Aircon Moisture

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Danny DeVito

Active Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
886
Location
Ireland
Car
V220 CDI
Today i found a broken pipe in my aircon. Wis tells ..make sure pipes etc are plugged to avoid moisture. Obviously my pipe is broken for who knows how long so my question today......

What do i do? I will hopefully buy a new pipe and a refill kit but what about the moisture etc ? Or should i save up and have it professionally refilled ?
 
Get it professionally recharged. It needs to be evacuated, dried and charged along with the correct dose of lubricant
 
Would you class MB as professionally recharged as they are half as close to me. Although and indie may travel from Dublin but cost less
 
If the dealer offers a/c recharge then, yes!
 
I have a concern that the dealers may not know how to evacuate (whats this ?) and dry ...
recharge is 70 euro they said
 
vaccing out will boil off all of the moisture, but I would expect you to need a new receiver/drier.
 
Why a new drier ? Sounds like this will have to wait as it goes far beyond the 70€ refill i had in mind...;o(
 
Don't know if things are different these days, but when I were a lad, the receiver/drier had silica gel (Ithink) in it to absorb any moisture. Once this had been exposed to 'the atmosphere' as in a big leak, the silica would absorb a large amount of the moisture, and would have then 'done it's job' and required a new one.

Normal maintenance/vaccing down etc doesn't cause moisture to get in.
 
Don't know if things are different these days, but when I were a lad, the receiver/drier had silica gel (Ithink) in it to absorb any moisture. Once this had been exposed to 'the atmosphere' as in a big leak, the silica would absorb a large amount of the moisture, and would have then 'done it's job' and required a new one.

Normal maintenance/vaccing down etc doesn't cause moisture to get in.

Yes this appears to be correct. The drier unit normally contains a bag of silica dessicant in it.
 
Why doesn't the silica be knackered at first installation then ?
 
It has caps/seals. These are removed at installation time. There is not enough time during installation/vac down/recharge to saturate the gel. This only happens over a period of time.

I have oftem wondered if you put the receiver/drier in a warm oven for a while if it would dry it out.

Anyway, that is what I was taught - any major/invasive surgery on a vehicle (SD1/XJ) aircon - new receiver/drier.
 
Which bit is the receiver/dryer ? And is it possible to have aluminium pipe repaired ?
 
You'll almost certainly need a new pipe. I used to go to Autoair of Gloucester for receiver/driers when I did this for money. Much cheaper than a dealer. Possibly the pipe too, although I no longer have their catalogues.

Auto Air Glos

I always found them most helpful.
 
Sadly the broken pipe is on the side of the condenser in front of the radiator. The pipe has broken on the bend before it heads down to the condenser. It looks like someone tightened the fitting and put pressure on it. Then over time it broke. Which bit is the receiver/ drier ? And are they expensive ? I think if the radiator people can repair rads then surely they can repair a bit of aluminium pipe ? Or what about metal putty ? will that keep air con gas in ??
 
The problem with aluminum is when you weld it it becomes brittle in that area. Also the pipe is quite thin and when they weld they use a lot of DC to do this. Also with the putty to keep that gas in without getting a leak will not be easy. If it was a copper condenser you could most probably repair it but being aluminum they are made to be replaced when they break. Don't want to sound negative but you would be better off buying a new unit. This will save you time and money in the long run. Hope this helps
Steve
 
I would expect the receiver/drier to be adjacent to, or mounted on the condenser. They usually have a sight glass to see the refrigerant.
I wouldn't expect this to be an expensive component - and I will bet that you can get a decent quality unit from a 'proper' aircon repair place.
 

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