Smoke/steam?? comes out of vents when A/C turned on

[private9]

Just wondering if anyone on here has ever had this problem?

I have an AU Series 3 Futura wagon, and very occasionally when we turn the airconditioning on something that looks like smoke or steam comes out of the vents for about 20 seconds. It doesn't smell, and looks more like steam, but I just have no idea what this is or if it is bad?

[stiddy]

Its like a fine mist..
its not bad, dont worry about it.. there was a thread on this a while ago..

like when you open a freezer door and you can see the 'mist'..

[XR6-VCT-2000]

this a quote from another thread similar to what you are saying , might be your problem , might not be (the following is not my text ! - is from someone elses post )...

. Ok .. Last summer I got the aircon regassed. Mechanic did the new gas conversion and all (yes, id have rathered just put old gas in ..but anyway .. its done ..)
Did some leak tests, and it all worked fine. no leaks, no problems. Took it home .. it was working awesum .. better than some new cars iv been in .. cept after a week or so, i started to notice that if it was on for 20+ minutes, the airflow would start to get really low, and as it was getting worse, sometimes youd see white whispy steam like gas coming from the center vents .. if you let it sit for ~5 mins, itd work again for another 10-20 mins, then repeat ..
About 6-8 weeks after that, it was out of gas again .. Some research turned up that aircons could "freeze up" if they went for too long without cycling .. and I did notice the hotter the day, the longer it would run for before itd start to get restricted airflow (you could still hear teh fan blowing away like crazy, just nothing coming out)
Having seen an old aircon (house one) at a mates place that freezes up, I can see why .. entire core that the air blows thru just becomes a block of ice ..

Anyway .. my question is, when frozen up like this, is it likly to overpressurise, and then use some kind of safety venting to discharge the excess pressure?
So, if this theory is right, when it was freezing up, each time it was loosing more and more gas, till it eventually ran out.

[private9]

Originally Posted by stiddy

Its like a fine mist..
its not bad, dont worry about it.. there was a thread on this a while ago..

like when you open a freezer door and you can see the 'mist'..

This is exactly what it looks like! Cool, good to know it's nothing harmful!

[stiddy]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

. Ok .. Last summer I got the aircon regassed. Mechanic did the new gas conversion and all (yes, id have rathered just put old gas in ..but anyway .. its done ..)
Did some leak tests, and it all worked fine. no leaks, no problems. Took it home .. it was working awesum .. better than some new cars iv been in .. cept after a week or so, i started to notice that if it was on for 20+ minutes, the airflow would start to get really low, and as it was getting worse, sometimes youd see white whispy steam like gas coming from the center vents .. if you let it sit for ~5 mins, itd work again for another 10-20 mins, then repeat ..
About 6-8 weeks after that, it was out of gas again .. Some research turned up that aircons could "freeze up" if they went for too long without cycling .. and I did notice the hotter the day, the longer it would run for before itd start to get restricted airflow (you could still hear teh fan blowing away like crazy, just nothing coming out)
Having seen an old aircon (house one) at a mates place that freezes up, I can see why .. entire core that the air blows thru just becomes a block of ice ..

Ive never ever heard of anything like that before... the 'mist' has happened with my car many times and ive never had any issues with it..

[smally289]

My AUII does the same thing, but only in the carwash. Must be a bit of water entering the heater box. On a humid day maybe your drain isn't keeping up with the moisture being produced by the A/C.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

yeah i've had light mist too , but for no where near as long as private9 stated ( 20 seconds ! ) , thats a long time to have the mist coming out the vents, only reason i posted it just incase he was having any of those other symptoms mentioned.

[stiddy]

ive had it mist for heaps longer that 20seconds.. like for the full length of waiting at a set of traffic lights to go green.. me and my mate were spinning out just watching it lol..
sorry vct-2000 not tryin to step on ya toes, just never heard of it before..

[XR6-VCT-2000]

nd stiddy ;) - well it can happen !, a typical problem in holdens ! ( i havent heard of a ford 1 fully crapping it yet ..lol ) - is usally the thermostat for the aircon is up ИИИИ creek , or not set right on the adjustable ones , causes the core to ice up and block off the airflow ( in serious cases where the thermo for the aircon is rooted alltogether it will block the airflow too ). I honestlly cant say i have looked how the aircon unit works in the AU or how the thermo setup for the aircon in the AU works ( fully electric ??? , i dont know ) ... but is usually why 1 car blown more vapours than another for different lenghts of time , is usually the aircons thermo setting .

[Peuty]

Yep, it is steam, or whatever. Trust me....

[347Stroker]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

nd stiddy ;) - well it can happen !, a typical problem in holdens ! ( i havent heard of a ford 1 fully crapping it yet ..lol ) - is usally the thermostat for the aircon is up ИИИИ creek , or not set right on the adjustable ones , causes the core to ice up and block off the airflow ( in serious cases where the thermo for the aircon is rooted alltogether it will block the airflow too ). I honestlly cant say i have looked how the aircon unit works in the AU or how the thermo setup for the aircon in the AU works ( fully electric ??? , i dont know ) ... but is usually why 1 car blown more vapours than another for different lenghts of time , is usually the aircons thermo setting .

All it is is the cool air coming out of the evaporator reacting with the moisture in you car. Nothing to worry about, cool air meeting warm.
A/C will shut down on LP safety if evaporator ices up.

[stiddy]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

nd stiddy ;) - well it can happen !, a typical problem in holdens ! ( i havent heard of a ford 1 fully crapping it yet ..lol ) - is usally the .

see its a holden.. thats the problem already hahahaha

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by stiddy

see its a holden.. thats the problem already hahahaha

lol , that's why i own a Ford - But yeah seen it happen to Holdens heaps, It's all the same concept in both cars except the Holdens allways seem to have real dodgy thermo's for the aircon, having a bit of mist/vapour is a sign the thermo isn't set spot on in all cars - and isn't a worry or a drama , but if it happens all the time and gets worse over time and u start to loose airflow too then u know the thermo for the aircon has ИИИИ itself totally. It can actually be a bit of a bonus having the aircons thermo out of whack a bit so long as u still get airflow , usually u'll get cooler air too if the thermo is a bit off whack and u getting mist only for a bit.

[347Stroker]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

lol , that's why i own a Ford - But yeah seen it happen to Holdens heaps, It's all the same concept in both cars except the Holdens allways seem to have real dodgy thermo's for the aircon, having a bit of mist/vapour is a sign the thermo isn't set spot on in all cars - and isn't a worry or a drama , but if it happens all the time and gets worse over time and u start to loose airflow too then u know the thermo for the aircon has ИИИИ itself totally. It can actually be a bit of a bonus having the aircons thermo out of whack a bit so long as u still get airflow , usually u'll get cooler air too if the thermo is a bit off whack and u getting mist only for a bit.

Sorry to rain on your parade mate, it definatly does not mean there is anything wrong with the t/stat. As I wrote above, its the temp of the off coil air meeting ambient air. Nothing more. Have a look at the specific boiling point of R134a and tell me what the possible off coil temps can be...

Enough of the technical stuff, its nothing. Just condensation.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

whatever ..lol , im not saying its the gas ! - besides condensation is 'water build up' from cold air vapours , condensation is not the vapours itself ! - are you saying he has water coming out his vents ! ..lol .. and mate just because a boiling point of a R134a is set at a specific point doesnt mean its spot on ! , none of them are... Im not gonna argue this with ya specially when i have seen heaps of cars do the above ( a bit of harmless cold vapour / not gas ! ) and replacing the aircon thermo with a new 1 has ALLWAYS fixed the problem as far as i've seen. Think what you think and I'll think what i know ! . I have a mate in the aircon business and he has fixed heaps of probs like this , in most cases on the 'holdens' they have adjustable aircon thermo's and is all that needs adjusting to stop the core freezing so much/ getting over cool and producing cold air vapours. .... so whatever ! .

[stiddy]

are you saying he has water coming out his vents !

that would be a pretty neat trick! lol
come on fellas the issues been addressed.. the question has been answered.

*closes thread* <---- haha I will be able to do that one day :P

[347Stroker]

Mate, I have an associate diploma in Air Con, and run an air con business.
Specific point does mean exactly that, and the specific boiling point means just that.

[stiddy]

Originally Posted by 347Stroker

Mate, I have an associate diploma in Air Con, and run an air con business.
Specific point does mean exactly that, and the specific boiling point means just that.

Is it the same basic principals between house air con and car air con?

Had a disagreement with a mate when doing his engine conversion last weekend..
His step brother does house airconditioning systems, and the aircon system on his car got stripped out.. the Aircon system on the new motor didnt fit 100% to the existing parts left on the car..
So I told him that his step brother could mod/fix it up for him, he turns and says to me he wouldnt be able to cause he does houses, houses and cars are different....
Dosent sound quite right to me.

[AWD Chaser]

Oh S***. Here we go - The Mechanic Vs. The Uni Grad. Can a moderator please close this b4 it gets outta hand here.

[JC]

Originally Posted by au3 chaser

Oh S***. Here we go - The Mechanic Vs. The Uni Grad.

Uni Grad? Where. Associate Diploma would be from TAFE or similar, I would imagine. And it's a grease monkey vs a fridgie anyway! LOL. Let the battle begin!

[AWD Chaser]

But Gregories workshop man. says this... but my teachers says this... yeah but your teacher doesn't own a Ford, yes but he knows blah blah blah blah blah. Why bother reading on. it:

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by JC

Uni Grad? Where. Associate Diploma would be from TAFE or similar, I would imagine. And it's a grease monkey vs a fridgie anyway! LOL. Let the battle begin!

lol , what a ripper, believe whoever/whatever you want to but i'll listen to my mate who has been doing refrigeration for the last 17 years. , his bro's business is still doin good and still flatout after all these years so he must be doin something right ! . I was only quoting what i was told and seen done by another refrigeration mechanic , so its actually fridgie vs fridgie ..lol.. which i'm not ! ... so i'll say no more ... Im not here to argue ;) .

[Falcon Freak]

My car has produced the mist on a few occassions. Wish it would do it more often as it looks great to see the mist flowing out of the air vents.

FF

[347Stroker]

Its all got to do with the dew point. Under XR6-VCT-2000 ideas, we all must need mew thermostats, and not just in our cars either.

Every cold night, if you breath out, you get condensation in the form of a fog coming out of your mouth, does that mean all our bodies need a new stat?
So warm air meeting cold air produces this effect.


Refrigeration and air conditioning principles are directly comparable. The only difference is that they work with different refrigerants, all due to different temperatures required between fridges/ freezers and air cons....they use different componants and so forth, but if you know how one works, you know the other.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by 347Stroker

Get back to smoking the pork bong you boof headed fool. You know jack, and try to proclaim to know everything. I knew only poofs and girls drove XR6's.
Ask how many BA owners have condensation coming out the vents?
Does that mean all their stats are stuffed too...
****er.

lmao , nice friendly pm i just recieved ...looks like another ZZZZZZZZ from the BA section ! ,

Note: I did NOT say people need a new aircon thermo if they are having the above happen ! - it is optional weather you want to get rid of the cold air vapour as some people think something is wrong when this happens , but its nothing to worry about unless you actually start to loose airflow too ( as i stated heaps earlier ). And if you are supposably right then why do some cars do it and some don't at all - even in the same weather conditions and same model cars ! ???? . maybe for a few seconds yeah u might get a slight bit due to different temps clashing , but as private9 stated it looked like smoke or steam & for around 20 seconds - thats usually the core freezing up a bit and making the cold air extremelly cold which mixed with the hot air in ya car will give you the result he described . Im leaving it at that , its like talking to a brick wall !. lol

[Dark Horse]

Mine does it from time to time, sometimes a short time, sometimes longer, depending on the dew point. Nothing wrong with the a/c here.

[eXi7w0unD]

personnaly i dont use my ac at all. it works but id rather the window down the music up and the attention hahahha

even on hot days

[private9]

Oh my god, what have I started?!

Thanks for all the info guys, other than some divided opinions!! it sounds like it's nothing!

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by Peuty

Yep, it is steam, or whatever. Trust me....

Why doesn't anyone trust me???

[svo347]

Originally Posted by 347Stroker

Its all got to do with the dew point. Under XR6-VCT-2000 ideas, we all must need mew thermostats, and not just in our cars either.

Every cold night, if you breath out, you get condensation in the form of a fog coming out of your mouth, does that mean all our bodies need a new stat?
So warm air meeting cold air produces this effect.


Refrigeration and air conditioning principles are directly comparable. The only difference is that they work with different refrigerants, all due to different temperatures required between fridges/ freezers and air cons....they use different componants and so forth, but if you know how one works, you know the other.

Im a qualified aircon mech, i find it extremely amusing , all these "I know " try hards..
347 stroker is right.