How to make the most of A/C opportunities in your workshop

Technicians should inspect the whole system routinely and not just the component being changed, Hella advise

How to make the most of A/C opportunities in your workshop
The summer signals the start of a busy period for garages offering air conditioning services. Image credit: Bigstock.

With virtually every vehicle presented for routine mechanical servicing being factory-fitted with an air conditioning (AC) system, Behr Hella Service say technicians are passing up significant profit opportunities if they have not developed a strategy to maximise associated parts sales when various AC components have to be replaced.

Steve Hudson, head of business development for Behr Hella Service said: “It’s a matter of routine for them to fit a new tensioner and maybe a new water pump when replacing a timing belt.

“Workshops can reap similar rewards from additional parts sales if they adopt the same approach when changing AC components.”

How the AC system works

The AC system is formed by a closed circuit of pipes and hoses connecting the various components, with a central compressor circulating the refrigerant through the system.

The compressor significantly increases the temperature of the refrigerant before it passes to a condenser under high pressure to shed heat and condense from a gas to liquid.

From the condenser, the refrigerant travels to a receiver drier, which filters out moisture and other contaminants before progressing to a thermo expansion valve or fixed orifice tube.

The pressure drops as it enters the evaporator as the process of evaporation changes its state back to gas from liquid.

Like the condenser, the evaporator is a large surface area heat exchanger, which distributes the cold from evaporation to the surrounding area before the ‘conditioned air’ is blown into the cabin.

What to look for

“When replacing the compressor for example, look too at the receiver dryer and the thermo expansion valve and don’t overlook all the associated ‘O’ rings, oil, dye and flushing fluid commodities.

“Exactly the same considerations apply when replacing the condenser.

“Every second year the receiver drier/suction accumulator should be replaced anyway and if you change any other component and open the AC system to atmosphere in the interim, a new receiver drier/suction accumulator should certainly be fitted due to moisture going in to the system.”

Hella Gutmann Solutions’ range ‘Husky’ range of AC service stations for both R134a and R1234yf refrigerants provides the essential solution for all conventional, hybrid and electric vehicles.

For more information about the products available from Hella call 01295 662400 or click ‘more details’ below.

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