ARKSEN air conditioners
1 report to CPSC, the latest made Jun 8, 2016. A report isn’t a recall.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own search is on saferproducts.gov.
At a glance
From SaferProducts.gov, released Oct 25, 2026.
- 1report to CPSC
- Jun 8, 2016the latest report was made
- Jun 8, 2016the earliest
- 0with the company’s comments
- Brand
- ARKSEN
- Maker
- RGE Motor Direct, Inc.Makers, importers or sellers, as the reports name them
- Product
- Air conditionersCPSC’s product type: Air Conditioners (code 381), in Home Maintenance and Structures: Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning
By month
The numbers, as a table
| Month | Reports |
|---|---|
| June 2016 | 1 |
How badly anyone was hurt
- No one hurt 1 CPSC: Incident, No Injury
As each report says it, in short words; CPSC’s own words are under each.
The reports, as CPSC published them
Reports people made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC publishes each one after sending it to the company named, and doesn’t guarantee they’re accurate. A report isn’t a recall.
Each report is the words of the person who made it, as CPSC published them. The company’s comments, where CPSC published any, are set apart as the company’s own.
CPSC, SaferProducts.gov public database export. Released Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily.
-
No one hurt Made Jun 8, 2016, sent to the company Jul 15, 2016, published by CPSC Aug 2, 2016
The product, in the report: Air Conditioner Gauge Set used for maintenance of AC units; ARKSEN Bi-meter dual gauge set. http://www.ebay.com/itm/371234780439
I recently purchased an Air Conditioning Manifold-Dual-Gauge-Set supposedly designed for air conditioner connections and use with R404A R410A R22 HVAC units as a Diagnostic AC Charging Tool. Mine was purchased through eBay and manufactured in China by ARKSEN. http://www.ebay.com/itm/371234780439?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT .
There are about 5 different sets of these units manufactured by ARKSEN and I suspect that all of them suffer from the same defect which potentially may serious meme / life threatening. I was fortunate that I was not seriously injured by the product when it failed. After the failure, and in searching the internet for consumer complaints, I found that similar failures have happened to other people with similar potentially fatal incidents.
The units, used for testing, evacuating, and filling AC with various [Refrigerant]. They are built with plastic based valves which are attached to (screwed into) an aluminum manifold to regulate the [Refrigerant] flow and act as shut on/off the valves for evacuation and addition of Freon. The safety hazard when filling [Refrigerant] into the system is that the valves get potentially extremely cold (sub-zero). While apparently manufactured to service 800 psi (according to the specifications), they cannot tolerate the extreme cold created by restricted [Refrigerant] flow and they crack, allowing sub-zero [Refrigerant] to shoot as a spray from the unit in any random direction. In my instance the [Refrigerant] shot out at a 90 degree angle from the front and hence did not hit me in the face, but the potential of -150 degree [Refrigerant] at high force and volume was there. Instantaneous 3 degree freeze burns would have resulted had I been positioned a few feet to the left.
The knobs once frozen, having been chilled below 0 degrees by a restricted [Refrigerant] flow through them during a recharging / filling, should not cause them to crack. The pressure of [Refrigerant] from the tank, in my case R410A, is about 250 psi which chills to subzero instantly and could potentially be lethal when the valves crack. Clearly this inexpensive product is / contains a manufacturing defect hazard and should be removed from the market.
- Model
- ARKSEN Item # 002-AU-20386 Silver
- UPC
- 8 46183 11632 5
- Serial number
- none
- Bought from
- eBay Autoolusa
- Bought
- Jun 1, 2016
- Where
- Annandale, Virginia: Home/
Apartment/ Condominium - Who was involved
- Age 62, Male
- The reporter’s relation to them
- Self
- As this report names them
- Brand ARKSEN, made or sold by RGE Motor Direct, Inc.
- How badly, in CPSC’s words
- Incident, No Injury
CPSC’s disclaimer
Disclaimer: CPSC does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database on SaferProducts.gov, particularly with respect to information submitted by people outside of CPSC.
Word for word, from the disclaimer in CPSC’s export.
Sources
Sources
-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, SaferProducts.gov public database export.
Released Oct 25, 2026 and checked Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Reports of harm are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), on SaferProducts.gov. CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record.