Air-Con Regassing ?

[king_panther]

Hi guys,

From memory, the air con gets de-gassed during compliance.

Am I to assume then that I need to get it regassed myself ?

If so, can anyone in Sydney recommend me somewhere reputable to get this done ?

Cheers !

 

[VR-04-TT]

I don't think it has to as I'm sure ours are already on the newer gas and don't need to be converted.

 

[dimi_108]

Shogun didn't re-gas mine.
The air con in my VR-4 is barely cold when I turn it on so I'm guessing they just removed the old gas and didn't re-gas it.

I'm going to get mine done definitely before summer. I've just been lazy.
And having a Cold Spec car, i don't need the air con to demist the windscreen in the rain :bigsmile:

 

[king_panther]

Yea I've got no idea what's been done, as whenever I turn the air con on in the Super I am getting this slight hissing noise as though it's missing something ..... something like air con gas...

 

[SiliconAngel]

I don't believe there's any need for them to touch the aircon gas during compliance. Indeed, my car arrived with fantastic aircon, but after having the gas replaced due to the front-end work it's not half as good any more (stupid Australian environmental laws */grumble*)

If anyone knows of an aircon guy in Perth who might happen to have some freon lying around, let me know

 

[king_panther]

I don't believe there's any need for them to touch the aircon gas during compliance

This is a quote from the J Spec website ;

"The above landed estimate includes shipping, import duty, GST, compliance, our service fee and de-gassing the air conditioning system as required by the Dept of the Environment and Heritage - you will also need to allow for new tyres and normal registration costs."

I thought it had to be due to the environment laws too...

 

[bratwurst_boy]

you might have a hole in your condenser or when they degassed it they didn't tighten something back up. i got a hole in my condenser luckly i got a replacement one from a forum user (which reminds me i gotta fit it )

 

[SiliconAngel]

This is a quote from the J Spec website ;

"The above landed estimate includes shipping, import duty, GST, compliance, our service fee and de-gassing the air conditioning system as required by the Dept of the Environment and Heritage - you will also need to allow for new tyres and normal registration costs."

I thought it had to be due to the environment laws too...

Interesting. Maybe they're not all doing it? Unless they're required by law to affix a sticker stating the gas installed, who would even know? Saves them $120ish... The other possibility is it may only be required for vehicles made before a certain year or that contain a certain gas - J-Spec will have that on every listing regardless of whether it applies or not.

you might have a hole in your condenser or when they degassed it they didn't tighten something back up. i got a hole in my condenser luckly i got a replacement one from a forum user (which reminds me i gotta fit it )

Nah no holes, its still working ok, but only ok - it used to be fantastic The difference is just the type of gas.

 

[cyber_scriber]

My compliancing invoice states the following:

"Ozone Levy (Air conditioning release)".

It's a bit ambiguous what that means, though it is a logical conclusion that a/c release means emptying the gas.

 

[VR-04-TT]

I thought they only had to do that if the gas was the old kind, not the new.

My car was a test car and inspected by DOTARS in person. The gas wasn't released...

 

[SiliconAngel]

Bruce that could also be interpreted as released as in inspected and passed, but you'd have to read the legislation to work out one way or another.

 

[cyber_scriber]

Bruce that could also be interpreted as released as in inspected and passed, but you'd have to read the legislation to work out one way or another.

Trev, I do that all day for a living, so I'm not keen to do it for pleasure

I guess I'll find out when the car arrives and I give the air con a blast!

I did have the pleasure of being charged nearly $50 for the "air conditioning release". I hope they did something more than just turn it on and pass it!

 

[king_panther]

I'm glad to see my innocent question has sparked an interesting thread

Further, it's not a hissing noise no, just normally haven't been listening for it before. However I am definately not getting any warm air out of it. It's blowing cold & that's it, which is highly annoying in this cold weather we're having & I can't demist the windows !!!!

 

[matchtheclown]

Brad > Just call around a couple of places.

Your aircon system will be fine and just need re-filling. I went to my local MIDAS because they only charged $65.

They will say WELL it might not have the newer gas system we might have to convert it! But they wont. They will see the sticker in the right place when you arrive and it takes hardly anything at all to do.

Get it done mate. My aircon sucked until I did this.

RE: whether it happens at compliance or not or should or should or it happened in Japan before it left or not.

The importers / compliance shop are looser than Stagea and Calidina Drivers from what I have learned. As if you can rely on them being consistent in anything past having the clap.

 

[SiliconAngel]

I am definately not getting any warm air out of it. It's blowing cold & that's it, which is highly annoying in this cold weather we're having & I can't demist the windows !!!!

If you have the climate control set to a higher temp than ambient you should be getting heat (although remember you don't have reverse-cycle aircon, heating is done using heat from the engine via coolant through the heater core. So make sure the aircon is off if you want heat.). If you're not getting any heat at all there's something wrong with your heater core, not your aircon. It could just be a clogged hose, but it could be your core is collapsing from corrosion or something - Simon has a How To for removal & replacement in the Guides section.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Question time: Does anyone have any idea what the charge rate / quantity of gas should be for the aircon in our cars? It appears that my problem is simply that I don't have enough gas, but the aircon guy would like more info before he starts shoving more gas in there. Basically if you fill the system with too much gas, on high temp days the pressure that builds up in the system can exceed the tolerances it was designed to withstand, and then the weakest part will literally explode. But the less gas you have, the less efficient the system will be, thus the less cooling you'll get.

Oh and just to clarify some of the speculation above, the type of gas used in an aircon system is clear from the type of caps used on the charging points (the two teal coloured screw caps you may have noticed). Our aircon uses a standard and very much legal gas from the factory, so it doesn't need to be bled, contained or replaced at all during compliance, so anyone charging you a fee for this should be repaying it...

EDIT: Found it
Refrigerant: R-134a (HFC-134a)
Quantity: Approx 670-710g

 

[Nitephyre]

Wow, seems like some of you guys got dodged... I love my nice cold climate control and automatic windows

 

[Tom]

My VR4 had awesome aircon when I first picked it up.. Didn't need regassing until I had front end damage..

Actually I need to get the Truenos aircon regassed, my friend works for a mechanic place in Chester Hill and they do regassing for about $80 So I'll be going there, if anyone wants details let me know

 

[SiliconAngel]

I had mine checked yesterday, it had just 220g of refrigerant in it! No wonder it was so rubbish. We put dye in to see if there were any leaks and were unable to find any. Refilled it with 710g and OMG it's like walking into a coolroom now! Fingers crossed it stays like that...

 

[David-777]

Fuck. I payed $150 and mine is barely cold.