Car Air Conditioning Repairs

Your car's air conditioning system is one of its most important features. 

Not only does it keep You cool in the summer months, it also dehumidifies the interior air throughout the year, and so removes moisture, whilst filtering airborne pollutants such as dust, pollen and diesel particles. 

In all Your Air Conditioning System is the biggest contributor in maintaining a pleasant and comfortable interior climate whenever Your car is in use.

Air Conditioning Systems need to be operated for Ten to Fifteen minutes per week to prevent the flexible pipe work and '0' ring seals from drying out and allowing the refrigerant to escape. 

Low refrigeration content will create poor system efficiency. Moisture build-up due to refrigerant permeation and leaks will occur. This will create Acids and corrosion will affect the Air Conditioning System's operation, and the longevity of all components the refrigerant comes into contact with.

THE ANSWER!

Have Your car's 'Air Conditioning System' serviced

Services


We will test/diagnose your system,

and quote to repair or recharge your system.

Diagnosis

 If the system is already empty, we will carry out a leak test, usually with nitrogen, to locate the leak, the cost of which is included in diagnosis fee. once we have quoted for a repair, if you go ahead with the work (even if it is just a re-charge) the fee is deducted from the final invoice, i.e. You only pay for diagnosis if it is the only work we do.

Empty Systems

When a system is empty, the natural conclusion is that somewhere in the system there is a leak, natural loss generally results in a low gas level.

When a system that is empty has been repaired, there is a slight danger of a second leak after recharging, the reason for this is that it is only possible to pressure test a system to 100psi, any higher would damage low pressure components, (these components are protected from high pressure only when the system is running under it own steam) the high side of the system can run in excess of 250psi, the next weak link in the chain may fail at this pressure, although it is rare, sadly it does happen, and we will inform you of this danger if we are concerned.

All repairs are carried out using the most up to date procedures; we pride ourselves on our high standards of service and repairs.

All parts fitted are guaranteed for 1 year

Re-charge

A standard recharge consists of draining down the system and measuring by weight, the refrigerant removed, 

Any refrigerant removed is then compared by the correct weight of gas for your vehicle, typically a car needs re-charging after 3 years, and may have lost up to 40% of its charge through natural loss. This comparison helps us to differentiate between a potential leak and natural loss.

Once empty, we then pull a deep vacuum on the system for up to 30 minutes, this will reduce the air pressure inside the system to lower the boiling point of any moisture contamination, which is then boiled off, moisture inside the a/c system is a common cause of poor system performance, and can cause major damage to the compressor, pipes and filter, the vacuum is also used as a further leak test.

Once the vacuum test has completed, special refrigerant oil is added to compensate for any lost during either the recovery process, or work carried out to the system, this oil is the most important part of the process, if the system oil is low, major damage can occur within the compressor.

Finally, the system is recharged with new, virgin refrigerant to the correct weight, it is important to know that most Garages use automated machines to recharge, these machine use the same refrigerant that has been recovered to recharge the vehicle, as the gas quality is a very important factor, we only recharge with pure new refrigerant, the old refrigerant is collected in a separate cylinder and returned to the processing plant for disposal.

Once the re-charge is complete, the system is run and tested for vent temperate, refrigerant pressure, cooling fan operation and lastly a final leak check with a refrigerant detector.

Adding dye to your system

Air conditioning refrigerant is without smell or colour, if you develop a small leak over time, it is very difficult and therefore costly to find.

When you have your vehicle a/c system recharged, we will add an ultraviolet dye, the dye is a yellow green colour, and although visible to the naked eye, when an ultraviolet light is shone onto the dye it glows brightly, showing up even the smallest of leaks, this is of great benefit for two reasons, first it means that misdiagnosis is reduced, and it is much easier to allow you to see the problem.

Once the dye has been added, it is in the system for good, no matter how many leaks you have, it will never need topping up, and it is a once only application.

The cost of adding dye at the same time as a recharge is FREE ,