Automotive A/C: How Does It Work?

[mrjoeyman]

Thanks, much clearer!

[mrjoeyman]

Ok so when the liquid refridgerant goes through the orifice tube or the expansion valve and is turned back into a gas, and changes to low pressure, are you saying that the gas or refrigerant is actually "boiling"? So it is physically hot?

[snaponjohn100]

@mrjoeyman Remember that it is not boiling water. The boiling temp of r134a is -15 degrees F. The high pressure side of the orifice tube is over 200 psi. That is too hot to touch. The suction side is a partial vacuum. It is cold to the touch. Remember that boiling just means going from a liquid to a gas.

[snaponjohn100]

@mrjoeyman What you are trying to do is pump or suck the heat out of the cabin air. You do this by causing a state change in a refrigerant. When you take a high pressure liquid and quickly drop the pressure, it turns into a gas and absorbs latent heat of anything in it's surroundings. It will suck the heat out of the air that is blown by it. When you increase the pressure, it converts to a liquid and gives off it's heat to the outside air. Just keep repeating this over and over.

[yourwhiteshadow]

this is an amazing explanation from a physics/chemistry perspective.

[snaponjohn100]

@yourwhiteshadow Thanks man. Glad you liked it.

[Drum3Matrix]

Neat man thanks!

[AdamDiddy]

Thanks for this !

[007vauxhall]

Always wondered how it worked, many thanks :-)

[twistedleg]

Very nice tutorial. Thanks.

[snaponjohn100]

@twistedleg Thanks, man.

[gpzDave]

that was really interesting! I'll bet 99% of people who switch it on in their cars don't have a clue what happens!

[johndeeretech09]

great video!