Car windscreen wet on inside?

thegirlintheattic

britishboy wrote: »

Cheers everyone, I dont park over a puddle or drain, but car is left locked for a week or more sometimes without being used.

Pollen filter was changed 2 years ago, is it worth doing again just in case? Aircon is never on (we live in UK remember )

What causes condensation?

Thanks again everyone

The air con seals can dry out if not used. It is recommended to use your aircon at least once a week to prevent this. Many new cars automatically turn air con on when you set the heating to dismist.

headpin

ROY47 wrote: »

Absolute rubbish that statement !!
use it once a week or it won't work ?????????? where did you find that ? In a xmas cracker ? :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

my car isn't used for weeks and weeks sometimes , we use the wife's car

mine has done 5275 miles in 5 1/2 years and

my aircon still works perfectly !

It is not rubbish, just a poor description. The air con system contains a lubricant in the gas/liquid that is used. This lubricates both the seals and the moving parts of the condenser, compressor, etc. if you do not use the system the lubricant is not circulated through the system and the seals can dry out and will fail. It is not automatic, but it is likely after time. The device is to run the system at least once a week to ensure that the lubricant is circulated around. It is a lot cheaper to run the system once per week than to have to replace the seals, especially if it result in the condenser and/or compressor failing.

It is like everything else you can be lucky and never operate the system and it will still work fine when you douse it. However, a lot of people will find that they need to pay £££ for repairs that a weekly run would have avoided.

JoeyGrey

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

what car have you got and what's the age of it?

I've got a year old Golf, so filters should be okay. But I had the same problem with my last car which was a '55 Citroen C2, so that makes it sound like it's something I'm doing wrong.

Oh and my a/c automatically comes on when I start the engine, so it isn't that.

Might try the Silica-Gel idea though. We used to leave salt in the caravan we used to collect the moisture. Maybe that's worth a try too.

reeac

ROY47 wrote: »

Absolute rubbish that statement !!
use it once a week or it won't work ?????????? where did you find that ? In a xmas cracker ? :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

my car isn't used for weeks and weeks sometimes , we use the wife's car

mine has done 5275 miles in 5 1/2 years and

my aircon still works perfectly !

It needs to to cope with that hot air.

reeac

ROY47 wrote: »

Absolute rubbish that statement !!
use it once a week or it won't work ?????????? where did you find that ? In a xmas cracker ? :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

my car isn't used for weeks and weeks sometimes , we use the wife's car

mine has done 5275 miles in 5 1/2 years and

my aircon still works perfectly !

I've now looked at my car handbooks and can give a less flippant reply:

1998 XJ8 3.2: "The refrigeration system should be run briefly at least once a week to lubricate the compressor seal and prevent refrigerant leakage". I've had that car for nearly 11 years now and the A/C still works beautifully, having needed no maintenance during my ownership.

2005 Jazz 1.4: " Run the air conditioning at least once a week during the cold weather months...... This circulates the lubricating oil contained in the refrigerant". I've had this car for over 7 years now etc., etc.

Furthermore I know quite a few people who have experienced A/C failure and it always seems to be the case that they only try to use it under extremely hot conditions i.e. about twice a year in the U.K.

oldagetraveller

britishboy wrote: »

Thanks OAT
How long roughly does it last til it needs regenerating? My car is a large people carrier, not sure if that will effect the 'discharge time'?

Obviously depends on the time of year but in autumn/winter, depending on the weather too, it can be two or three weeks. It doesn't stop it completely but I've found there's a definite improvement.
You need to eliminate any other, already suggested, possible reasons first though eg. water leaking into car, leaking heater, dirty pollen/cabin filter etc. Otherwise you're tackling the symptom rather than the cause.
You might need two bags for a larger vehicle, mine's only a comparitively small Toyota Yaris.:)