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how does my air con / climate control work ??

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:25 pm
by myngs
Hi, just aquired a newer bongo with air con and climate control.

It is blowing nice and hot in this lovely weather.....losing lots of weight as it like a mobile sauna.....

How on earth does it work ????

I can get the blower/fan working fine but a/c and clim control blows warm what ever i do....can any one explain how i can get it nice and cool like normal air con ???

My digital temp guage will not go below 18 which of course is warm.....i thought it was a fault but rear seats have none digital slider which also shows min temp as just below 20 ???????????

Does it get really cold in Japan and they never need cool air or is it so hot 18 feels cold...???

or is my air con not working.......please help i'm baking !

thank you

regards

Bidford Bongonauts

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:28 pm
by waycar8
yes 18 is the lowest setting, and once its on 18, press the a/c button and it should turn cold.

if this doesnt happen then it isnt working you may need it regassing.

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:10 pm
by Gary Appleby
When I set mine to 18, my fan kicks in then cool air blasts out, maybe your linkage is broken. Mine is I have to manually position it, if you're wondering where it is, it sits to the left of your left foot, just behind the foot rest.


GJA

thank you

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:43 am
by myngs
hi...thank you for the help....re the linkage....i'm not mechanically minded...can you tell me what i'm looking for...and how to adjust it please

thankyou


roasting hot bongonaut

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:18 am
by 2sticks
If you have an electronic temperature readout then there
is no linkage, all shutters are electrically operated.

18 degrees is more than enough to keep you cold and
in this weather you may not be able to reduce the
outside temperature by more than 10 or 12 degrees
so it's best to use the recirculation switch (top left).
When the LED is on, inside air is re-circulated which helps.

As said previously, the system probably needs regassing
but it could be the main compressor clutch fuse which
is in the centre black box under the bonnet, can't remember
which one, there is a single black wire which goes to the
compressor under the passenger seat which is the clutch
supply and should have + 12 volts when the compressor
is working.

The rear aircon is supplied from the same compressor as
the front system, so if the front doesn't work, neither will
the rear.

Even on the Economy setting, the aircon has been more than
adequate in this weather when using both front and rear units.

When you have the system working, switch it on to aircon (A/C)
a least once a month for a few minutes even in the winter, it
helps to keep the compressor seals lubricated, which usually
causes the problem in the first place if you don't use it for
6 months.

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 11:11 am
by Colin Lambert
If you want to see how cold 18c really is and you have climate control as opposed to a/c. set the temp to 18c and then hit the 'automatic' button. this will cause the air to recirculate, the fan to come on at the highest speed etc.
Last evening it was 88F in Poole and I set it to 'as cold as possible' and by the time we had gone 3 miles my 'Wench' was asking me to turn it off as she was too cold!
Be aware though that if you are in recirculate mode you MUST have the windows up tight. Otherwise you will have ingress of ambient outside air fighting the Climate control.
Oh, By the way the pool of water under the vehicle (if it has been stationary with the a/c or C/C on) is the condensate from the system NOT a water leak!
The first time I was in Florida I lent over the guy next to me at the lights and said " I think your radiator's leaking". With a, 'you sad limey', expression and tired voice he replied, "It's the air con". Wot a dick 'ed I felt!!

Air Con.

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:28 pm
by 2sticks
Couldn't agree more Colin.

I tried this once in the early spring and nearly froze me nuts off.

You probably know much more than I do about this subject, but
just for the record, the 18C is the cabin temperature which the
system is trying to maintain, I measured the actual outlet temp
under the same conditions and it was below 3 (three) Celsius.

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:31 pm
by myngs
Hi chaps...just been outside in my bongo trying switches etc

Followed your instructions , set temp 18 then switched on auto, blasted out lovely hot air......

tried a/c button, blasted out hot air...

coolest is just with only fan/blower on without a/c

where is best place to get it checked....i get a feeling this is arm and leg job ??

i'm by Stratford upon Avon

thanks again chaps

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:46 pm
by Colin Lambert
Sorry, I'm in Poole so I haven't a clue about Stratford a/c specialists.

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:50 pm
by 2sticks
Lots of posts on the forum somewhere, try a search.

If this fails, try local yellow pages, a reasonable price
for regassing is 50 - 60 quid, but it will probably be the
best money you've ever spent, well, this week anyway.

Good luck.

Aircon

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 10:20 pm
by Ramsey
Just yell it for airconditioning. I did it here and got good results. You need 134a gas and 800grams. Any place should be able to fill it. Also under the passenger seat in the engine bay there is an aircon belt which hopefully is still there and intact. A refill costs about ?55 and a belt is ?8 so you should be able to save limb hopefully, maybe just sell a kidney?