smokey aircon

[blown vess]

this morning turned on my aircon and vapors started coming out?

[PROPSI]

I had this once before and it then just stop doing it???????????:confused:

End results was all fine and continued to work fine.

[Mark]

I've had it happen before, it's weather related. An air con guy did explain it to me but can't remember what its all about, something to do with humidity and moisture. Nothing to worry about.

[Darren]

yeah it's most likely just water vapour/mist, due to the increased humidity in the air - cool air attracts the moisture, hence the mist. Usually it shouldn't really happen, moisture usually collects on the evaporator core and drains out the bottom of the case onto the ground. Using recirculation mode should minimise it.

just make sure your a/c drain tube isn't blocked (should see water dripping from under the car with A/C on)

[John]

Its called super saturation.

Its the same as when you walk outside and find fog (low level cloud). The correct scientific term is super saturated air.
What happens is the air is rapidly cooled to a point where it can no longer hold water as a gas so it returns to liquid. Its really just very fine water droplets in the air (i.e. fog)

I do it all the time, if its very humid and warm outside i'll turn my aircon to fresh just to make it do that. I think it looks cool :P

The fine mist won't collect on the core being to fine, most of it might. But if there is no moleculer filter in place theres no hope of the core extracting the fine mist

[fx160]

this morning turned on my aircon and vapors started coming out?
it's totaly normal will only happen on startup:eek:
just the same as when you breath on a cold day only different:confused:

kev

[blown vess]

Thanks guys one less thing I have to worry about

[John]

it's totaly normal will only happen on startup:eek:
just the same as when you breath on a cold day only different:confused:

kev

Can happen anytime the humidity is high enough and the air outside warm enough ;)

[John]

Think of air like a sponge. The sponge is dry but compress it and water comes out.

Air volume shrinks 22% for every 100 degree's F. Just like squeezing the sponge water cannot be compressed so is squeezed out.

This is why air compressors usually have a water catch for when spray painting cars, etc

[PROPSI]

BLOWN,

just throw on some techno and flashing lights in your car and charge $10 a head...........:D

Love the smoke machines:cool::cool::cool:

[fx160]

Can happen anytime the humidity is high enough and the air outside warm enough ;)
after startup the water just drains out before it gets inside the car
have a look under the car on any day the aircon is running there will be heaps of water comming out

kev

[John]

after startup the water just drains out before it gets inside the car
have a look under the car on any day the aircon is running there will be heaps of water comming out

kev

Yep, that is what its for, taking the humidity out of the air. Doesn't mean its 100% effecient through and it does have a limit on how much it can extract.

As i said, can happen anytime and not just on startup. The aircon core will be just as cold 2 mins after startup as it would 2 hours after. The mist seen has nothing to do with the startup of the vehicle but the saturation of the air itself.

[416SS]

this morning turned on my aircon and vapors started coming out?


At least you have a/c Brad,,,, i'm still waiting for the fix for mine. Sick of loosing the belt. Been through 3 so far. Had to cut the last one off as it started to come off the pulleys.. Who here knows who has the fix. I have heard of things but no one has come out with the goods...

[stealthvn/mr vr ss]

I heard holden just replaced the pully 4 the correct 1 not sure how true it is though
At least you have a/c Brad,,,, i'm still waiting for the fix for mine. Sick of loosing the belt. Been through 3 so far. Had to cut the last one off as it started to come off the pulleys.. Who here knows who has the fix. I have heard of things but no one has come out with the goods...

[John]

At least you have a/c Brad,,,, i'm still waiting for the fix for mine. Sick of loosing the belt. Been through 3 so far. Had to cut the last one off as it started to come off the pulleys.. Who here knows who has the fix. I have heard of things but no one has come out with the goods...

Same thing on my vs clubsport. I fixed it by using blue locktight on the pulleys nut.. I found it was loosening.. not much but enough for the pulley to vibrate up loosening the belt. Same thing happened to my 4wd

I went through 3 belts in one month before using the locktight.. i was at wits end

[Darren]

The fine mist won't collect on the core being to fine, most of it might. But if there is no moleculer filter in place theres no hope of the core extracting the fine mist

a mist means there is a high level of moisture content in the air, so it will easily condense onto the core - the fact that you are seeing mist, means condensation has already occured.

the reason the evaporator core may not intially collect all of the condensation in high humidity conditions, is because there is not enough surface area to attract all the moisture from air with a high moisture content in a single pass. However if the A/C is left on recirculation mode it will soon remove the remaining moisture as the water drains off the core and the same air is repeatedly recirculated back through the core

However mist through the vents is also a symptom of a blocked A/C/heater case drain tube, so it's something that should be checked if you commonly experience mist/moisture from the vents.

[John]

True that re-circulation will remove it, i only experience the super saturated air (mist) when on the fresh setting. Mainly because the air isn't chilled fast enough and only the last 1/4 of the core would actually be effecient in removing the water whilst on the fresh setting, if the core was larger as you said surface area plays a part.. we wouldn't see it.

a mist isn't related to just the moisture content (humidity) but the temp. The hotter the air the higher the water content it can hold as a gas. 80% humidity at 40 degree's would create heavy fog at 28 degree's.

a mist means there is a high level of moisture content in the air, so it will easily condense onto the core - the fact that you are seeing mist, means condensation has already occured.

the reason the evaporator core may not intially collect all of the condensation in high humidity conditions, is because there is not enough surface area to attract all the moisture from air with a high moisture content in a single pass. However if the A/C is left on recirculation mode it will soon remove the remaining moisture as the water drains off the core and the same air is repeatedly recirculated back through the core

However mist through the vents is also a symptom of a blocked A/C/heater case drain tube, so it's something that should be checked if you commonly experience mist/moisture from the vents.

[fx160]

if you are still geting mist after the aircon has been running there is somthing wrong
i leave mine on fresh air all the time and never get the mist
but if i turn it off for a couple minutes then back on it will mist up for a couple of seconds

kev

[John]

if you are still geting mist after the aircon has been running there is somthing wrong
i leave mine on fresh air all the time and never get the mist
but if i turn it off for a couple minutes then back on it will mist up for a couple of seconds

kev

Nothing wrong with it, as stated in previous posts its a natural occurance of nature and explained with basic physics. The core doesn't have enough surface area to remove all from extreme humid air.