Aircon Re-gassing

B

bmwangler

Active member
 Bath
My aircon isn't getting as cool as it should so I'm going to get it re-gassed.

Obviously the independents are much cheaper than BMW - Autospeed for example will do it for £45 during the summer.

Anyone have any idea / experiences of any problems with not going to BMW?

I'd appreciate your advise guys :thumbsup:
 
re gassing the air con always alarms me, this should be a sealed system, if it as lost gas then it must be leaking somewhere, if its not lost gas why should it need re gassing :?

we must have a fridge engineer on here who can explain
 
kwik fit do a good service ...... 35 quid I think and they guarantee it, ie if it needs doing again later its free. Used them a few times, had a range rover that was errrrr quirky
 
Taz x said:
re gassing the air con always alarms me, this should be a sealed system, if it as lost gas then it must be leaking somewhere, if its not lost gas why should it need re gassing :?

we must have a fridge engineer on here who can explain
Click to expand...

but any gas loses it's effectiveness over time though doesn't it?

part of the regas process also cleanses the system of all the bugs and bacteria etc as well :D
 
gannet said:
Taz x said:
re gassing the air con always alarms me, this should be a sealed system, if it as lost gas then it must be leaking somewhere, if its not lost gas why should it need re gassing :?

we must have a fridge engineer on here who can explain
Click to expand...

but any gas loses it's effectiveness over time though doesn't it?

part of the regas process also cleanses the system of all the bugs and bacteria etc as well :D
Click to expand...

i need a fridge engineer to confirm this, do the gases get changed in commercial ac units?
 
Taz x said:
re gassing the air con always alarms me, this should be a sealed system, if it as lost gas then it must be leaking somewhere, if its not lost gas why should it need re gassing :?

we must have a fridge engineer on here who can explain
Click to expand...

I'd say that all high pressure systems will leak as it is very difficult to 100% seal against leaks.
 
mintstuff said:
I'd say that all high pressure systems will leak as it is very difficult to 100% seal against leaks.
Click to expand...

i would say shabby welding if it leaks
 
Having done a HVAC course at work, it is quite normal for car systems to lose refrigerant over time(some say that they are designed too). One of the points that they regularly leak from are the two servicing connections which have a shrader valve protected by a plastic or metal cap. They can leak from the shrader valve over time.
 
gannet said:
Taz x said:
re gassing the air con always alarms me, this should be a sealed system, if it as lost gas then it must be leaking somewhere, if its not lost gas why should it need re gassing :?

we must have a fridge engineer on here who can explain
Click to expand...

but any gas loses it's effectiveness over time though doesn't it?

part of the regas process also cleanses the system of all the bugs and bacteria etc as well :D
Click to expand...


I just had mine done at BMW yesterday. Clean/cleanse and re-gas. They gave me a small insert for the service book with the next date to have it done in 2yrs... so BMW might think it needs re-doing fairly often haha.

It's probably like brake fluid, it's pretty much 'sealed' but it still goes off?

Not sure on the exact process.


My car now smells much nicer though, but it's only marginally cooler. Perhaps the rate of temp change is quicker as it did get colder quicker... and it didn't come with the slight whiff when it fired up at first.



I took it to BMW because they probably do things by the book for the specific car, rather than an independent who don't know specifics of individual cars (ie, ideal vent settings to get the cleanser working best etc)?!

I think they charged me about £50 all in with some other stuff, so a bargain really.

Dave
 
Not a fridge engineer, but have had more than my fair share of aircon problems. I had an Escort once which needed to be filled up about once every couple of years or so. Although there are welded joints in aircon systems, these are not usually the problem.

In order for the pump and valves etc. to work there have to be seals which allow them to do so. If the whole thing was welded up you would be unable to fix it without cutting the welds and re welding once you'd fixed/replaced the faulty part. Welding a pressurised system containing highly volatile refrigerant would be tricky to say the least. Therefore there are seals, and valves allowing the injection of the refrigerant. Often the system will leak when it is left unused during cool weather. The seals depend to some extent on contact with the refrigerant to maintain their seal. If they dry out then they are more likely to leak. At least, I was told this was the problem with my Escort. Turning the aircon on once or twice a month in winter and during cold spells seemed to reduce the frequency of refilling it.
 
is it no illegal to release fridge gases to the atmosphere, if this is the case then surely these seals should be better made

come you fridge engineers, you must be out there somewhere
 
was thinking of getting mine done until just had a major service done with new filters and hey presto its back to normal. The old filters were absolutely minging
 
Taz x said:
re gassing the air con always alarms me, this should be a sealed system, if it as lost gas then it must be leaking somewhere, if its not lost gas why should it need re gassing :?

we must have a fridge engineer on here who can explain
Click to expand...

Don't know why, but as far as I was aware all car aircon systems need re-gassing after a while - certainly every car with aircon I've had has benefited from having it done.

Looks like Kwik Fit will do nicely :D
 
I think an important thing to realise is that a domestic fridge/freezer, or industrial unit, is different to the air-con used in a car!

Probably different types of refrigerants, different operational needs, maintainance expectations etc etc...


I've never known a car that had AC work forever.

I know that my mum had a freezer that went for 30 years though!

But the freezer was huge and relatively inefficient... hmmm

Dave
 
peds8045 said:
Having done a HVAC course at work, it is quite normal for car systems to lose refrigerant over time(some say that they are designed too). One of the points that they regularly leak from are the two servicing connections which have a shrader valve protected by a plastic or metal cap. They can leak from the shrader valve over time.
Click to expand...

do they have different gases to commercial equipment? am i right in thinking its illegal to release gases to atmosphere?
 
Currently 40 deg outside here in the UAE and all offices, buildings etc have aircon (and we need it believe you me.....). Big business here re-gassing the aircon units so obviosly part of a regular maintenance regime.
 
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