Why is it important to have your vehicle’s air conditioning re-gassed? Especially in the much warmer summer months, where our driving frequency hugely increases, millions of drivers rely heavily on their vehicle’s air conditioning to keep us cool and comfortable throughout each journey. Whether it’s a long-haul journey, or a speedy nip around the block, you’re guaranteed to switch on the A/C almost immediately upon getting into your vehicle.

With increased A/C usage, we tend to overlook the servicing and re-gassing it requires in order to work optimally. Alongside this comes the driver’s dilemma of when to get your vehicle’s air conditioning re-gassed and how often this service is necessary for optimum air conditioning health.

What is air conditioning re-gassing?

Your vehicle’s air conditioning is an integral part of your vehicle’s overall health and should be used often. As the system is charged up with gas, this gas over time dissipates from the system. It’s estimated that at least 10% of the refrigerant gas is lost each year, which in turn prevents the air conditioning from performing to its full potential. Hence, the need for it to be re-gassed within a similar time period.

Re-gassing the air conditioning involves removing and changing the existing refrigerant gas from your vehicle’s system and replacing it with the correct quantity of new refrigerant. This ensures the air produced will remain at a constant, cool temperature for longer.

Re-gassing your vehicle’s air conditioning is a specialised process, which due to its complexity should always be carried out by a trusted professional. It involves much more than simply ensuring cool air remains within your vehicle.

The air conditioning service ensures the following:

• Emptied (if necessary)
• Test the pressure within the system
• Check for any leaks
• Thoroughly checked for any potential necessary repairs
• Recharged

Air conditioning re-gassing or re-charging?

Within the motoring world, we understand unpicking the lingo and terminology can prove a tad confusing. A question we’re asked often is ‘What is the difference between air conditioning re-gassing and re-charging?

Keeping it simple, they mean the same thing. Whether your vehicle needs a recharge or its air conditioning re-gassed, it means the same result for your air conditioning system – it needs some TLC.

Signs to have your vehicle’s air conditioning re-gassed

Although it might not always be obvious, there are varying signs that strongly indicate your vehicle’s air conditioning needs re-gassing.

The main indicators to be aware of are:

• The air seems to lack any coolness
• Warm air is blown out of the vents
• There is little to no difference in air temperature, whether the air con is being used or not
• Significantly more condensation forming (particularly from the dashboard)
• Unusual sounds coming from the unit (usually in the form of hissing sounds)

It is worth noting that if you are experiencing a musty, foul, or strange odour coming from your air conditioning, we offer an antibacterial treatment to clean the bacteria build up from the system.

If you encounter any of these issues, feel free to contact us today.

How to assist with the re-gassing process

To help ensure the success of the air conditioning servicing every two years (and subsequent re-gassing), there are simple steps you can take as a vehicle owner. As with any other vehicle component, the more mindful you are of its maintenance and health, the smoother experience all year round you’ll have.

• Ensure you use your air conditioning regularly (its commonly recommended this be for at least ten minutes every fortnight)
• Aim to recharge the air con gas regularly
• Ensure you use it in all seasons – especially in the Winter (to dehumidify your car)
• Be mindful of when to book your next A/C service – remember the general rule of thumb is once every two years, but some vehicles may require more often.

Your air conditioning FAQs

Air conditioning maintenance and servicing can prove to be an easily overlooked area for most vehicle owners. So much so, we created an air conditioning FAQs page, dedicated purely to air conditioning. We’ve answered each question fully, honestly and using our expert experience in this field. Remember, especially when it comes to air conditioning, there’s no such thing as a silly question.

Getting it right – Air conditioning and re-gassing support at JDM.

When you choose Delany Motors to assist with all of your vehicle needs, especially those relating to your air conditioning and servicing, we guarantee you’re in safe hands. Each of our skilled technicians are fully trained and equipped to work with air conditioning re-gassing and are always on hand to answer any questions about those finer details that you may have.

Get in touch today and let’s discuss how we can help.

Our final word on re-gassing your vehicle’s air conditioning

Wouldn’t you rather dedicate 1 hour of your time, every two years, for a vital A/C service, as opposed to possibly encountering countless failures later down the line?

A much-loved saying here for us at JDM has always been, it’s much better to nip any issues in the bud, rather than leave them to develop and worsen.