86 Air Conditioning

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by humfrz

....... you DON'T shut the garage door .....

......and @Tcoat isn't even usually right ...... just ask mrs Tcoat ......


humfrz

Besides carbon monoxide isn't all that bad for you ....... as a kid, I spent countless hours on a tractor that the muffler had long since rusted away ..... and you can see how I turned out, so .......

That was probably more due to the lead in the gas than the CO.

[PandaSPUR]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Doesn't really matter how hot the compressor runs. That isn't where the cooling happens.
Heat is removed at the condenser which is downstream of the compressor. Hum is correct in saying the fan removes the heat at that point. You are also correct though since a moving car sheds heat better than a stationary one. The more efficiently heat is removed from the condenser the more efficient the system works. As mentioned the engine bay is packed pretty solid so our AC isn't the most efficient out there.



Yep. This is where the compressor comes in. At low RPMs it just isn't moving enough gas to the condenser too turn it to liquid. Not enough liquid at the condenser means not enough is turning back to gas at the evaporator to remove the heat from the passenger compartment. Poor cooling at idle is not unusual for small displacement engines since a larger compressor that would move more gas would rob too much power. Combine this with the hot engine bay and you have an AC system that is happiest when moving with higher RPMs.

Now what is "cold" is subjective to individuals so when one guys says his is freezing and another says his is still warm it could very likely be exactly the same temperature in the car.

Woops. Named the wrong part I guess. Either way, keep the hot side cooler and the cold side will work better.

On really hot summer days, after my car's been parked on the street, I tend to leave the windows down and ride out first gear for a block or two. Airflow removes some heat from the car body and interior, gets more air to the engine bay, and higher RPMs crank the compressor. Tends to cool down the car pretty quick, and then I'm okay even if get stuck in traffic.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

Woops. Named the wrong part I guess. Either way, keep the hot side cooler and the cold side will work better.

On really hot summer days, after my car's been parked on the street, I tend to leave the windows down and ride out first gear for a block or two. Airflow removes some heat from the car body and interior, gets more air to the engine bay, and higher RPMs crank the compressor. Tends to cool down the car pretty quick, and then I'm okay even if get stuck in traffic.

Yep.
Tinted windows help a lot as well.


Oh and don't do like I did for the first two weeks of owning the car. I whined and muttered about how crappy the AC was and that it barely even cooled the car at all. Then one day I turned the little wheel on the dash vents and actually opened them up. The difference was startling. The sad part was I had actually read about them in the manual.

[PandaSPUR]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Yep.
Tinted windows help a lot as well.


Oh and don't do like I did for the first two weeks of owning the car. I whined and muttered about how crappy the AC was and that it barely even cooled the car at all. Then one day I turned the little wheel on the dash vents and actually opened them up. The difference was startling. The sad part was I had actually read about them in the manual.

When RTFM goes from Read The F* Manual to Remember The F* Manual.

[nextcar]

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

But @Tcoat is usually right in what he says... and doesn't suggest death by carbon monoxide

It is almost impossible to kill yourself this way with a modern car if the pollution control system is intact... but I still don't recommend trying!

[PandaSPUR]

Originally Posted by nextcar

It is almost impossible to kill yourself this way with a modern car if the pollution control system is intact... but I still don't recommend trying!

Depends on size of garage and duration I'm guessing, but still very possible. I think this past winter there were some deaths reported on local news from people running their car to warm up in the garage.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

That was probably more due to the lead in the gas than the CO.

Yep, that too. In the early, sultry, summer mornings, while filling the tractor with leaded gas, I had to lean over the filler tube, to look in to see when the tank was getting full, hence huffing the fumes coming out of the tank.

What a way to start the day .......


humfrz

[nextcar]

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

Depends on size of garage and duration I'm guessing, but still very possible. I think this past winter there were some deaths reported on local news from people running their car to warm up in the garage.

Not from carbon monoxide

[PandaSPUR]

Originally Posted by nextcar

Not from carbon monoxide

Always assumed it was, thought thats what I read in the news too. Same for the stories where people died waiting for their car to heat up cause the exhaust was blocked by snow.

What is it then? I hope if people are smelling straight up exhaust gasses, they'd notice....

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by nextcar

Not from carbon monoxide

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

Always assumed it was, thought thats what I read in the news too. Same for the stories where people died waiting for their car to heat up cause the exhaust was blocked by snow.

What is it then? I hope if people are smelling straight up exhaust gasses, they'd notice....

People still die from it every year. Yes the cats reduce it but they do not eliminate it. A small enough area with a car running long enough can still do people in. Not near as bad as it was once upon a time but still an issue.


Can be a huge issue for anybody running a car with no cats but we all know that nobody ever removes them!


I laughed my ass off at the badge proudly displayed on the back of my wife's new car.
How the hell is anything "Partially Zero"?

[bkharmony]

Originally Posted by VIP BRZ

Not to be this guy.. but are you large in stature?

my AC gets unbearably cold.. even at the lowest fan setting.

I'm no waif by any measure; certainly at the upper end of "average." But like I mentioned, I'm comparing same me, same city, same environment, same commute... the only variable in this equation is the car.

I suppose if I dropped 20 lbs. the AC would work better by default. Maybe I'll just do that.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I laughed my ass off at the badge proudly displayed on the back of my wife's new car.
How the hell is anything "Partially Zero"?

Gawd, how many assholes did it take to come up with that bullshit? SMH

[nextcar]

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

Always assumed it was, thought thats what I read in the news too. Same for the stories where people died waiting for their car to heat up cause the exhaust was blocked by snow.

What is it then? I hope if people are smelling straight up exhaust gasses, they'd notice....

Originally Posted by Tcoat

People still die from it every year. Yes the cats reduce it but they do not eliminate it. A small enough area with a car running long enough can still do people in. Not near as bad as it was once upon a time but still an issue.


Can be a huge issue for anybody running a car with no cats but we all know that nobody ever removes them!


I laughed my ass off at the badge proudly displayed on the back of my wife's new car.
How the hell is anything "Partially Zero"?

Carbon monoxide is nasty stuff - and it used to be present in car exhaust in sufficient quantity that it became a relatively common suicide method - you could idle your car in your garage and "shuffle off these mortal coils" in under an hour. Likewise it was possible to have a leaky exhaust system inadvertently kill a cars occupants if they parked with the engine on (like making out in a car on a snowy night).

Modern car pollution control systems and catalytic converters have practically eliminated it from car exhaust (if they are working properly).

Most recent accounts of in car deaths that occur in garages are actually suffocation - the running engine consumes free oxygen and converts it to carbon dioxide - and does not leave enough oxygen for you to survive or malfunctioning exhaust systems. But as Tcoat mentions - it takes a confined space that is sealed pretty well and in takes far longer to suffocate in this manner. There are instances of failed suicides where the cars actually run out of gas before they kill the occupant.

Carbon dioxide is odorless too - and taking a whiff of a modern, unmodified car's exhaust is completely like sniffing the fumes from a carburated, non-catted car from the 60s or 70s.

And for the lawyers: "Do not attempt this at home", "sniffing exhaust fumes can be dangerous", "pollution control devices can malfunction", "seek help if you are depressed".... and I took this thread

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by nextcar

Carbon monoxide is nasty stuff - and it used to be present in car exhaust in sufficient quantity that it became a relatively common suicide method - you could idle your car in your garage and "shuffle off these mortal coils" in under an hour. Likewise it was possible to have a leaky exhaust system inadvertently kill a cars occupants if they parked with the engine on (like making out in a car on a snowy night).

Modern car pollution control systems and catalytic converters have practically eliminated it from car exhaust (if they are working properly).

Most recent accounts of in car deaths that occur in garages are actually suffocation - the running engine consumes free oxygen and converts it to carbon dioxide - and does not leave enough oxygen for you to survive or malfunctioning exhaust systems. But as Tcoat mentions - it takes a confined space that is sealed pretty well and in takes far longer to suffocate in this manner. There are instances of failed suicides where the cars actually run out of gas before they kill the occupant.

Carbon dioxide is odorless too - and taking a whiff of a modern, unmodified car's exhaust is completely like sniffing the fumes from a carburated, non-catted car from the 60s or 70s.

And for the lawyers: "Do not attempt this at home", "sniffing exhaust fumes can be dangerous", "pollution control devices can malfunction", "seek help if you are depressed".... and I took this thread

Anything over 10PPM of CO can cause health effects.
Anything over 150PPM can kill you.
Modern cars with properly working cats still put out around 1,000PPM
Although this is far better than the 80,000 to 100,000PPM that the old cars put out it is still lethal.
You will die from CO poisoning in an enclosed space well before you will suffocate from burning up the available oxygen.


https://www.abe.iastate.edu/extensio...rages-aen-207/