The purpose of this SAE Standard is to provide minimum performance and operating feature requirements for the recovery of HFC-134a (R-134a) refrigerant to be returned to a refrigerant reclamation facility that will process it to the appropriate ARI 700 Standard or allow for recycling of the recovered refrigerant to SAE J2788 specifications by using SAE J2788-certified equipment. It is not acceptable that the refrigerant removed from a mobile air-conditioning (A/C) system with this equipment be directly returned to a mobile A/C system.

This information applies to equipment used to service automobiles, light trucks, and other vehicles with similar HFC-134a (R-134a) A/C systems.

Improved refrigerant recovery equipment is required to ensure adequate refrigerant recovery to reduce emissions and provide for accurate recharging of mobile air conditioning systems. Therefore, 12 months following the publication date of these standard, it supercedes, SAE J1732.