Leaking after air con use

That is perfectly normal, it is the condensate draining. The unit chills the air and as a result condensation forms inside the unit, which has to drain. It is this water draining which you have spotted.

"munki" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

It's not a leak, it's condensed humidity from the air - perfectly normal.

One of the most useful benefits of aircon in the UK is that it dries the air as it cools it - so in winter, you can get dry warm air, which'll clear misted windows _instantly_.

Don't forget to make sure you use the aircon regularly - 10min every couple of weeks or so minimum - to keep the seals from drying.

It's not a leak. It's moisture removed from the air by the aircon draining, and is normal.

Phew cheers fellas :)

I shall make sure it gets used so the seals don't dry *thumbs up* Adrian

IANAM (I am not a mechanic etc)

ISTR someone else mentioning that it's worth switching it off ten minutes before you "arrive" at your destination to allow the air ducts to dry out, otherwise they might start to pong if they leave any stagnant puddles of condensate.

The fact that you can see the "leakage" is a good sign that the aircon is working and that the drainage tubes are not blocked. Never had any problems with smells from my condensate.

Support previous posts that using it in winter ( heat and aircon on) is an excellent way of demisting even tho' it mind sound counter-intuitive.

I frequently read about problems with car air conditioning units, such as leaks and regassing, however as it's not at all uncommon for fridges and freezers to work continuously for decades without problems, does this mean that vehicle air conditioning has to work on a completely different principle to that of a 'sealed for life' refrigeration unit?

the principles of the refrigeration are identical, the problems with the car stuff is that of necessity there must be flexible pipes and connections that may be dismantled and the pump must have a seal which can leak and in addition the physical conditions with regard to vibration, damage and corrosion all do not occur in a fridge. fridges use a pump inside a sealed container, all the pipes are welded together, and it is rare to get any physical damage or corrosion, also the condenser can be much larger on a fridge. if it was convenient/practical to run an electric aircon on a car then many problems can be eliminated. I believe the prius uses a peltier block to cool when the engine is off, but it does have masses of batteries to run it.

Thanks for the explanation most, interesting.. In early units the compressor was driven by an independent electric motor, presumably little different then to a vehicle's unit being run from the engine, IIRC they also had a reasonably trouble free life, apart from an occasional broken drive belt or defunct motor.

[...]

Very early (1950's) domestic refrigeration didn't use a compressor. They used a cartridge heater to effectively "compress" the refrigerant. Consequently they were very reliable, although freezing capacity was minimal.

Industrial refrigeration from that era was pretty unreliable. It suffered in the same way as modern car systems with leakage from the compressor shaft seal. As the refrigerant used was often ammonia, this was quite a safety problem!

Chris

They still make air conditioning/refrigeration units with a separate belt drive motor. Again though most of the joints are solid, there are no rubber hoses. In the old air conditioning units in buildings with separate motors they sometimes used ammonia as the refrigerant, they also expect to top it up regularly and because of the large quantities of refrigerant a small leak is not noticed so soon.

If you want to see some fascinating cooling eqipment and have a nice day out then visit the ' Secret' Nuclear bunker at kelvedon hatch in essex, well worth a visit. One of the fridge pumps is in a stripped condition as they stood the place down during its routine maintenance!

Yes I had a 1940/50s Electrolux absorption refrigerator given to us in the

1960s, (it could almost have been used as a freezer when turned it up to max) we had that for about 15 years and only got rid of it because it was starting to look tatty and old-fashioned.

Anth formulated on Monday :

In a fridge the motor and compressor are sealed up as one unit, no drive shaft passing through a seal and bearing. The pipe work is also brazed up, rather than jointed as on a car.

Anth brought next idea :

This method is still used for caravan fridges which can work on any of gas, 12v and 240v. They do manage to freeze.

However the efficiency's lower & they're quite low power (they're normally Einstein Szilard cycle which is almost completely different to a conventional heat pump) but almost totally silent & durable.

IIRC wasn't it those Electrolux absorption refrigerators that were fitted in the postwar prefab kitchens?. if so it would have been something of a revelation in the austerity plagued aftermath of world war two, allowing for the fact of there being sufficient electricity generation capacity left to power them of course.

In message , Anth writes

Yebbut, you don't bounce your fridge up and down curbs or hit potholes at 60MPH in it so they may last a little longer than a car A/C system.

In message , Chris Whelan writes

Ammonia is making a comeback as a refrigerant.