By Tim Lhuede
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November 14, 2019
Let me guess. Your cars Air Con has packed it in? It may have slowing stopped being efficient or suddenly have stopped. Your cars A/C system is very complex, using mechanical, auto electrical and refrigerant gas to achieve cold air. Firstly I'll dive into a few common symptoms and causes. A/C suddenly stopped working. Electrical fault (compressor coil, relay, fuse, pressure or temp sensors/switch) Compressor failure or loss of drive belt. Sudden loss of refrigerant. (major a/c leak) A/C Slowly stopped cooling or no longer cools on a hot day. Also takes longer to cool cabin down. Slow leak in refrigerant Condenser fan failure A/C system blockage (TX valve, condenser or receiver drier) While some of these faults can be expensive if not diagnosed or repaired effectively, most of them can be quick, cheap and simple to fix. We offer a free a/c check. Because with full knowledge of the A/C system, you can easily and quickly pinpoint faults. I generally start this procedure by checking the Air Conditioning gas levels and pressures, this isolates electrical, mechanical and gas faults. From here we determine to check electrical circuits, a/c leaks or mechanical faults. For A/c leaks, we look for oil stains on components or UV dye (if in the system). For Refrigerant blockages we measure temps at key points to determine the faulty component. For electrical we check supplies and wiring diagrams to isolate and repair the fault. For mechanical faults we visually and physically inspect components. (These can be caused by "dodgy regas repairers" using LPG instead of refrigerant, which voids manufacture warranty and being a solvent will damage the internal components of your A/C system. Be very wary of a "CHEAP" regas!!!) So next time your Air conditioning doesn't seem to be cooling, don't freak out. It could be as easy as a $121 Air Con regas, a $18 relay or a 10c Fuse.