Free EPA Section 608 practice for HVAC/R refrigerant certification — Core and Type I, II and III — in the real exam format, with a written explanation on every answer.
8 questions, about 4 minutes. No account needed — pick an answer to see whether it's right and read the explanation, the same explanations you get on every question in the full course.
Practice across the full question bank.
Understand why the correct answer works — not just which letter is right.
Spend more time on the questions you miss.
Practice under exam-style time pressure before exam day.
Every question explains why the answer is correct and defines the refrigerant and recovery terms it uses — so the rule sticks.
Questions are written from scratch against EPA Section 608 rules under the Clean Air Act — never copied from the real exam.
Every question and explanation is fully translated, with the English technical term kept alongside — the real exam is in English.
The whole EPA 608 course is free on LICENA. It's a practice tool, not a certifying body; passing our practice is not the certification itself.
Our practice mirrors the real exam: four sections (Core and Type I, II, III), with an exam mode that draws 25 questions per section. Universal certification means passing all four.
Exam structure, topics, study areas and official resources.
EPA Section 608 certification is a federal, nationwide requirement to work with refrigerants in stationary HVAC/R equipment under the Clean Air Act. It has four parts — Core plus Type I, II and III (all four together make Universal). Practice all four in the free sample above — no sign-up, with a written explanation on every question. This whole course is free on LICENA.
Every EPA 608 certification starts with Core, whose 25 questions are the same whichever type you are after. EPA's published topics cover ozone science, the Clean Air Act and Montreal Protocol, the Section 608 regulations, substitute refrigerants and oils, recovery techniques, safety and shipping. You need to know that R-12 is a CFC (chlorofluorocarbon), R-22 an HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) and R-134a an HFC (hydrofluorocarbon), that ozone-depletion potential runs highest for CFCs and lowest for HFCs, and that the venting prohibition covers servicing, disposal and substitutes alike. The trap is the “drop-in” replacement: EPA's topic list says there is no such thing, because substitutes are incompatible with many CFC and HCFC lubricants — esters with R-134a, alkylbenzenes with HCFCs — and blends fractionate, their components leaking at different rates.
A small appliance is fully manufactured, charged and hermetically sealed in a factory with five pounds or less of refrigerant: refrigerators and freezers, window and packaged-terminal air conditioners, dehumidifiers, under-the-counter ice makers, vending machines and drinking-water coolers. The section runs on recovery percentages and the November 15, 1993 equipment date, which is where candidates lose points: with equipment made before that date you recover 80 percent of the charge; with equipment made on or after it, 90 percent when the compressor runs and 80 percent when it does not. Passive (system-dependent) recovery has its own rules — run a working compressor while you recover, install both high- and low-side access valves when the compressor is dead, and take solderless access fittings back off afterwards.
Type II covers servicing and disposal of high- and very high-pressure appliances, except small appliances and motor vehicle air conditioners. Learn EPA's evacuation requirements as a table, not one number: a high-pressure appliance under 200 pounds only has to reach 0 inches of mercury vacuum, while the same appliance at 200 pounds or more needs 10 inches with equipment made on or after November 15, 1993. Around it sit the rules tested constantly — system-dependent equipment may not be used on an appliance holding more than 15 pounds unless permanently attached as a pump-out unit; nitrogen alone is the preferred leak-test gas, with nitrogen plus a trace of R-22 ahead of pure refrigerant; and after reaching the required vacuum you wait to see whether pressure creeps back up, meaning liquid refrigerant is still in the system or oil. Safety here means the ASHRAE Standard 15 equipment-room requirements and never energizing a hermetic compressor under vacuum. The C-20 HVAC practice test drills the installation side of the same job.
Low-pressure machines — the large centrifugal chillers running R-11, R-123 and similar — operate below atmospheric pressure, and that fact drives the section: air and moisture leak in rather than refrigerant leaking out, which is why the purge unit and its run time say so much about a chiller. Evacuation is one figure regardless of equipment age: 25 millimeters of mercury absolute. Water in the tubes freezes if you are careless, so circulate or remove it during evacuation and introduce vapor before liquid when recharging, through the evaporator charging valve. Oil is heated to 130°F before removal so dissolved refrigerant comes out of it rather than into the room. Pressurizing for a leak test is not free-form either: hot water or a built-in pressurization device first, nitrogen after; for a non-major repair the appliance goes to no more than 0 psig (pounds per square inch gauge) before opening.
EPA does not test anyone itself — you test through an EPA-approved certifying organization, and EPA states plainly that it neither reviews nor approves preparatory training or materials, ours included. Each test draws 25 questions from the core group plus 25 from each relevant technical group, so a single-type test is 50 questions and a Universal test is 100. Universal can be taken at once or built from passing scores on separate Type I, II and III tests. The passing score on the closed-book test is 70 percent; a mail-in Type I requires 84 percent. Type II, Type III and Universal must be closed book and proctored in a secure environment; Type I may be taken on site or, at some programs, by mail — but a mail-in Type I and an open-book Core cannot count toward Universal. Your program must report the result and issue your wallet card within 30 days; Section 608 credentials do not expire. EPA sets no fee, so each organization prices its own testing: check with a program from EPA's list of approved certification programs.
The LICENA EPA 608 course is 200 questions in four blocks of 50, one per exam section, and all of it is free. Twenty-five a day is about eight days for a full pass; the second pass over what you missed matters more than the first. Start with Core, since it is on every test you will sit, then add only the type you need. Use exam mode the way the real test is built — 25 per section, scored per section — and read the explanation even where you guessed right, because the exam rewords its facts. Jobsite safety comes up constantly here, so the OSHA construction practice test is a sensible companion. One honest caveat: passing our practice is not the certification, and LICENA is not a certifying organization.
The EPA 608 course is free on LICENA — Core and all three Type sections, no payment. If you're also getting a California contractor license, our CSLB trade banks (like C-10 Electrical) start with 3 days free — $9.99 the first month, then $19.99/month per course.
Continue EPA 608 practice Creating an account is free — no card needed.LICENA gives you practice questions to study with. We are not an accredited school and we do not guarantee that you will pass any exam.
EPA 608 certification is issued by EPA-approved certifying organizations, not by LICENA. LICENA provides practice only and is not affiliated with the EPA.