Author: Haitham Razagui

AAAA launches repair data sharing incident portal

THE Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) has launched an online incident reporting system designed to monitor the performance of the Agreement on Access to Service and Repair Information for Motor Vehicles that was signed at the end of last year. Because the agreement is based on voluntary Codes of Practice and industry cooperation, AAAA executive … Continue reading AAAA launches repair data sharing incident portal

Video: Capped price servicing

THE Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has again turned its attention to and identified a range of concerns with capped price servicing offers, according to the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA). Sweeping changes to capped price servicing programs have been recommended by the watchdog (which took action against Kia Motors in February) to ensure … Continue reading Video: Capped price servicing

Video: REDARC factory tour

VASA member Redarc Electronics has produced a new factory tour video. The tour is presented by 4X4 adventure journalist and publisher Pat Callinan, who has been working with the fast-growing, multi-award-winning firm for more than seven years and uses numerous Redarc products on his outback journeys, testing them in the extremes of harsh Australian conditions. Continue reading Video: REDARC factory tour

Video: VASA history project

DELEGATES at Wire & Gas 2015 were among the first to learn of VASA’s history project, which will culminate in a book and documentary about the origins and development of automotive air conditioning in Australia and New Zealand. Introducing a short video clip at the Gala Dinner containing excerpts from interviews with people who were … Continue reading Video: VASA history project

HCFC imported to Australia by year excluding HCFC 22

Ozone-depleting substance phaseout in Oz ahead of developed world Australia has taken a kicking for environmental performance lately, with stalled investment in renewable energy and climate change policy labelled as embarrassing, but this country should at least be proud of its performance when it comes to meeting its obligations under the Montreal Protocol. What’s more, … Continue reading Australia kicking Montreal Protocol goals

Queensland hydrocarbon refrigerant regulation not stopping the rot

Queensland VASA members are encountering hydrocarbon refrigerant use among their client base, including heavy transport firms contracted to the resources sector and large-scale farming businesses. One example is a transport company that would use one VASA member’s workshop for three or four air conditioning jobs per week and provided a significant source of revenue. A … Continue reading Queensland hydrocarbon refrigerant regulation not stopping the rot

Hong Kong Legislative Council building

Following criticism from the Office of the Ombudsman after an investigation into a 2013 air conditioning fire and explosion that injured more than 20 people and caused extensive property damage, the Hong Kong government is advising the trade not to retrofit systems with flammable refrigerants. In its damning report into the 2013 Ma On Shan … Continue reading Hong Kong government advises against retrofits after HC blast

European Union submission to the Montreal Protocol amendment

There has been a lot of promising progress toward a global phase-down of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol in recent months, with just a couple of spanners in the works. Many are hopeful that an international agreement will be forged his year with the Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol meeting … Continue reading Global HFC phase-down progress

Burning question

Numerous technicians in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Spain and Vietnam have been killed or injured in recent weeks in a spate mysterious air conditioning explosions, according to sketchy, often contradictory media reports from those countries. In the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, four or five workers were taken to hospital for treatment of burns ranging from seven to … Continue reading Mysterious spate of deadly AC explosions