Air Conditioning regas

BinnsY

BinnsY

BinnsY

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Joined
19 May 2009
Posts
1,511
Location
Nottingham
Can anyone recommend a good place in the Nottingham area to get this done? I'm half tempted by Kwik Fit just for the convenience but I know I will probably end up regretting it. Currently the system works as far as I can tell but it never seems to get cold, the air coming out is a little cooler than ambient but not by much.

Ideally I want a proper job doing on it, so cleaning old stuff evacuating etc etc not just a top up.

Thanks :)
 
This is one of the very few things that you should allow a Kwik Fit monkey to do.

It's all done by a machine. All the operator has to do is screw the taps on, press a few buttons on the machine, wait, and then unscrew them. Simple.
 
Kwikfit and similar are fine for a re-gas of the system. If you have any environmental filters then they may be worth changing too if thats the sort of thing you mean?
 
Fair enough, I might give them a shot then. As I understood it some places will sometimes just top up the system when you should remove all the old stuff thats left first?

If kwik-fit are known to do a proper job of it I think I will pop down tomorrow.

Thanks :)
 
Had mine done at kwik fit it leaked out after 24hrs due to a issue with my condensor that honda then fixed and they still refunded me. Was very impressed with kwik fit not an argument at all.
 
Last year they put a deal up for half price as soon as a bit of sun came out. It would be nice if they did the same again.
 
Re-gas or recharge?

If its just a recharge it refills the system so it cools well but doesn't remove the moisture which damages the condenser.
 
I need to get a re-charge done on my Focus, rang up my local Kwik Fit and they charge £49 for a standard re-charge and an extra £20 if the system requires a clean out. Do the prices vary at different Kwik Fit branches as other people on here have said they have had it done for less than £49?

Another local garage I use down the road have given me the number of bloke who comes to your house to do air con re-gassing for £30 so I'm going to give him a ring next week

Liam
 
Normally its connected to a machine that empties the air con system, pressure tests it (It is illegal to vent the gas) and then refiulls the gas + oil. They let you know what was taken out, what was put back in. They did have a money back guarantee a couple of years ago.
 
Yep, got it done on the machine for £49 and it all seems good. Rather amusingly it managed to extract 0.0kg of gas an 0ml of oil, might explain why it wasn't working :P Now its topped back up to the correct levels its nice and cold.
 
Make sure you use it every so often to keep it working correctly (else the seals can go or something?). I used to leave it on all the time to condition the air, and just set the temp to something comfortable.
 
BinnsY said:
Yep, got it done on the machine for £49 and it all seems good. Rather amusingly it managed to extract 0.0kg of gas an 0ml of oil, might explain why it wasn't working :P Now its topped back up to the correct levels its nice and cold.
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That'll last all of about a day then. If there was no gas in there at all there is obviously a hole in the system - it won't all leak out on its own.
 
OllyM said:
That'll last all of about a day then. If there was no gas in there at all there is obviously a hole in the system - it won't all leak out on its own.
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By law they can't refill a leaking system.

But with car systems the refrigerant can leak from the shaft seal on the compressor when it hasn't been used for a long while, e.g. over Winter, which is why air con should be run periodically to prevent this from happening.
 
spaz said:
By law they can't refill a leaking system.

But with car systems the refrigerant can leak from the shaft seal on the compressor when it hasn't been used for a long while, e.g. over Winter, which is why air con should be run periodically to prevent this from happening.
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I don't think the leak test they do is very good - Pete had the air conditioning regassed at Kwik Fit in the M5 when there was a hole in the condenser and it apparently passed the leak test but about a day later all the gas had leaked out and it stopped working.
 
OllyM said:
I don't think the leak test they do is very good - Pete had the air conditioning regassed at Kwik Fit in the M5 when there was a hole in the condenser and it apparently passed the leak test but about a day later all the gas had leaked out and it stopped working.
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Very very naughty from them if that's the case!

Given the hoo-ha the government makes with co2 and with reducing our 'carbon footprint', it's surprising this sort of thing isn't cracked down on more, or more ingrained in the public conscious, as r134a is potentially 1300x worse than co2 (GWP of 1300 vs 1)
 
We shall have to see I guess, it did pass the leak test and to be fair the car is knocking on for 9 years old and I don't think the air con has ever been done on it so it wouldn't surprise me if it had all gone.
 
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