When you ask Adelanto, California, residents what they value the most in their automobiles, many will say the air conditioning. Even in September, the average high floats at about 92 degrees. When you mix in the lack of rain, it can feel like sitting in an oven if you are driving around without air conditioning.
How Does an Automotive A/C System Work?
If you are like most Adelanto, California, residents, you run your A/C a lot even though it consumes more fuel. The reason why it consumes more fuel is because there is a compressor attached to the belt drive of your combustion engine. This compressor operates like a single-piston motor to compress the gaseous refrigerant that is circulating through your A/C system.
Once the refrigerant reaches a liquid state, it can be pumped through an expansion valve or orifice tube. This is where the magic happens. When the pressurized gas is atomized through this nozzle, it expands and quickly cools down. This same effect occurs when you spray hairspray through an aerosol can.
The gas expands in a component called an evaporator. This is another aluminum-finned heat exchanger that resembles the condenser. However, this becomes very cold and condenses water on its exterior as the interior ventilation fan blows air past it and through your vents. Once it absorbs the heat from your interior, it travels back to the compressor to recirculate again.
Common Causes of Failure
In Adelanto, California, we don’t see a lot of evaporators rusted out. Nevertheless, this can happen when the drains are clogged. At our shop, we often see seized compressors and low refrigerant levels. We also see a lot of sensor and electrical problems.