Car air con

spacey2012

If the "gas" is low, it actually a liquid, you can buy a tin for around £11 from motor factors and the filling nozzle is usually under the nearside wheel arch cover.
Google will show you where.
It screws on, you pump the dispenser until the pressure gauge on the bottle reads green, remove, re-fit the dust cap and thats it done for £11, does around 4 cars as well.

worried_jim

spacey2012 wrote: »

If the "gas" is low, it actually a liquid, you can buy a tin for around £11 from motor factors and the filling nozzle is usually under the nearside wheel arch cover.
Google will show you where.
It screws on, you pump the dispenser until the pressure gauge on the bottle reads green, remove, re-fit the dust cap and thats it done for £11, does around 4 cars as well.

It is R134a gas and if you can get it cheaper than £40 a can you are doing better than me.

Jamie_Carter

gardner1 wrote: »

with air con you need to use it all year....or the seals dry out so a recharge will be useless
even in winter leave it turned on lowest setting and adjust temp

The recommendation is to use it for half an hour per month (otherwise you will push your fuel consumption up).

Using air con in winter is actually a good idea. It dries the air out, and will demist your car far quicker if you have the air con on hot.

Jamie_Carter

fred7777 wrote: »

F1 Autocentres do a recharge for just over £40.

They have automatic machines which do all the necessary leak testing and filling.

I have had two cars done their recently and they don't charge if there is a leak and they can't recharge.

If there is a problem then shop around for the best price to fix it. A local independent quotes £350 to supply and fit a new condenser to my Renault when if cost be £70 and 1/2 an hour to do it my self!

F1 are another chain to stay away from.

Jamie_Carter

spacey2012 wrote: »

If the "gas" is low, it actually a liquid, you can buy a tin for around £11 from motor factors and the filling nozzle is usually under the nearside wheel arch cover.
Google will show you where.
It screws on, you pump the dispenser until the pressure gauge on the bottle reads green, remove, re-fit the dust cap and thats it done for £11, does around 4 cars as well.

They used to be around £40 in Halfords. And rarely do the job properly.

gardner1

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

The recommendation is to use it for half an hour per month (otherwise you will push your fuel consumption up).

Using air con in winter is actually a good idea. It dries the air out, and will demist your car far quicker if you have the air con on hot.

having air con on lowest setting will make little difference in fuel consumpsion

Iceweasel

gardner1 wrote: »

having air con on lowest setting will make little difference in fuel consumpsion

I agree - never switch mine off. Makes little or no difference to fuel consumption.

I have 'climate control' these days and it's left on fully 'auto' all the time and delivers warm or cold air as required.

In my Freelander with 'normal' AC it was always on too - but I controlled the hot or cold with the temperature dial.

None of them have leaked or needed a re-gas.

It's leaving the AC unused/idle over the winter that usually puts paid to the seals and the repairs far outway the small increase in fuel consumption.

So my advise is get it fixed and use it much more often.

neilmcl

+1, mines on all the time too and fuel consumption hasn't been affected.

facade

Mine is on all the time because the ventilation is so poor in my car that the windows mist over as soon as it starts to rain (which is pretty much every day)

Weird_Nev

facade wrote: »

Mine is on all the time because the ventilation is so poor in my car that the windows mist over as soon as it starts to rain (which is pretty much every day)

Change your cabin pollen filter and give the inside of the glass a really good clean with glass cleaner and newspaper. It really helps.