I saw an episode of MotorWeek yesterday that had a brief segment on Air Conditioning conversions. I never heard of this, but apparently there is a substitute for R12 known as FR12. The segment stated that FR12 is a direct swap for R12 and is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the R134 conversion. However, it was noted that it may be difficult to find a station that both is qualified to perform the swap and has the proper equipment. Has anybody heard of FR12 or had this conversion done?

sounds like another one of those non-flammable propane products

FR12 (Freeze 12) is a blend of several refrigerants, among them R134 and R12 and something else (escapes me).

It does not contain any hydrocarbons. And I believe it's made or distributed by Pennzoil.

I also considered this swap, but went with R134. FR12 is not readily available as is R134 and changing to R134 doesn't involve much more than FR12.

Just change the dryer, O rings, flush out the old compressor oil and change to ester, and away you go.

If you have a perfectly functioning AC system with no leaks, you could vacuum the system and go with FR12. But if you have no leaks, stay with R12 as long as you can and change to R134 only when you have to.