 Air Conditioner: Check Your AC System Before Summer
Posted by carsandtrucks on Saturday, February 21 @ 13:12:38 PST
As the weather turns to spring and the temperatures are on the rise, it is a good time to think about making sure the air conditioning in your ride is ready for the upcoming summer season. The air conditioning system in your vehicle works by pumping compressed Freon through the system. The Freon available today is R134A a product that is less harmful to the environment then the previous R12 Freon. If you have an older vehicle, you will need to convert the system to accept R134A Freon. The Freon is a gas liquid combination that is compressed and pumped by a belt driven compressor attached to the engine of your car or truck. The Freon gets cold when it is pumped through an expansion valve. This valve contracts and expands the Freon. It is this expansion and compression that makes
the Freon cold. From the expansion valve, the Freon is pumped through metal tubing into the vehicle interior. Inside the vehicle is an evaporator that removes humidity from the interior of the vehicle and assists in cooling off the interior of the vehicle. The system then carries the heat to a condenser located in front of the engine where heat dissipation occurs. The description of your A/C system here is very basic. Air conditioning systems have become quite complicated since their early introduction in cars of the 1940's. Do it yourself service and repairs are pretty limited on today's air conditioning systems. Because the Freon is considered harmful to the environment, there are laws regulating the handling of this gas and technicians have to be certified to carry out the repairs and service. There are routine maintenance checks that should be done annually to assure your system is ready for the coming warm weather. The simplest test is to turn on your AC and determine if the temperature of the cooled air is adequate. If not contact your automotive service specialist and have the system checked. Don't wait until the temps are in the 90's to discover your air conditioning system is not working.
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