Hot Rod Air
Yes, all of our air-conditioning systems are available with or without dehumidified defrost.
Southern Air
Yes, all of our MaxiKooler units and most TrimLines feature our electric-servo motor-controlled defrost.
Vintage Air
Most of our systems are available with dehumidified defrost. Our Gen II-series system features a dedicated defrost mode.
10. What are the most common air-conditioning installation errors?
Hot Rod Air
1. Not preparing for air conditioning in the planning stages, lack of insulation, and not allowing for the space required. The evaporator requires a certain amount of space-fuse panels, computers, and speakers can be remotely mounted if necessary.
2. Overcharging system: 134a is very critical on the charge. We all need to keep in mind that 134a is a bubbly milky refrigerant; you will have bubbles in the sight glass. These are dryer and expansion valve systems, so the low side should be around 12-18 lbs.
3. Under-sizing the evaporator to the vehicle-especially on finished vehicles. Customers constantly call stating they only have so much space left, so they'll take whatever will fit. They don't like to hear that they really need to move other components around to get an evaporator large enough to do the job.
Southern Air
The biggest error is the incorrect installation of the water valve. Many people think that the water flow is from the water pump, but it's from the intake manifold or my favorite place, the cylinder head. If you use the port between numbers 7 and 5 on the head, you have one quarter of the heater hose to run and this is the hose you install the water valve on. Our electric four-way valve helps solve this problem.
The second biggest mistake is the over- or undercharging of the system.
Vintage Air
The most common installation error we deal with is improper system service.Modern 134a systems must be properly evacuated and charged to operate at maximum efficiency. Failure to properly charge a system will result in improper operating pressures, unsatisfactory duct temperature, and overall poor system performance.
The second is failure to properly install and insert the thermostat capillary tube. This results in improper coil temperature sensing by the thermostat, which leads to coil freeze-up, reduced airflow from the unit, and poor duct temperature.
Finally, improper condenser installation. Parallel-flow condensers must be mounted with the manifold tanks in a vertical orientation on each side with the larger fitting (#8) at the top, and the smaller fitting (#6) at the bottom. Mounting the condenser on its side leads to oil pooling in the tanks, and mounting the condenser upside down forces the compressor to push liquid refrigerant uphill as it condenses.