Halfords Air Conditioning Measure & Charge - Any good?

mattyprice4004 · 1 May 2009 at 10:36

Was looking at getting my air con done, but as I got the Halfords trade card I thought I'd give this a try.

Has anyone used it, and with what success? Link: Air Conditioning Measure & Charge

Edit: Does the Rover 400 have a standard charge connection? Need to make sure it fits mine as BL cars have a reputation for using using unusual connectors lol

I need aircon!

monkey_boy · 1 May 2009 at 10:46

I'm sure I paid about £45 for KwikFit to do my aircon properly. Why would you do it with air con in a can for a £5 saving?

LizardKing · 1 May 2009 at 10:48

I had a mobile Aircon guy discharge and recharge my aircon for something like £50 including an additive that's suppose to help stop leaks, i think i'd rather spend the extra tenner

I'd check that the Gas used in your car is the modern type (R134a) as afaik its now illegal to recharge the old type (R12)

Janesy B · 1 May 2009 at 10:50

I wouldn't trust a Halfords monkey. Get it done properly, it'll only cost you a tenner or so more.

monkey_boy · 1 May 2009 at 11:02

Janesy B said:
I wouldn't trust a Halfords monkey. Get it done properly, it'll only cost you a tenner or so more.

This is a DIY thing, so he won't even get a halfords monkey 'helping'

mattyprice4004 · 1 May 2009 at 11:03

It's for the RR trip tomorrow, I'm at work til 6 so need to pick a DIY kit up myself.

Janesy B · 1 May 2009 at 11:04

monkey_boy said:
This is a DIY thing, so he won't even get a halfords monkey 'helping'

Ah right, I see. It's not the kind of job i'd like to do myself. I'm a massive wimp when it comes to compressed gas

OllyM · 1 May 2009 at 11:12

Two things.

One, those cans are pointless and don't do a proper job. Two, if your aircon doesn't work at all there's obviously a reason why - no doubt because all the gas has leaked out due to a hole or something in the system, so regassing it with one of those cans is not only illegal it's also a waste of time.

mattyprice4004 · 1 May 2009 at 11:37

Janesy B said:
Ah right, I see. It's not the kind of job i'd like to do myself. I'm a massive wimp when it comes to compressed gas

+1

And also, never mind then

on my old 400 it worked for about 4 months then packed up again. The planet can suffer, my deathsmog is more harmful!

But if it's going to be inferior to a Kwik Fit charge I'll just use the sunroof

Phil W · 1 May 2009 at 16:09

My friend bought himself a DIY kit from eBay i think, he re-charged mine for £30 or so when i had the 206.

If you can't get to a garage it will work as a stop-gap, but wouldn't you rather just save the £30-£40 and go to a garage after the RR Day? I'm sure your windows work...

welshy46 · 2 May 2009 at 13:55

save your money and put it towards a decent car

mattpc · 2 May 2009 at 17:58

I wouldn't bother. The only thing I have ever done to my aircon system is use one of those cans that you set off in the cockpit and then close the door and the can sprays all this stuff that gets in to the air conditioning system to clean out all the horrible bacteria etc that builds up in the system and makes it smell. If my aircon failed I would have it serviced by the local specialist.

manic_man · 2 May 2009 at 18:45

As terrible as Kwik Fit are, they will struggle to get this wrong as its machine operated.

£45, does a full vacuum test, and refill, whole thing takes about an hour an they literally dont even touch it during that time.

I'd do that myself rather than using a can...

loltim · 2 May 2009 at 20:42

mattpc said:
I wouldn't bother. The only thing I have ever done to my aircon system is use one of those cans that you set off in the cockpit and then close the door and the can sprays all this stuff that gets in to the air conditioning system to clean out all the horrible bacteria etc that builds up in the system and makes it smell. If my aircon failed I would have it serviced by the local specialist.

Is that just for getting rid of bacteria and nasties etc? Which one did you use?

mattpc · 2 May 2009 at 20:47

Tim said:
Is that just for getting rid of bacteria and nasties etc? Which one did you use?

Yeah, you use it when the aircon starts to give off a nasty rotten egg type aroma. You switch the car on with the aircon going and then activate this can of horrible stuff which basically flushes out all the bad stuff by spraying this stuff in to the cockpit of your car which the aircon must breathe in. I just bought what I could find at Halfords and I have to say it worked a treat.