What is the required evacuation level for a very high-pressure appliance?

0 inches of mercury vacuum, with old or new equipment

EPA 608 Type 2 Practice Test (High-Pressure)

Type II covers medium-, high- and very high-pressure equipment, which includes systems running on R-22 and R-410A (40 CFR 82.161(a)(1)(ii); 82.152). It's the type most A/C and refrigeration techs need.

Expect questions on leak detection, leak repair rates, evacuation levels and recovery. For example, appliances with 50 lb or more of CFC or HCFC refrigerant must be repaired when they leak faster than 10% a year for comfort cooling, 20% for commercial refrigeration or 30% for industrial process refrigeration (40 CFR 82.157). The Type II test is closed-book and proctored (Appendix D (a)). Try 10 free questions.

Free Type II practice test: 10 questions

Type II: 10 questions, instant feedback, and the rule each answer comes from.

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What does EPA Type 2 certification cover?

Type II lets you maintain, service, repair or dispose of medium-, high- and very high-pressure appliances, except small appliances and motor vehicle A/C (82.161(a)(1)(ii)). A high-pressure appliance uses a refrigerant with a liquid saturation pressure between 170 and 355 psia at 104 °F, such as R-22, R-407C or R-410A (82.152). The test is 25 Core questions plus 25 Type II questions (Appendix D (d)), and you need 18 of 25 in each.

Type 2 practice questions (free)

Five sample questions from the free set. The test above uses the 10 free Type II questions; Standard unlocks all 57.

Using recovery equipment made on or after November 15, 1993, a high-pressure appliance with 200 lb or more of refrigerant must be evacuated to:
1. A 4 inches of mercury vacuum
2. B 15 inches of mercury vacuum
3. C 10 inches of mercury vacuum
4. D 0 inches of mercury vacuum
Show the answer
C. 10 inches of mercury vacuum
High-pressure appliances with 200 lb or more go to 10 in. Hg with newer equipment.

Source: 40 CFR 82.156 Proper evacuation of refrigerant, § 82.156(a), Table 1
Using recovery equipment made before November 15, 1993, a high-pressure appliance with 200 lb or more must be evacuated to:
1. A 15 inches of mercury vacuum
2. B 4 inches of mercury vacuum
3. C 10 inches of mercury vacuum
4. D 0 inches of mercury vacuum
Show the answer
B. 4 inches of mercury vacuum
With older equipment, the level for high-pressure appliances of 200 lb or more is 4 in. Hg.

Source: 40 CFR 82.156 Proper evacuation of refrigerant, § 82.156(a), Table 1
Using recovery equipment made on or after November 15, 1993, a medium-pressure appliance with under 200 lb must be evacuated to:
1. A 10 inches of mercury vacuum
2. B 0 inches of mercury vacuum
3. C 15 inches of mercury vacuum
4. D 25 mm Hg absolute
Show the answer
A. 10 inches of mercury vacuum
Medium-pressure appliances under 200 lb go to 10 in. Hg with newer equipment, or 4 in. Hg with older equipment.

Source: 40 CFR 82.156 Proper evacuation of refrigerant, § 82.156(a), Table 1
Using recovery equipment made on or after November 15, 1993, a medium-pressure appliance with 200 lb or more must be evacuated to:
1. A 10 inches of mercury vacuum
2. B 4 inches of mercury vacuum
3. C 0 inches of mercury vacuum
4. D 15 inches of mercury vacuum
Show the answer
D. 15 inches of mercury vacuum
Medium-pressure appliances of 200 lb or more go to 15 in. Hg with newer equipment.

Source: 40 CFR 82.156 Proper evacuation of refrigerant, § 82.156(a), Table 1
What is the required evacuation level for a very high-pressure appliance?
1. A 15 inches of mercury vacuum
2. B 25 mm Hg absolute
3. C 0 inches of mercury vacuum, with old or new equipment
4. D 10 inches of mercury vacuum
Show the answer
C. 0 inches of mercury vacuum, with old or new equipment
Very high-pressure appliances go to 0 in. Hg with any equipment.

Source: 40 CFR 82.156 Proper evacuation of refrigerant, § 82.156(a), Table 1

Leak repair rates for Type 2

For appliances with 50 lb or more of a CFC or HCFC refrigerant: 20% a year for commercial refrigeration, 30% for industrial process refrigeration and 10% for comfort cooling and other appliances. Leaks must be repaired within 30 days, or 120 days where an industrial process shutdown is needed (82.157; EPA summary).

Since January 1, 2026, a similar rule covers HFCs and other substitutes with a global warming potential above 53 in appliances with 15 lb or more. It excludes residential and light-commercial A/C and heat pumps (40 CFR 84.106).

Required evacuation levels

Required levels of evacuation, in inches of Hg vacuum unless noted (40 CFR 82.156, Table 1; excludes small appliances, MVACs and MVAC-like appliances)
Type of appliance	Recovery equipment made before Nov 15, 1993	Recovery equipment made on or after Nov 15, 1993
Very high-pressure appliance	0	0
High-pressure appliance, or isolated component of such appliance, with a full charge of less than 200 pounds of refrigerant	0	0
High-pressure appliance, or isolated component of such appliance, with a full charge of 200 pounds or more of refrigerant	4	10
Medium-pressure appliance, or isolated component of such appliance, with a full charge of less than 200 pounds of refrigerant	4	10
Medium-pressure appliance, or isolated component of such appliance, with a full charge of 200 pounds or more of refrigerant	4	15
Low-pressure appliance	25 mm Hg absolute	25 mm Hg absolute

Recovery techniques on the test

System-dependent (passive) recovery equipment may not be used on appliances with more than 15 lb of refrigerant, unless it's permanently attached as a pump-out unit (82.156(e)). EPA's Type II outline also lists recovering liquid first and the factors that speed recovery (EPA test topics).

Type 2 study guide

Read the Type II section of the study guide, and keep the numbers on the EPA 608 cheat sheet. Don't skip Core: it's half of the test. Core practice test.

Type 2 or Universal?

Universal adds Type I and Type III, two more 25-question sections, and covers every kind of equipment. See universal EPA certification.

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