They have.
Yes, it will be 'Climatic' - which runs the compressor all the time (ambient temps allowing) unless you switch it to 'economy' mode, which cuts the compressor.
If you're running it in 'economy', when you turn the vents dial to demist, it automatically kicks the compressor back to life.
It was, almost. Your repeated mention of "in cold weather" in your first post makes it appear like you are able to force your aircon on when it is NOT cold (say, above 5 degrees). However, your exasperated ranting suggests you probably can't.
Yes. What is hard to understand is why you are very upset about people discussing the effects of cold weather on aircon, when you originally asked how to make your aircon work in cold weather.
Yes. Since you didn't say "Can you turn your air con on for demisting purposes in cold weather?". Which is what it you apparantly wanted to do in your original post. Depending on how cold the cold weather is (hence the introduction of 5 degrees), you may not be able to turn on the aircon -- in most (if not all) cars.
I'd say that's far more likely to be due to a difference in vent design/ mass airflow/ pump power etc than between having the aircon pump running or not running - all that the compressor does is produce cold air, and if it's cold outside then you can get plenty of that from there. It's called a compressor because it compresses the refrigerant - the airflow rate is determined by the air pump, which is separate.
My Golf Mk4 (with climate control) is not as good at demisting as my old Mondeo (in which aircon meant opening the windows). The Mondeo had full width vents across the base of the windscreen where the Golf has just two in the middle.
Precisely what I'd have thought (and every machine does apart from this one!), but don't tell me, tell the original poster. :)
....at ambient temps above 4 deg C approximately...
Tim..
It has an "Econ" button to turn the compressor off but there is no "screen demist" control that would normally turn the compressor on (just the usual air direction control knob). The heater/aircon control dial is marked with a crude temperature scale, 18, 22 & 26. It would seem that when the itake air temperature is below some limit, you just can't force the aircon to work, even by turning the temp to minimum.
Even my wife's cheapo Mitsubishi Spacestar with manual aircon allows you to turn on the aircon with the heater for demisting purposes.
Start believing. It's true.
I guess you could call it that. The presense of figures on the temperature control dial would suggest that its thermostatic. It's not full climate control though. :-(
Well I'm only talking about running it for 5 minutes or so. Sure ice may form on the condenser but will that really wreck it? Decrease its efficiency sure, but wreck it?
The car has got damp through rain getting in recently. (I often have to leave my dogs in the car for short periods with the windows open). But that happened with my old car too. It just dealt with it much better.
Might do that.
First thing I checked before posting. No mention of using aircon in conjuction with heater.
Tim
I think that the "ambient temps allowing" is the big problem. If that's how it works then it would seem VW have set the minimum ambient temperature way too high.
Well if the system *is* supposedly running all the time, why is it so crap at demisting? Every aircon car I've ever driven has been much better than this one at demisting.
Tim
Well all I can say is
a) are you sure?
and
b) I don't believe mine is working at temperatures well above that.
It's going for its first service next week. Maybe they can check that out.
Tim
There's somethign wrong with it, then.
I have Climatic in my Passat (which is just a stretched MkV Golf, so the oily bits are pretty much the same as in the Touran) and haven't noticed it being any worse than the full Climatronic system I had in my last Passat.
I'm with you on this one dude - no matter the temperature, my car clears the windows quicker with the air on. I'm not arguing it, it's a fact.
I ask the question again: how cold? If you have climate control then the switch is effectively on all the time. The Econ setting simply disables the aircon.
IF the temperature is above the minimum for the system - which will be at about 5 degrees - then the bloody compressor will be on. Which is probably why nobody understands your whittering about how to turn it on.
IT IS ON.
You may have found your actual problem
It's not uncommon for the air conditioning to be running when you switch to demist airflow mode.
Yes, it's the semi-automatic system then.
Another example of where VW badged stuff is going these days.
Yes, it changes the air temperature output but not the fan or direction control.
On? No no, in and yes, it'll break it.
Do you know what ambient air temperatures you're trying to run the system in?
What's your usual trip? Where do you park it?
I figured this was the case but some people post without checking. :-)
I'm coming round to the view that the air con in my car has just stopped working. I live in Ayrshire on the SW coast of scotland and it really doesn't get that cold here. Even when the temperature is over 10c it doesn't appear to be doing anything to help demisting.
Having owned cars with aircon & climate control, I *know* when it's working. My car stays humid and demists like a non-airconditioned car. I'll get it checked out at the dealer next week.
Well then it ain't fecking working! ;-)
Tim
Can I add another voice into this. The 5 degrees is relevant to the argument, but it's approximate. I have a similar but reverse problem to the OP in that I've gone from a Mondeo with A/C to a C5 with climate control, and the one thing I miss is being able to turn on the A/C on a cold morning to demist the screen. So I agree with the OP that being able to turn on the A/C in the morning DID contribute to demisting. It was not imagination, it did work, BUT and it's a big BUT, only if the temperature wasn't too cold. On the Mondeo the operating temp for the A/C was 6 degrees. Put a temperature gauge in the dash vents and turn the A/C on and it will drop to 6, whatever the outside temp. On the wife's Micra the temp it drops to is 4 degrees, so the 5 degree figure that's been suggested is probably a good approximation.
On the Mondy, you could hear very clearly the clutch coming in and the revs dropping if on tickover, and if the outside temp was very low, IT DID NOT COME IN. So, no cooling because no point, and no demisting.
In conclusion, I agree with the OP that manually switching on the A/C does definitely help demisting on a cold morning, but I also agree with the other comments that it will not come on if the temp is too low. That is my experience. I wish my C5 had a manual switch for the very reason the OP wants it, but that's because I have climate control now, so I don't think the OP should worry about being a cheapskate and not spending the money on climate control, it wouldn't have solved your problem.
BobC
Doesn't the C5 have a windscreen demist button? The neighbours C3 does and that turns the compressor on and directs the air to the windscreen.
I'm with you as well. On some cold damp days in the first couple of minutes of running, my 97 Primera just cannot clear the windscreen at all with just the blower running full blast. Switch the aircon on and all the mist goes in about 5 seconds. Seems like magic to me as surely the aircon can't be working that quickly after switching it on for the first time.
For what it's worth (probably very little but just in case), the basic aircon in my Hyundai Coupe is controlled by a thermostatic switch within the evaporator. There are no other (external) thermostatic 'lockouts' (in fact no external control at all - just alter the mix of chilled air with that warmed... told you it was basic!).
When the temperature of the evaporator goes below 1.5c (+/- 1c) the compressor turns off (or indeed won't turn on if it's already that cold) and it will turn back on again at 4.3c (+/- 1c).
Of course, the temperature is being measured tucked away inside the glovebox inside the car hence it would arguably have to be lower than
1.5c outside for an appreciable time/amount for it to be
Yes you are correct, it does. I'd forgotten that and I guess it should turn the compressor on, but it is still not nearly as efficient as the old mondy was, but I guess there may be other reasons then.
Yes but the cold air that the compressor produces is also dry air as the act of cooling it takes out the moisture. THAT is why it's good for demisting.
Tony
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.