automotive air conditioning

Yes! Your pollen filter (cabin filter) can become blocked and should be replaced according to your vehicle manufacturers recommendation. On the vast majority of cars, this is easily replaceable and definitely something you can do yourself. If however, you're struggling or are unsure on how to replace the filter on your car, you can almost guarantee somebody has a video on YouTube demonstrating how to replace it.

Still struggling? Feel free to contact us and book in to have your filter replaced.

Another thing you may wish to do is use an air conditioning sanitiser. Packed with fragrance and odor neutralisers, they kill a broad range of bacteria, yeasts and fungus and leave your car smelling fresh!

Sometimes it's as simple as a fuse! Check your owners manual and head to the fuse section to find which fuse(s) power the air conditioning. Then locate the fuse within the fuse box (many vehicles have more than one) and check the condition of the fuse.

Please do not attempt to work on the refrigerant system as this can be incredibly dangerous. Our technicians are certified to handle the gases inside the refrigerant system, handling refrigerant without the correct training is not only dangerous, but illegal too!

There are several methods our technicians can use to find leaks in air conditioning systems.

The most basic is one you can do at home, some vehicles have an oil inside the air conditioning system that contains a UV dye. If you think you have a leak, you can use an ultraviolet light to reveal the dye.

Taking things up a step, the system can be pressurised with nitrogen and soapy water sprayed on the air conditioning components. The system is visually inspected and bubbles give the leak away!

Sometimes, UV dye and soapy water just isn't enough. For really small leaks or to find leaks in locations that aren't visible such as under the dashboard, a mix of nitrogen (95%) and hydrogen (5%) can be put into the system. A combustible gas detector is then used to hone in on the source of the leak.

Hydrogen is a very small molecule and can fit through the smallest of holes meaning we can find leaks as small as 5 grams of refrigerant per year! For context, most cars have around 500g-600g of refrigerant.

The vast majority of air conditioning faults are found within an hour. Some as fast as 5 or ten minutes, but some of them are well hidden or complex and can take over an hour to locate. While we endeavor to return your vehicle to you as quickly as possible, we would much rather spend the extra bit of time and ensure we're advising you on the correct course of action to get your air conditioning functioning as it should.

Yes they should have, and probably did since it's a legal requirement. The industry standard is to pull a vacuum on the air refrigerant circuit using the filling station and hold it for a period of 30 minutes. If the vacuum holds, great, time to regas!

Or so you'd think!

While the vacuum test is the industry standard, this isn't necessarily the best way of checking for leaks. The air conditioning system operates under pressure, not a vacuum. This means if a small leak such as a seal being pushed outward is present, a vacuum test may actually pull the seal back into place and give the impression there are no leaks present. As soon as the system is charged with refrigerant, the seal is then pushed outwards again, allowing the refrigerant to leak out.

Because of this, we have the equipment required to test your refrigerant circuit in it's normal operating condition, under pressure!

There are many components to an air conditioning circuit, from fuses and filters to expansion valves and compressors, all of which can wear out, become blocked, or simply fail. Our technicians are trained to diagnose every part of the air conditioning system and we constantly invest in the latest cutting edge equipment to diagnose faults within the air conditioning system.

We've teamed up with Teesside Mobile Aircon to offer you the best value refrigerant charging possible. They are a mobile service so they can come to your home or work and carry out a regas service. They also carry equipment to perform fogging and sanitising of the aircon system as well as carbon cleaning for your engine!

Please contact them directly for refrigerant charging/regassing.