Air con or econ?

Dexter said:

All my cars have had names .... msot being co cars too!! Worked for a few car manufacturers! Oh and Dexter has a girlfriends, Marth the Marvellous Multipla ................ blinking brilliant she is.

Dave - its not accessory and no it has little difference on the idling speed of Dex.

So I think I win this round don't you think?

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Nope! I always thought an accessory was something that is not actually needed for the car to do its job. An accessory or I would concede an 'extra' (manufactures term) or even an 'enhancement' so I am happy with 'accessory'.

Same as electric windows, not really needed but an accessory that enhances your 'driving experience'..............blimey I should have been a saleman!

With regards to the air con (IMHO an accessory) not altering the idle (on your car) although in your words "had little affect" as I mentioned in my earlier post, modern cars tend to have devices so the selection of A/C will not alter the running of the engine.

If your car is old (like mine) then selecting A/C will alter the idle speed and whether a modern vehicle or not using the air con WILL consume power. If your car is old and the air con does not alter the idle speed or affect consumption then its not working.

If your car is petrol then I suggest a cheap way to prove the A/C consumes power is fit a vacuum gauge. Switching on the headlights can affect the load on the alternator and hence the manifold vacuum will alter.

If the engine is fitted with a carburettor the additional manifold vacuum will pull more fuel through, if injected the air flow/air mass meter will note the additional load and increase the duration of the injection pulse, both as you can guess will lead to more fuel passing into the engine.

As also mentioned in my earlier post, checkout the electrical loads applied when the A/C is on, its no coincidence that cars fitted with A/C normaly have a higher amperage alternator in the spec.

Modern technology has allowed small engined cars to have A/C without it reducing fuel economy and power to a point of now being tolerable.

If you are a little bored you might want to take off the A/C belt on your car and run a longer one to the back wheel of a bicycle and then select air con and see if you have to pedal harder?

You cannot overturn the laws of physics.

Good discussion though

regards

Dave

FM lol!!! Thank you....

OK Dexter is a '53 plate TD5 with all but a winter pack. All bits necessary for the trip to the super market.

I do not think it makes any difference to the MPG and when not running it, as its very wet here, it just steams up so the answer, when I drive it its on.

It is interestind tho Dave thank you. I am gonna discuss this with my Dad as he will find it interesting too

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly but my mate's TD5 aircon has a mouldy smell when the aircon is first turned on - does anybody know how to fix that? I suspect it needs cleaning out but where to start???

loook back earlier in the thread, somone posted how to make the car smell nice.

KwikFit offer a "debugging" service for aircon that allegedly removes/kills bacteria (Bugs, geddit? ) and gets rid of nasty niffs

sp33der said:

KwikFit offer a "debugging" service for aircon that allegedly removes/kills bacteria (Bugs, geddit? ) and gets rid of nasty niffs

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These guys quoted me £60 to look at the air con nd tell me whether it would work if they re loaded the freon (or whatever gas they use nowadays).

If the air con has not been used for a year or two, would I need to replace seals, gaskets etc before refilling and hoping for a cooler temperature during our long hot summers here in UK?

Pretty sure the debug at my local K Fit was 14.95 and I think 40 for a regas

Ryder said:

If the air con has not been used for a year or two, would I need to replace seals, gaskets etc before refilling and hoping for a cooler temperature during our long hot summers here in UK?

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If the system has not been used but not dismantled in any way then it might be okay without a regas.

However, assuming the system is not working the only way to see if the whole system is gas tight is to have it regassed and see if it works.

Incidently, about the freon or whatever you was asking about, most systems now use IIRC a gas called R134 which replaced the R12 which used to be used. R12 had this somewhat irritating habit of blinding/choking people in the even of a component failing inside the car!

If your (or anybody else's) car has the R12 it can normaly be regassed with the later R134 without other components needing to be changed.

regards

Dave

Hey guys, I just watched an episode of the American TV show "Mythbusters" last week where one of the subjects covered was, "air-con" v "windows wide open" to see which was more economical on two identical SUV's.

They loaded up both vehicles with driver, camera crew plus equipment, and enough fuel and food to keep them going for a 7 hour drive around a two mile oval race circuit at a constant 60 odd mph.

Health and saftey stepped in and said that it would not be safe to drive 2 standard road vehicles at that speed for that length of time with that load so they opted for plan B.

They drained the petrol tanks on both vehicles, and then added 5 gallons of petrol to each one.
Then they headed off around the 2mile circuit but at a lower constant speed of 40odd miles an hour until they both ran out of fuel, One with a/c on, the other without, but it's windows wide open .
The "A/C ON" vehicle ran out first, but the "windows Wide Open" SUV continued for 15 more laps giving the obvious overall 30 more miles figure.

It wasn't even close!

PS for anyone who watches the show the biggest shock was that they actually have a Health and Safety officer, the stuff those guys do...!!

Dave 2000 said:

If the system has not been used but not dismantled in any way then it might be okay without a regas.

However, assuming the system is not working the only way to see if the whole system is gas tight is to have it regassed and see if it works.

Incidently, about the freon or whatever you was asking about, most systems now use IIRC a gas called R134 which replaced the R12 which used to be used. R12 had this somewhat irritating habit of blinding/choking people in the even of a component failing inside the car!

If your (or anybody else's) car has the R12 it can normaly be regassed with the later R134 without other components needing to be changed.

regards

Dave

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Not entirely correct to say the only way to see the system is gas tight is to have it regassed. I had a very small leak and the Air con engineer (he does that for a living unlike Kwik Fit) fed a small amount of flouresence and some air into the system and detected the leak using UV light, he was then able to find the faulty pipe replace it and then dry out all the system and regas in total I think the bill was around £70 - not including the pipe

ooooooh didn't know that! Thanks for the information, as usual it will help someone someday.

many thanks

regards

Dave

Dave 2000 said:

Air con is a must here in Spain but another 'must' is regular use as already advised, also if you use the 'recirculate' setting for too long then condensation builds up in the car furnishings. This can lead to nasty smells after awhile, use the recirculate setting as little as possible.

Incidentaly, if you have a 'smelly' car then you can buy a can of 'stuff' (technical term) that is opened like a can coke and put on the floor in the car. All windows are shut and the air con is put on recirculate (how ironic) which then using an anti bacterial 'mist' kills the bacteria in the furnishings and giving the car a nice smell.

NOTE!!!!! No you do not sit in the car with this stuff going around and around!

NO NOT ME, a friend, and his throat was as rough as a bears a*se for a week!

regards

Dave

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Hi Dave, you don't know the name of that "stuff" do you - sounds like a great idea to freshen the car up!!
Cheers
Nick

this sorta stuff.

Thanks for that mad hat man, also try halfords and kwik fit.

regards

Dave