Re-charging Air-Con - how often?

[marer13]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone would advice how often you are supposed to re-charge the Air-con? I re-charged it last year and it seems like it needs re-charging again - it only blows warm air.

Does Air-Con need re-charging every year?

 

[zach225]

i would say its more likely that your compressor has gone,

should last a few years i would have thought

 

[marer13]

My Ibiza is 2005, could it be a compressor? Is there a way I could check it or should the garage be able to check it for me?

I enquired with Kwik-Fit about the re-charging and they said - Every year....

 

[AndyHazza]

If it was done last year and was fine, then i would say it is one of 2 things. Either you have a leak on the aircon system, or the pressure switch is knackered. The compressor could have gone, but i haven't seen any ibiza's havinbg this problem yet, so would be a worst case really.

Best bet is to get test done with UV dye to see if and where there is a leak, or check for any fault codes connected to the AC pressure switch.

 

[marer13]

Thank you for a quick reply.

Does it mean going to the garage? Could it be done by someone else?

If it needs to be done by a garage, would you recommend a place? I'm based in London but I can drive let's say ab.100 miles or so (it may be worthy).

 

[AndyHazza]

Tuningwerks are in Croyden and could help you out i'm sure they are an APR dealer of ours. Otherwise there are a number of sponsers on here that may be near to you

You will need to go to a place that has had training in aircon and has all the relevant equipment to check everything.

 

[marer13]

Thanks Andy!

I will contact the guys in Croydon and see what they say.

 

[marer13]

I've looked on Tuningwerks website - nothing about Air-Con...

 

[FR3000]

Had mine done for first time in November 2009, had the car since new in March 2005. It had only lost 50grams of refrigerant over that period so I doubt that annually is necessary - maybe every two years perhaps.

 

[RUM4MO]

I tend to agree, all cars will lose some charge over 12 months, mainly through the walls of the flexible pipes, but to think that they need topped up every 12 months is just not right, these systems will tolerate quite a bit of under-loading before the performance becomes crap. Needing topped up every year will mean that there is a system leak and reloading every year is against "the spirit of the rules" - but as these are small (weight of gas) systems and folk tend to move from A/C place to A/C place tracability of weight of gas loaded per year would get lost.

 

[marer13]

What would you advice?

Shall I get it recharged or find a place to check the system? Where could I do it? I was thinking about going to kwik-fit...

 

[RUM4MO]

Personally, I'd tend to search out a local mobile AUTO AC fixer as he needs to know his stuff and his overheads will be lower than main dealers. He will have all he needs to recover the load, pressure test the system and find any leaks - then sort them. Most of the other places like garages just have an automatic system that will tolerate a smallish leak, refill the system - only for you to need to revist them same time next year.

Yellow pages or internet would be my first port of call for finding one.

 

[marer13]

Thanks a lot for the help.

I don't know if it changes anything but when I did service in december (with Seat dealer), they told me there was a leak in the radiator that would need to be fixed.
As they quoted me £600 for that, I didn't do it and everything was fine (the level of coolant was fine all the time).

Would that have anything to do?

 

[RUM4MO]

No no, as you have guessed that would only cause a loss of water, the AC has its own condensing radiator sort of thing - but if something, stones etc, have got in through the front of the car and damaged the water radiator, then it is possible that the same stones etc have also damaged the AC's condensor as its mounted at the front as well - just a possibility.

 

[marer13]

Thank you very much for your help!

I will look for a local AC fixer.

You were of much help, I appreciate it.

If you ever need graphic/web design/photography help - let me know. I'll be happy to help

Marek


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Marek Mularczyk

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[krussel]

Are those home diy kits any good ? The ones that look like fire extinguisher and plastic pipes

 

[nickfantastic]

My ibiza recently had a aircon fault. i work in a garage so i regassed it several times however after weeks found it was warm again. on closser inspection found the aircon pipe to the left side of the engine bay was leaking. it could be this. its really visable. mite be a good idea to check here. if its leaking u will see a bright green fluid present

 

[marer13]

I've found this product on the internet:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_201507_langId_-1_categoryId_165632

What do you think about that? Shall I invest in that and do it myself? I like that it also checks the level of refrigerant and seals small leaks.

Please advice

 

[techie]

Those things will be illegal now.

http://www.motor.org.uk/employers/new-air-conditioning-requirements.html

You cant fill an ac system with R134a if you think it has a leak, venting the gas knowingly to asmostphere carries a 100k fine.

 

[RUM4MO]

I've found this product on the internet:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_201507_langId_-1_categoryId_165632

What do you think about that? Shall I invest in that and do it myself? I like that it also checks the level of refrigerant and seals small leaks.

Please advice

Even forgetting what Techie has said (which is true for commercial operations), you would really just be wasting more of your money buying these products - which should have disappeared from the shelves (only to turn up on EBAY) by now. I'd still say get the root cause of the probelm dealt with as it will turn out cheaper in the long run. How well you can gauge the system performance with this kit remains to to proved - ever wonder why proper fridge folk invest in manifold/gauge sets? That gauge is only to help you prevent over charging the system and so only gives a "ADD" and "OKAY" and "TOO HIGH" sectors - wording might be slightly different.