AirCon Regas

pepp77 said:
They ran the test and found no leaks - I didn't find out how much was left in there, but they filled it and then I was freezing cold on the way home.
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Nitrogen test?
I'm still surprised an a/c system with no leaks lost enough gas to stop working on a 4.5 year old car.
Hope it holds the gas and doesn't give you any more problems.
 
Spartacus said:
Nitrogen test?
I'm still surprised an a/c system with no leaks lost enough gas to stop working on a 4.5 year old car.
Hope it holds the gas and doesn't give you any more problems.
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I picked them because they specifically stated it was a nitrogen test.

Well day 2 has been cool :)
 
pepp77 said:
I picked them because they specifically stated it was a nitrogen test.

Well day 2 has been cool :)
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If they did a thorough enough check over it with the nitrogen in there it should be all good now, fingers crossed!

I got the best part of a year with working air con out of a system with a slow undetected leak though.
 
So little update, after less than 3 weeks it had stopped working again. Took it back to Halfords who refilled and ran further tests, this time they put a UV dye in and found a leak coming from the top corner of the condenser (looks like it took a small hit), so new condenser needed. Halfords quoted £590 which I think might be too much when the pat appears to be £140 on Eurocarparts.

Think I will look for a specialist who can come out and replace it for £350 as the above poster had.
 
Rather than buying the part and taking it to a local garage, just ask them to quote for the whole job?
FWIW I had the condenser replaced on my Civic (and regas) for £223 and done on the drive. Part cost was about £60.
 
GeX said:
Rather than buying the part and taking it to a local garage, just ask them to quote for the whole job?
FWIW I had the condenser replaced on my Civic (and regas) for £223 and done on the drive. Part cost was about £60.
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I am also looking into local garages I can use to quote for supply and fit, but the one I had planned to try first appears to have closed down.
 
pepp77 said:
So little update, after less than 3 weeks it had stopped working again. Took it back to Halfords who refilled and ran further tests, this time they put a UV dye in and found a leak coming from the top corner of the condenser (looks like it took a small hit), so new condenser needed. Halfords quoted £590 which I think might be too much when the pat appears to be £140 on Eurocarparts.

Think I will look for a specialist who can come out and replace it for £350 as the above poster had.
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I had a feeling there was a leak, .. a car of that age shouldn't have lost all its a/c gas already if there was no leak in the system.

Had the condenser changed on my F30 a month ago for the same reason .. £350 at a decent specialist.
I'm in the West Midlands.
 
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Done it, found a local well established and reviewed garage - £282+ VAT fitted and re-gassed.

Booked in for Monday.
 
ver01@ said:
Why are these R134a refill kits so cheap - seen a few selling cans with 300g of R134a for a fiver.
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Most of them are not R134a, they just say mileading things like "Regas for R134a systems" what they tend to be is very dangerous LPG butane/propane etc... so if you car is parked in a garage and slowly leaks overnight it will be akin to a gas leak and would explode if there is a source of ignition..
 
Entai said:
Another massive difference which is far more important to consider than seals, is that your fridge does not move around over potholes and kerbs and, and get shaken around violently (in comparison) almost every time it is used.

It is the vibration on pipes joints etc that causes minuscule leaks almost constantly on mobile air conditioning systems.

Any kind of fixed installment of air conditioning or refrigeration systems, such as fridges, freezers, office A/C, shop chiller units etc are not allowed to loose any refrigerant gas at all over time, I have seen systems in place for 20+ years and they still have exactly the same amount of gas, to the gram, as when first installed.

However (and I cannot of the top of my head remember the exact figures but I think it's in the region of 10 to 15%) mobile A/C systems such as on vehicles are allowed, by regulations, to loose x percent of their gas each year without it being a concern, because the powers that be, know such mobile systems are subject to huge amounts of vibration fixed systems are not exposed to.

So yes you might be lucky and have a car that looses nothing over a few years, or you may have one that needs topping up every couple of years or so, but unless a major leak is found that looses it all in a matter of weeks, having your system topped up every couple of years or so is normal and not a need for concern.
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One of the major differences is that fridges are on/work 24/7 365 makes a big difference as it's lack of use that leads to loss of Jizz
 
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