How often do you re-gas your air conditioning?

I hardly ever use mine. Only use it when the windows steam up, is not using the AC bad for the unit?

Always thought they use more fuel and eat up a bit of the engine power.
 
lemonade said:
I hardly ever use mine. Only use it when the windows steam up, is not using the AC bad for the unit?

Always thought they use more fuel and eat up a bit of the engine power.
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No, it's really good for the system to be running all the time.

Power and fuel is probably more relevant on cars smaller than 2 liters.
 
Definitely the latter :p 120k miles and 10 years later and it's still in use every day and gets the car nice and cold in a matter of minutes and/or maintains a nice even 72F even when it's 110F outside :p Previous owners hadn't done it, I have no intention of doing it either unless it breaks!
 
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I had the Clio regassed when I bought it, it was 5 years old and for whatever reason it just wasn't cold at all. Once done it was fine though.

The S2000 has had it done twice in the last year as there was a leak or something that was fixed, and the old WRX was fine whilst I owned it.

Never noticed any real reduction in mpg from having it on all the time, as said I reckon it's probably only a real issue on smaller engines.
 
Never had mine regassed and you shouldn't need to if it's on all the time. Remember, AC is an air conditioner. It does its job just as well at 24c in winter as it does at 16c in summer :)
 
never... keep cars as cabs for 7 years at a time and ive never had a problem. (vag cars).
and i only use aircon when needed. ie demisting windows long runs in hot weather.
 
Mine needs regassing but that is only apparent to me because Honda said so on my last service. Today is the first day since I have had the car that I could have done with it.

If its hot, setting the blowers to cold has sufficed for the time being. I'm going to get the ac done soon though. I had it in my ST and it was brilliant and used it quite often.

In response to the OP, I guess the only time you really need to regas the unit is if you are advised to at service.

I know my fathers X5 gets done at service time but he lives in Texas so I guess it's the done thing in that climate.
 
Maccy said:
I think Kwik Fit charge in the region of £40?
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It's £49 at Kwik Fit. It's recommended to be re-gassed every 2 years. This is mainly so that the receiver/drier gets most of the moisture removed during the vacuum, which does improve the A/C operation. Also, gas does seep out of rubber hoses no matter if you use it 24/7 or not, so a re-charge will make sure the correct amount of gas is in there and that there is plenty of oil.

If you've not re-charged your A/C for many years and it still works, it's not doing any harm. But I've re-gassed 2 year old cars where the A/C seems pretty cold but it's usually even colder afterwards. Seen some down to 2°C at the vents :D

I'm actually in the process of retro-fitting A/C in my Astra, I have being hot and sticky in the car, A/C makes it nice and cool and comfortable. So while I had the opportunity I took up the challenge :)
 
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Fox you know you'll feel better if you just get it done :). At the very least you'll have some placebo effect to make you think it works better, and it may really work better! Gas must leak out over time and lubricant degrade in performance. If you read what will be done for a very reasonable price at a reputable specialist (not Kwik Fit) - it all seems like a good idea. e.g...

http://www.wechillanycar.com/#!service_procedure/c66t
 
I had mine done once as it was on a special at the local dealer :o

I thought the lubrication for the system was in the refrigerant so it was a good idea to make sure that the system doesn't run too low. No idea if that is accurate though.
 
lordrobs said:
I had mine done once as it was on a special at the local dealer :o

I thought the lubrication for the system was in the refrigerant so it was a good idea to make sure that the system doesn't run too low. No idea if that is accurate though.
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The oil is separate from the refrigerant, it's added to the refrigerant before refilling usually.
 
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