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EPA 608 Certification

EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances) — practice test

Type I is the EPA 608 certification for small appliances. Think household refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners, dehumidifiers, under-the-counter ice makers, vending machines and drinking water coolers. Anyone who maintains, services or repairs a small appliance must be certified as a Type I (or Universal) technician. People who only dispose of small appliances do not need certification. The easy points to lose are the 80 and 90 percent recovery numbers and the definition of a small appliance.

Studying for EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances)? Overhaul Prep has 111 questions written to EPA's own topic list for this part. A second expert worked out each answer and read the regulation section it cites before it went live, and every explanation ends with that source, so you can look it up.

111E608T1 questions
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19,209questions in total
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What's on the EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances) test

Appendix D of 40 CFR 82 Subpart F sets the format. A Type I test has 25 questions from the Core group and 25 from the Type I group. You need 70 percent to pass. The test is closed book, except a mail-in Type I, which needs 84 percent. EPA's Type I topic list has three blocks: Recovery Requirements (the small appliance definition and the evacuation rules for recovery equipment made before, and on or after, November 15, 1993), Recovery Techniques (pressure and temperature to identify refrigerant and spot noncondensables, passive recovery on a dead compressor, access valves, removing solderless fittings, R-134a as the usual substitute for R-12), and Safety (what refrigerants break down into at high temperatures). The certifying organization sets the time limit and the fee, not the regulation.

EPA's test topics: Type I · Small appliances

EPA publishes the topics each Section 608 certification test covers. This is EPA's list for Type I · Small appliances, in EPA's words: its 3 areas and 10 topics. Every one of our 111 E608T1 questions ends with the regulation section or practice it rests on.

The real test, per 40 CFR 82 Subpart F, Appendix D: 25 questions from this part alongside the 25 Core questions; 70 percent passes; closed book.

ARecovery Requirements3 topics
  • 1.Definition of "small appliance"
  • 2.Evacuation requirements for small appliances with and without working compressors using recovery equipment manufactured before November 15, 1993
  • 3.Evacuation requirements for small appliances with and without working compressors using recovery equipment manufactured after November 15, 1993
BRecovery Techniques6 topics
  • 1.Use of pressure and temperature to identify refrigerants and detect noncondensables
  • 2.Methods to recover refrigerant from small appliances with inoperative compressors using a system-dependent or "passive" recovery device (e.g., heat and sharply strike the compressor, use a vacuum pump with non-pressurized recovery container)
  • 3.Need to install both high and low side access valves when recovering refrigerant from small appliances with inoperative compressors
  • 4.Need to operate operative compressors when recovering refrigerant with a system-dependent ("passive") recovery device
  • 5.Should remove solderless access fittings at conclusion of service
  • 6.Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)-134a (also called R-134a) as likely substitute for chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-12 (also called R-12)
CSafety1 topic
  • 1.Decomposition products of refrigerants at high temperatures

From EPA's Section 608 test topics, read October 20, 2026. All four 608 topic lists, and the test format in the regulation's words →

High-yield EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances) topics

The material that shows up year after year. If you're short on time, start here.

  • A small appliance is fully manufactured, charged and hermetically sealed in a factory with 5 pounds of refrigerant or less. Both parts count. An appliance charged in the field is not a small appliance, even at 4 pounds.
  • With recovery equipment made before November 15, 1993, you recover 80 percent of the refrigerant. It does not matter whether the compressor runs.
  • With equipment made on or after November 15, 1993, you recover 90 percent if the compressor is functioning. If the compressor is not functioning, you recover 80 percent.
  • Instead of a percentage, you may evacuate the small appliance to four inches of mercury vacuum. This is in 40 CFR 82.156(b)(3).
  • A process stub is a length of tubing that gives access to the refrigerant and can be resealed after service. A small appliance (unless it holds only exempt refrigerants) cannot be sold or distributed unless it has one, so refrigerant can be removed at servicing and disposal.
  • System-dependent (passive) recovery equipment relies on the appliance's own components to get the refrigerant out. It may not be used on an appliance with a full charge of more than 15 pounds, unless it is a permanently attached pump-out unit. On a dead compressor you heat it and strike it sharply, and you put access valves on both the high and low sides.

Where techs lose points on EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances)

Good technicians miss these — not from lack of skill, but because the question is built to catch them.

  • Wrong belief: the 90 percent figure applies to every small appliance. The right answer: 90 percent only applies with recovery equipment made on or after November 15, 1993 and a working compressor in the appliance. A dead compressor with newer recovery equipment is 80 percent, and older recovery equipment is 80 percent either way.
  • Wrong belief: any appliance with 5 pounds or less is a small appliance. The right answer: it also has to be fully manufactured, charged and hermetically sealed in a factory. A field-charged system with 4 pounds does not qualify.
  • Wrong belief: R-134a has no chlorine, so you can vent it. The right answer: the venting ban covers non-exempt substitutes too, so you recover R-134a before opening the appliance. R-134a is the likely substitute for R-12, but you cannot just add it to a system holding mineral oil.
  • Wrong belief: a piercing valve can stay on as a service port if it holds pressure. The right answer: solderless access fittings are for temporary access. Take them off at the end of service.

A study plan that works for EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances)

Roughly two weeks of real preparation, in the order that actually builds on itself.

  1. Day 1: Learn the small appliance definition and the process stub. Work the list of named examples, then the factory-sealed and 5-pound tests.
  2. Day 2: Memorize the recovery numbers: 80 percent for pre-November 15, 1993 equipment, 90 or 80 percent for newer equipment by compressor status, and the four-inch vacuum option. Drill them until you can answer without thinking.
  3. Day 3: Study recovery techniques. Cover passive recovery on a dead compressor, access valves on both sides, removing solderless fittings, and reading cylinder pressure against the temperature chart to spot noncondensables.
  4. Day 4: Cover R-134a as the substitute for R-12 and the safety block on decomposition products at high temperatures. Then take a full 25-question Type I practice round and review every miss.

Sample EPA 608 Type I (Small Appliances) questions

Straight from the bank — answers highlighted, with the explanation underneath.

Under EPA's Section 608 rules, a small appliance is one that is fully manufactured, charged, and hermetically sealed in a factory with how much refrigerant?

  1. 10 pounds or less
  2. 5 pounds or less
  3. Less than 50 pounds
  4. 15 pounds or less
WhyEPA defines a small appliance by its factory-sealed charge: five pounds of refrigerant or less. Anything with a bigger charge is not a small appliance. Source: 40 CFR 82.152 (definition of small appliance).

A recovery cylinder has sat in a shop at a steady temperature for several hours. Its pressure is noticeably higher than the pressure-temperature chart shows for the refrigerant at that temperature. What is the most likely cause?

  1. The cylinder valve is a different thread size
  2. The cylinder is filled with too little liquid
  3. The refrigerant has become more dense
  4. Noncondensable gas such as air in the cylinder
WhyAir does not condense at cylinder pressures, so it adds its own pressure on top of the refrigerant's saturation pressure. A cylinder holding only the labeled refrigerant, with liquid and vapor at a steady temperature, reads on the chart. Source: general refrigeration practice.

What can happen to chlorinated and fluorinated refrigerants when they contact an open flame or a very hot surface?

  1. They turn into harmless water vapor and carbon dioxide
  2. They break down into toxic and corrosive compounds
  3. They convert into a different refrigerant
  4. They become more stable and less toxic
WhyHalogenated refrigerants decompose in high heat into acids and other toxic gases. The breakdown products are far more hazardous than the refrigerant itself. Source: general refrigeration practice (refrigerant safety data).

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