not like propane.” 

And then there’s a persistent myth, noted by several of the other manufacturers as well, that A2Ls have propane in them and are likely to explode. 

“That is false,” said Swanson. “There are some refrigerants that are mixed with propane, but at very, very small quantities, ones that wouldn't change the classification from an A2L to an A3. But most of the ones that are being used today don't use propane as part of the blend. Not R-454B, and not R-32.” 

To address these and other questions, Arkema has put together a tech tips section on their website, and this year, they’ll be sending out monthly emails with A2L FAQs. 

“All the techniques that the technicians learned from the very beginning when they were working with R-410A, these are the same techniques that they need to use for A2Ls. They're exactly the same,” Swan said. “You’ve just got to be much more conscious of what you're doing and how you're doing it. It's not that you're doing any different procedures, it's that you're doing those procedures every single time — you're not taking shortcuts.”