Author Topic: strange thing happened to air con ..any idea  (Read 1215 times)

guest7525

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strange thing happened to air con ..any idea
« on: July 15, 2018, 08:02:46 PM »
coming from dover in my 2013 jazz with a/c on all working ok ..after a few minutes on the motorway the fan inside the car felt as though it had lost power & then the a/c stopped working ...so got to get back home so carried on ..after a while decided to pull in and see if I can see anything ...when I lifted the bonnet the pipe from the a/c pump up to the a/c rad under the windscreen was all froze solid [ I hadn't had  a/c on for at least two hrs ? ]  so just carried on home ..left the car stood for half an hour and tried the a/c and everything was fine ? and the fan was back to full power ….has anyone got an idea what happened ?

culzean

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Re: strange thing happened to air con ..any idea
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2018, 08:29:10 PM »
Your system may be low on gas, this can cause low pressure pipe to freeze, there is actually a sensor on the condenser (the cold bit in the car) to drop the aircon clutch and cooling fan power if it starts to freeze up.  There is also an over temperature cut out on the compressor to protect it. Also aircon will not engage clutch if ambient temp less than 4degC.

Lack of airflow over the condenser can also cause system pipe to freeze, has the cabin air filter been replaced recently ? Is there any way moisture could have got into system ?
« Last Edit: July 15, 2018, 08:34:28 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

guest7525

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Re: strange thing happened to air con ..any idea
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2018, 01:36:51 PM »
 first of all thank you culzean  for getting back to me ..my car has only done 8k mls  from new & an old bloke had it before me so guessing he didn't use the A/C much. .checked the cabin filter and its like new .checked fuses all fine ? ..took it out today did about 50mls with A/C on all the time & it was fine ???

culzean

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Re: strange thing happened to air con ..any idea
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2018, 02:38:05 PM »
first of all thank you culzean  for getting back to me ..my car has only done 8k mls  from new & an old bloke had it before me so guessing he didn't use the A/C much. .checked the cabin filter and its like new .checked fuses all fine ? ..took it out today did about 50mls with A/C on all the time & it was fine ???

Seems a bit counter-intuitive that low gas can cause the system to frost up, it messes around with the gas pressures in the system and if not enough gas the gas is a lower pressure and this causes it to expand too soon,  and it expands in the low pressure pipe leading to the condenser and not the condenser itself.   I have seen this on fridges and freezers before now as well.

A blown fuse would stop it working,  though not sure how it would cause it to freeze up  :-X
« Last Edit: July 16, 2018, 05:28:08 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

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