Author Topic: Climate Control  (Read 5065 times)

JimSh

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #15 on: April 27, 2018, 03:14:28 PM »
Inspired by this thread, I thought I'd try the climate control  on "auto" in the recent couple of warm days.
In the past I've just used the air con manually and used the screen setting to clear the windows in the winter. I've also tried to run the aircon for a few minutes each week to keep the seals moist.
Anyway when I switched to "auto" I was a bit surprised when it initially used the recirculation of air from inside the car which was a setting I very rarely used. I was less pleasantly surprised by a rather unpleasant smell from the system.
I switched to the setting using external air and the smell went away.
Today I persisted with letting the system sort itself out. Eventually it switched to external air and the smell went away.
It would seem that something unpleasant is lurking in the pipes.
Has anybody any experience of cleaning out the heating/cooling system?
Also has anybody experimented with the effect of the Jazz aircon on mpg?

culzean

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #16 on: April 27, 2018, 03:28:08 PM »
You can buy aerosol cans of disinfectant specially made to kill the mould and bacteria that like to breed in the moist heat exchanger area, you press top down and leave them in the car with aircon on recirculation mode for a while.  Best plan to avoid smelly aircon is to switch aircon off about a mile before you get to where you are going to allow system to warm up a bit and dry out. For that reason I avoid auto and use aircon manually. The smell does not come from cabin filter as that is always in the airflow so would smell all the time.

In bad cases you may need to do the disinfecting more than once (leave a day or so between treatments), most of our cars ( 2 to 3 years old when bought from Honda dealer) have had the problem,  but after a couple of cleanings and a bit of care while using aircon they did not happen afterwards.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=air+conditioning+cleaner&index=aps&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_2l4h8jn51k_e&adgrpid=53565993832&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=259100435644&hvpos=1t2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1546667525280689126&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007151&hvtargid=kwd-304754257132
« Last Edit: April 27, 2018, 05:16:53 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

VicW

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #17 on: April 27, 2018, 03:43:08 PM »
I never turn my aircon off and do not have problems with smelly aircon but agree that smells are a known problem. Where it comes from is anybodies guess as conditioned air is dry, hence the puddles of water that collect under a parked car that has its aircon on.
As for mpg, don't worry about it, the effect is negligible. My mpg with the aircon all the time averages 49. However because the greatest effect would be at very wide throttle openings such as overtaking, modern cars shut the compressor down at very wide throttle openings.

Vic.

culzean

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #18 on: April 27, 2018, 04:05:40 PM »
I never turn my aircon off and do not have problems with smelly aircon but agree that smells are a known problem. Where it comes from is anybodies guess as conditioned air is dry, hence the puddles of water that collect under a parked car that has its aircon on.
As for mpg, don't worry about it, the effect is negligible. My mpg with the aircon all the time averages 49. However because the greatest effect would be at very wide throttle openings such as overtaking, modern cars shut the compressor down at very wide throttle openings.

Vic.

When engine is turned off the aircon 'cold side' heat exchanger is still cold and quickly attracts condensation (you can sometime see it when you start engine and windscreen mists up for a short time as the dampness on heat exchanger gets blown through system before aircon gets heat exchanger cool enough to trap the moisture),  mould and bacteria love damp conditions.  Switching aircon off and still allowing air to blow through exchanger allows it to warm up to ambient and dry out. 
« Last Edit: April 27, 2018, 05:04:35 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

JimSh

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #19 on: April 28, 2018, 09:12:10 AM »
Thanks for the replies. I intend to buy one of the products as reccommended by Culzean. There seem to be a large number of similar products available. Anybody got any reccommendations?
Efficiency is the most important criterion but I'm not too keen on the air freshener smell as promoted by used car salesmen or the deodorent smell of a gym changing room after it's been used by a young football team.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2018, 09:13:47 AM by JimSh »

Jocko

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #20 on: April 28, 2018, 10:05:46 AM »

JazzyB

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Re: Climate Control
« Reply #21 on: April 28, 2018, 10:21:32 AM »
i have used various air con cleaners over the years. all seem to do the same thing.

the ones that stood out where the ones made by 'Comma' and 'Simoniz'.

the 'Simoniz' one is available from Wilko online, maybe in store but I just order online to collect in store especially when its on offer

http://www.wilko.com/car-cleaning/simoniz-air-con-refresh-150ml/invt/0450091
 

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