Air con re gas

Alanp

The other day a lady where I work mentioned her garage said her air con needed a re gas, I asked if she used it regularly to which she replied that she didn’t, I also asked her if the air con was cold , yes she said, vw want £149 to re gas it, I tried to explain that she needed to use it more often, I use mine all year round just adjusting the temperature to the required setting , so , if the air con is used on a regular basis, and it’s cold , does it ever need regassing?

daveyjp

If its cold its working, don't touch anything.

Alanp

daveyjp said:

If its cold its working, don't touch anything.

I tried to tell her this but to no avail 

forgotmyname

Yes they can need regassing. No fixed point though, all down to the seals...  If a seal starts to dry out or fail then gas will
escape.  Seals have failed within a year and there are 10 year old seals still sealing 100%.

Only way to tell if it needs a regass is get it checked.

Grey_Critic

***vw want £149 to re gas it,***

How Much? Someone is having a joke!

facade

Grey_Critic said:

***vw want £149 to re gas it,***

How Much? Someone is having a joke!

It will be the "new" R1234yf gas. It is ferociously expensive compared to the dirt cheap environment destroying R134a that older cars use.

Richard53

Alanp said:

I tried to explain that she needed to use it more often, I use mine all year round just adjusting the temperature to the required setting , so , if the air con is used on a regular basis, and it’s cold , does it ever need regassing?

On my Ford Mondeo, the default AC setting was 'on', so I left it on 52 weeks a year. For 7 years it worked perfectly and never needed any attention. When I sold the car it was blowing as cold as on day one. Cool interior in the summer and clear windows in the winter. Modern aircon is designed to be used full time.

As an aside, I have had a couple of short-termers since then which had ineffective aircon. I paid for a regas for both of them, with no effect at all. In both cases, I think the compressor was on the way out both times - an expensive repair for a banger and possibly not worth it.

facade

Richard53 said:

Alanp said:

I tried to explain that she needed to use it more often, I use mine all year round just adjusting the temperature to the required setting , so , if the air con is used on a regular basis, and it’s cold , does it ever need regassing?

On my Ford Mondeo, the default AC setting was 'on', so I left it on 52 weeks a year. For 7 years it worked perfectly and never needed any attention. When I sold the car it was blowing as cold as on day one. Cool interior in the summer and clear windows in the winter. Modern aircon is designed to be used full time.

As an aside, I have had a couple of short-termers since then which had ineffective aircon. I paid for a regas for both of them, with no effect at all. In both cases, I think the compressor was on the way out both times - an expensive repair for a banger and possibly not worth it.

Debris from the compressor blocks the jet in the expansion valve. The entire system needs thoroughly cleaning out and a new pump & expansion valve.  Happens on a time basis, I've had it on 2 cars I've owned from new at about 3000 hours running time.

So much for "designed to be used full time", more like "designed to be used full time and it will just last the warranty out"

Richard53

facade said:

So much for "designed to be used full time", more like "designed to be used full time and it will just last the warranty out"

Well, 7 years fault-free with full-time use, and no sign of deterioration, suggests it isn't *that* bad.

The point I was making was that full-time use of aircon is good for it and people shouldn't 'use it sparingly' as some do, in order to make it last longer. The reverse is true.

facade

Richard53 said:

facade said:

So much for "designed to be used full time", more like "designed to be used full time and it will just last the warranty out"

Well, 7 years fault-free with full-time use, and no sign of deterioration, suggests it isn't *that* bad.

The point I was making was that full-time use of aircon is good for it and people shouldn't 'use it sparingly' as some do, in order to make it last longer. The reverse is true.

Yes, better to wear it out properly getting the benefit of it than have seals fail prematurely from lack of use. 6 or 7 years is actually how long mine lasted, switched on all the time.

It was the commuting that put the time on it, on the motorway I could probably have got getting on for 200,000 miles of continual use out of both of them.

fred990

I do my own now with an EZ Chill system....it's not quite as good as a re-gas at the garage but good enough. The garage I used in the past never fixed the leaking seals but happily charged for the refrigerant.