Air con blowing warm air 1 hour after recharge

neil.woos

Well the OP, which mobile AC service company did you use? Was it www.wechillanycar.com?


A lot of these jockeys aren't mechanics or properly trained HVAC technicians. It's would be like going to kwik-fit and getting a gas re-charge from them! And what's the point in adding a UV dye in the system if in most cases they won't be able to repair the leak? If there is a leak, its either unfeasible to repair or you'd be better off taking it to a proper garage.

neil.woos

Cow boy companies like http://www.wechillanycar.com don't actually do anything useful. They can't fix the issues at your house because they won't have the right part or even the right knowledge to repair it. All they do is re-gass your system irrespective of how big of a leak you have. A completely useless service.

Tinuel

neil.woos wrote: »

Well the OP, which mobile AC service company did you use? Was it www.wechillanycar.com?


A lot of these jockeys aren't mechanics or properly trained HVAC technicians. It's would be like going to kwik-fit and getting a gas re-charge from them! And what's the point in adding a UV dye in the system if in most cases they won't be able to repair the leak? If there is a leak, its either unfeasible to repair or you'd be better off taking it to a proper garage.

Yeah, I will take it to a garage to check, lesson learned without a shadow of doubt.

Tinuel

neil.woos wrote: »

Well the OP, which mobile AC service company did you use? Was it www.wechillanycar.com?


A lot of these jockeys aren't mechanics or properly trained HVAC technicians. It's would be like going to kwik-fit and getting a gas re-charge from them! And what's the point in adding a UV dye in the system if in most cases they won't be able to repair the leak? If there is a leak, its either unfeasible to repair or you'd be better off taking it to a proper garage.

Yes, it was that one. Avoid like the plague.

neil.woos

huh and everyone seems to be telling the OP I am wrong! See, how did I know it was that useless company that the OP used. They don't have the parts or knowledge to fix on site, all they do is a useless gas-recharge on a already leaking system!


They aren't Engineers guys!

AdrianC

neil.woos wrote: »

huh and everyone seems to be telling the OP I am wrong! See, how did I know it was that useless company that the OP used.

A not-particularly-lucky guess, given that they're the first google result for "mobile car aircon 49.99".

PROPER mobile aircon outfits certainly CAN fix a lot of problems on-site. I used one years ago - they not only diagnosed that there was a pinhole in a hard line, but found it, fixed it, vac-tested it, regassed it - and it stayed working for another year or two before I sold the car. All in a pay'n'display car park outside my then office.

Equally, if the problem is a faulty compressor or condenser, being in a workshop doesn't mean they WILL have or be able to get the parts.

doningtonphil

I sort of hijacked this thread with my on related question. I would take it back to the dealer, but they are in Norfolk, I am in Cumbria!!!

To be fair, it has been a very good process in buying the vehicle, and the garage that did the air con regas say the dealer normally like to get things sorted (he did a service and cam kit change on mine before I picked it up)

the garage view is that it maintained vacuum for 30 mins so there can't have been a leak, he is happy he supplied a working system. His understanding of his system (which may or may not indicate how competent he is at using it) is that 30mins of maintaining vacuum = leak free system. It is possible the dealer will take the same "it must have happened since" line.

I suppose I need to know, could a system that passed a vacuum test still have a fault that would let the gas escape in a few days (or in the OP case, a few hours) and that a vacuum test alone is not evidence of a non fault system

AdrianC

doningtonphil wrote: »

I suppose I need to know, could a system that passed a vacuum test still have a fault that would let the gas escape in a few days (or in the OP case, a few hours) and that a vacuum test alone is not evidence of a non fault system

Holding a vacuum does show that the system doesn't have any glaringly obvious leaks, but it's not infallible, not least because the seals are being worked the opposite way around - rather than holding pressure in, they're holding pressure out.

The only thing that'll give you a foolproof test of whether pressure can be held is... refilling the system and seeing if it holds pressure. You now know it doesn't, and with the UV dye, you can investigate where the leak is. £50 doesn't pay for a lot of diagnostic time, so it's not actually that bad value.

The reason it worked then suddenly didn't do anything is because there's a pressure switch that prevents the compressor from being engaged once the gas pressure drops below a certain level - this stops the compressor being run dry, since it's lubricated by oil in suspension in the gas.

BeenThroughItAll

neil.woos wrote: »

huh and everyone seems to be telling the OP I am wrong! See, how did I know it was that useless company that the OP used. They don't have the parts or knowledge to fix on site, all they do is a useless gas-recharge on a already leaking system!

They aren't Engineers guys!

Because they told you in post 12?

Tinuel wrote: »

He did, but said that it was to identify at a later date in the case of a small leak. I don't recall him mentioning any pressure tests or tests to pick leaks.
He plugged the cables in, said that the air con gas was at 0, recharged it and job done.

Anyone knows the wechillanycar.com people?

Get a life DM. Anyone working on an AC system has to have some training and be certified to do so or they are BREAKING THE LAW, just like gas fitters without a Gas Safe registration.

They will mostly be perfectly capable of finding a leak and fixing it - the difference is they probably won't want to. Whether or not they choose to use their training is irrelevant. Ignoring training and best-practice isn't the same thing as not having it or knowing it; didn't they teach you that in 'management consulting 101'?

almillar

I would take it back to the dealer, but they are in Norfolk, I am in Cumbria!!!

This doesn't help much, but just to let you know this isn't the garage's problem - you chose to buy the car there, so that's where you have to go back to if you want them to sort out problems.