EPA 608 universal certification - section weighting and passing score by type?

Passed all four sections on my first attempt with scores between 76% and 88%. The questions are straightforward multiple choice and most come directly from the regulations or basic refrigeration theory - nothing tricky or ambiguous like some other trade exams.

Each section is graded independently and you need at least 70% on each to pass that section. You can pass some and retake only the ones you failed - so if you nail Type II but struggle with Type III, you don't redo the whole thing.

Core and each Type section are 25 questions each for 100 total questions.

The Core regulatory section is very memorization-heavy - venting prohibitions, safe disposal requirements, recordkeeping timelines. If you're shaky on the legal side of 608, spend at least a week just on Core before worrying about the Type-specific sections.

Type III low-pressure tripped me up because I'd barely touched centrifugal chillers in the field. The key things to know are low-pressure system characteristics, recovery procedures at or below atmospheric pressure, and the pressure-temperature relationships for R-11 and R-123.

Just passed Universal last month so I can actually answer this. The core section is weighted the most and it's not easy — you really need to know refrigerant recovery requirements cold, like the specific pounds-per-hour recovery rates and when you're legally required to use certified equipment. That tripped me up on a practice test before I started drilling free epa rules and compliance standards questions specifically, which honestly made the difference for me because the real exam leans hard on compliance scenarios, not just theory.

Type II and Type III sections are shorter but don't sleep on them. Your journeyman's probably right that you know the fundamentals, but knowing regs is different from knowing refrigeration. I'd spend your last week on venting prohibitions and the de minimis exemption — those showed up way more than I expected.