Airconditioning Check

[db1]

Hi, Has anyone had a mobile airconditioning regas/check? Are they as effective as taking it to a garage? Has anyone had any good experiences from anyone in the Guildford Surrey area?

thanks in advance
DB1

 

[alabbasi]

If all they're doing is vacuuming and charging the system, they can just as easy do it from the back of a van. If you have a leak that needs fixing, it will probably need to go to a shop.

 

[rf065]

I had a Ford Ranger regassed four times in a year, and each time the garage claimed it was not leaking, despite every regas only lasting a few weeks before it ran out of gas again.
Having air con regassing equipment does not make you an expert, if you have a leak go to a specialist that only deals in air con.

 

[flowrider]

I have used WeChillAnyCay.com a couple of times, not sure if they cover Guildford.

 

[m80]

I've had a few regasses that didn't last after garage (well tyre specialist) 3/4 hour machine pressure tests.
Last time I took it to ATS and they pressurised with inert bottle gas, we heard the leak at the condenser. I replaced that, checked again, then the machine, it's been good since.

The dye can help with a uv torch, but really you need to clean all joints prior to the regas or you don't know if your seeing an old leak. And that assumes it's apparent with the torch anyway. Looking while dark I could see the dye in a few places, I think, so it mislead me anyway.

 

[Phil1968]

I had a Ford Ranger regassed four times in a year, and each time the garage claimed it was not leaking, despite every regas only lasting a few weeks before it ran out of gas again.
Having air con regassing equipment does not make you an expert, if you have a leak go to a specialist that only deals in air con.

Yep that's because they hook up the machine, press a button & walk away whilst the machine does it's process automatically, a lot of the time the guys know how to hook the machine up but don't know any further than that. The machine's method of leak testing is to pull a vacuum, then seeing if that vacuum is held for 10 minutes. That is not the proper way to do a leak check, the system should be pressurised with nitrogen to 1.5 times it's operating pressure (many 100s of psi, pulling a vacuum is only the equivalent of -15 psi). So hooking up one of those machines won't detect a leak most of the time.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Ats are doing their groupon offer again . Think its £38 for upto 2017/2018 when the gas changed. ??

 

[Trickythemerc]

I have used both and found my mobile guy does a better job than the hook up and come back in 45 mins machines.

 

[Phil1968]

Ats are doing their groupon offer again . Think its £38 for upto 2017/2018 when the gas changed. ??

Some cars went over to R1234yf as far back as 2015 ...these car owners are going to have a bit of a shock when they first need their AC recharged as it's a much more expensive refrigerant than the previous R134a

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Some cars went over to R1234yf as far back as 2015 ...these car owners are going to have a bit of a shock when they first need their AC recharged as it's a much more expensive refrigerant than the previous R134a

£98. Eek...

Air-Conditioning Recharge with Optional Antibacterial Treatment at ATS Euromaster, Nationwide (Up to 39% Off)

Cars can have their air conditioning systems recharged and an optional antibacterial treatment provided at locations nationwide

www.groupon.co.uk

 

[fabes]

And it's flammable....

 

[219]

I had the air con in my W140 degassed 2 or 3 months ago at Kwik Fit ; it was lovely and cold for a couple of weeks , then gradually lost its effectiveness , although it never got to the stage where the light came on .

Suspecting a leak , but guessing it only to be a slight one since the car had lain for a while before I got it , and now was working to an extent , I went to Halfords and bought the following items .

Car Air Conditioning & Aircon Regas | Halfords UK

Maintain your car’s air conditioning system with the Halfords air conditioning service. Book your car in for an air conditioning service today.

www.halfords.com

AC Pro Auto Air Conditioning Recharge - Gas R134A | Halfords UK

Shop the latest Feeling the heat? Then you need this EZ Chill Auto Air Conditioning Recharge at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

Car Air Conditioning & Aircon Regas | Halfords UK

Maintain your car’s air conditioning system with the Halfords air conditioning service. Book your car in for an air conditioning service today.

www.halfords.com

After fully reading the instructions , and noting that my compressor was no longer engaging , I connected the gauge to find the system pressure was right at the bottom of the permissible range , but not empty ; I then connected the bottle of R134a and , with the engine running , filled the system until the compressor started working again .

Then , again with reference to the instructions , I connected the bottle of leak sealer and drew out some gas to mix with the sealant ( all clearly explained in the instructions and with reference to the online videos ) , then added this to the system , before finally topping the system up with R134a to the max level indicated on the gauge .

So far , my system continues to work , and I suspect the initial trouble may have been drying out of the seals due to the car standing for a year prior to my buying it , and possibly seldom being used for a while before that ; I keep my fingers crossed that regular use , plus addition of the sealant , will have sorted this .

In any case , just getting the gauge on its own can be a useful thing since you can check the system pressure on your own car quite easily .

 

[Petrol Pete]

So all in all £100 for a DIY re gas. I paid £60 last year for my local specialist to service my air con system. vacuum , dry , leak test , re gas , external leak test with UV and sniffer method, monitoring of internal vent temperature drops. It was a few hours work and an invite to pop back this summer for a quick 'health check' .

Owning the gauge is useful no doubt personally I will attempt most jobs but leave A/C to those with all the kit. Especially if its a re gas and some old medium is still in the system as I have no legal way of extracting and disposing of it.

£60 - £80 spent every 4 years or so is small beer. Each to their own.

 

[C43AMG]

I have used Keith in Chertsey for many years, not mobile but the best in the business. All the MB indies in the area use him. 07885 239385 - 01932 570333

 

[219]

So all in all £100 for a DIY re gas. I paid £60 last year for my local specialist to service my air con system. vacuum , dry , leak test , re gas , external leak test with UV and sniffer method, monitoring of internal vent temperature drops. It was a few hours work and an invite to pop back this summer for a quick 'health check' .

Owning the gauge is useful no doubt personally I will attempt most jobs but leave A/C to those with all the kit. Especially if its a re gas and some old medium is still in the system as I have no legal way of extracting and disposing of it.

£60 - £80 spent every 4 years or so is small beer. Each to their own.

It was £100 for the first purchase , including the sealant kit , which is not part of the ‘service’ .

I now have the guage/filler , and have used it to check the pressure on a few other cars in the family .

I have only , judging by the weight , used around half the gas in the refill bottle , and when I need another , there is a £10 refundable deposit on the bottle ; effectively a discount off my next purchase.

So , going forwards , I can regas twice for £50 , or more likely perform numerous smaller top ups .

I agree that if a clear fault manifests , then a visit to a specialist is best , but for periodic top ups , this works well .

I suspect that , on my car , the period of disuse caused seals to dry up , and hopefully now with some use behind them they will seal better , but if they don’t , I will take it to be fixed properly.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I am heeding the advice of others on here , I run my climate/aircon all of the time on auto , as you know with a swash plate compressor there is no clutch so it is running all of the time even when not under load. I would prefer to have it lubricated at all times. I even run the A/C on auto all of the time in our little Toyota Yaris run around car.

I would miss it if it failed in this weather !

 

[Phil1968]

I had the air con in my W140 degassed 2 or 3 months ago at Kwik Fit ; it was lovely and cold for a couple of weeks , then gradually lost its effectiveness , although it never got to the stage where the light came on .

Suspecting a leak , but guessing it only to be a slight one since the car had lain for a while before I got it , and now was working to an extent , I went to Halfords and bought the following items .

Car Air Conditioning & Aircon Regas | Halfords UK

Maintain your car’s air conditioning system with the Halfords air conditioning service. Book your car in for an air conditioning service today.

www.halfords.com

AC Pro Auto Air Conditioning Recharge - Gas R134A | Halfords UK

Shop the latest Feeling the heat? Then you need this EZ Chill Auto Air Conditioning Recharge at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

Car Air Conditioning & Aircon Regas | Halfords UK

Maintain your car’s air conditioning system with the Halfords air conditioning service. Book your car in for an air conditioning service today.

www.halfords.com

After fully reading the instructions , and noting that my compressor was no longer engaging , I connected the gauge to find the system pressure was right at the bottom of the permissible range , but not empty ; I then connected the bottle of R134a and , with the engine running , filled the system until the compressor started working again .

Then , again with reference to the instructions , I connected the bottle of leak sealer and drew out some gas to mix with the sealant ( all clearly explained in the instructions and with reference to the online videos ) , then added this to the system , before finally topping the system up with R134a to the max level indicated on the gauge .

So far , my system continues to work , and I suspect the initial trouble may have been drying out of the seals due to the car standing for a year prior to my buying it , and possibly seldom being used for a while before that ; I keep my fingers crossed that regular use , plus addition of the sealant , will have sorted this .

In any case , just getting the gauge on its own can be a useful thing since you can check the system pressure on your own car quite easily .

To be honest I wouldn't recommend using a leak seal additive as it can cause blockages within the system & problems with the compressor. And the do it yourself recharge cans from Halfords will get you in the ball park of a correct refrigerant charge but ideally needs to be weighed in. But if it's worked for you then great

 

[ivan1983]

One thing to note is that the oil used in r134a systems is hygroscopic and becomes acidic once it has absorbed moisture.
If a system has run down it may have absorbed moisture.
When a vacuum is performed the moisture is removed from the system, and depending on the service the oil may be replaced.

 

[219]

To be honest I wouldn't recommend using a leak seal additive as it can cause blockages within the system & problems with the compressor. And the do it yourself recharge cans from Halfords will get you in the ball park of a correct refrigerant charge but ideally needs to be weighed in. But if it's worked for you then great

In fairness the instructions with the leak sealant warned of the danger of causing blockages if not done correctly.

I was careful to follow the instructions re running the system before and after putting the stuff in , following which I added refrigerant until I obtained correct reading on the guage .

So far , it is still blowing nice and cold .

 

[219]

One thing to note is that the oil used in r134a systems is hygroscopic and becomes acidic once it has absorbed moisture.
If a system has run down it may have absorbed moisture.
When a vacuum is performed the moisture is removed from the system, and depending on the service the oil may be replaced.

Indeed , and I only used the DIY kit as a follow up to a recent service , which would have evacuated the system prior to recharging .