A new refrigerant buyer for me.

As some of the older members of this forum are aware, I was using AirGas to sell my refrigerants. After having such horrible experiences with them, I finally found a new buyer. I decided to give Alfa Cantor out of Texas a try. I sent off a trial shipment of 500 pounds of R22 to see how it goes. I will keep this post updated just in case others are looking for a new buyer.

Hi SHOGOR, I don't know if they rent tanks, I already have a forest of them. They pay freight on shipments of 200 pounds or more. Their pay schedule goes pretty deep before they charge for disposal. IE, they pay down to 80% on R12 and R22.

So this is my first update. I shipped out refrigerants on 4/19 and they were received today (4/26). My exchange tanks are being delivered tomorrow. I shipped (4) 125# tanks with 110 pounds average R22 that tested out at 100% purity. I also shipped (1) 125# tank with 120 pounds of mixed R22 that tested out at 97.5% purity. My Nuetronics analyzer only does vapor tests so I'm curious how close it comes to their liquid tests. Let's see if they really can get a check out within 30 days of receiving the shipment.

Thanks for the update with the details. Mike

Just an update. I got my receiving report back today. 1 tank tested at 99.77% purity with 100# net weight, 3 tanks tested at 99.5% purity with a net weight of 277#. The mixed tank was 91.08 purity and a net weight of 104# Overall, I am very happy with this company so far and will be sending them another shipment at the end of the month. They have been very good at communicating and the check is in the mail!

I am licensed but will not be involved in the refrigerant business due to my physical limits but am still interested in this business. I believe there are business opportunities awaiting members if they take the time to study your posts.

I hope you don't mind explaining the importance in the difference in purity. When I look at your numbers there doesn't seem like a big difference between 99. 77% and 99.5% purity. Does the difference change the payout much?

It seems to me that the purity you got was good, is this due to the testing you do before putting the refrigerant into your larger storage tanks? I recall you mentioned a tester in the past so which one do you use and how important is it to your business? 73 Mike

Hi Mike.
Their payouts are based on purity.

99.5 and above
98 to 99.49
90 to 97.99
80 to 89.99

It really does make a difference being able to test purity as there are large price differences. The top tier pays 7.00 a pound, the second tier pays 4.25 a pound and the third tier pays 3.00 a pound. A little mistake can be expensive! Oh, the fourth tier pays .75 a pound.

P.S. I use a Nuetronics Ultima

An interesting update. I received my check today. That is well within the 30 days that they said they would do. Unfortunately, it is made out to my Email instead of me. I will be calling them tomorrow and see if they can get it straightened out.

A successful end to my first dealings with Alfa Cantor. My corrected check showed up today! So far, I have nothing but good things to say about this company. Hopefully, I will be sending off another shipment to them next week! I will keep this post updated when I ship again.

Eesakiwi, This load all came from air conditioners as it was R22. The mixed refrigerant came from a customer, the rest came from air conditioners processed at the shop. It took about 250 air conditioners to get the 377 pounds of refrigerant. So the refrigerant is worth almost as much as the cleaned cu/al radiators. I take that back, it maybe more than the radiators as I get so much trash, I mean Trane. Like the old saying goes "the only way to stop a Trane is to turn it on!". If you get a calculator out and go up a few posts, you will know how much my check was.

Your contributions on this side of recycling have been amazing. Folks on the forum who are or perhaps should consider this a direction to go could not ask for a better mentor. Thank you.

Also since the study guide is available getting a license is a snap.

One area you may have addressed in the past but I am going to ask about now. What about the future of the refrigerant recovery with the newer refrigerants? Will reselling of the "new" refrigerants continue making it possible to make you money.


I am under the understanding that the older refrigerants are more valuable in the recycling side because they are no longer being manufactured but still being used. If I am mistaken on this please correct me. Again thanks for sharing your knowledge. 73 Mike

Hi Mike.
The use of R12 was discontinued in 1994, which is 22 years ago. 15% of the refrigerators that I get are still R12 and it sells for 18.00 a pound if it isn't mixed. Right now they are still manufacturing R22 in a limited amount and it brings 7.00 a pound if it isn't mixed. The newer refrigerants like R134a, R404a and 410a are all worth less than 1.00 unmixed. Right now the newest refrigerants like R290 and R600 have no value. I don't foresee the newer refrigerants going up in value any time soon. 410a is such a poor refrigerant that 20% of the air conditioners I get in are 410a and most of those have failed. Considering that they have only been out a few years, I don't think that bodes well for the industry. I think for the next 10 years R22 will only go up in value as the supply of virgin dwindles.

I sent off my second shipment yesterday to Alfa Cantor. This shipment consisted of (3) 125# tanks of pure R-22, (2) 125# tanks of mixed R-22, (1) 125# tank of mixed R-12 and (1) 125# tank of R-410. In an earlier post I said that roughly 15% of the refrigerators that I get are R-12. I just started another new contract that is dropping of 20+ refrigerators a day and those are running about 75% R-12. I will keep the board updated on how well Alpa Cantor does on this shipment.

Sounds like those old frigs are the best. The next time I tip one back, I'll wish "more R-12 for freonjoe until he can't find any more!!!"