cabin/pollen filters
in [Car Maintenance]
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From: DavidR on 22 Jun 2010 18:03 "Chris Whelan" <cawhelan(a)prejudicentlworld.com> wrote > On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:26:37 +0100, DavidR wrote: > > [...] > >> It dries out when switched off while the car is running. See below. >> Therefore the above only makes "perfect" sense if "infrequent" means the >> car is used for mainly short journeys - ie, it is the large number of >> airflow interruptions causing the problem and has nothing to do with >> light usage over a high mileage. > > It has nothing to do with mileage, or the length of journeys, and > everything to do with the amount of time the vehicle is left unused > between journeys. ....because...?
From: Dave Plowman (News) on 22 Jun 2010 18:40 In article <88cq9sFu4bU1(a)mid.individual.net>, DavidR <curedham(a)4bidden.org.uk> wrote: > > It has nothing to do with mileage, or the length of journeys, and > > everything to do with the amount of time the vehicle is left unused > > between journeys. > ...because...? The smell is caused by bacteria build up in the heat exchanger. And that takes time. I find switching off the AC but leaving the fan running about a mile from home stops the smell. -- *If your feet smell and your nose runs, you're built upside down. Dave Plowman dave(a)davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound.
From: Chris Whelan on 23 Jun 2010 02:54 On Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:03:25 +0100, DavidR wrote: > "Chris Whelan" <cawhelan(a)prejudicentlworld.com> wrote >> On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:26:37 +0100, DavidR wrote: >> >> [...] >> >>> It dries out when switched off while the car is running. See below. >>> Therefore the above only makes "perfect" sense if "infrequent" means >>> the car is used for mainly short journeys - ie, it is the large number >>> of airflow interruptions causing the problem and has nothing to do >>> with light usage over a high mileage. >> >> It has nothing to do with mileage, or the length of journeys, and >> everything to do with the amount of time the vehicle is left unused >> between journeys. > > ...because...? .... the longer the vehicle is left unused with the evaporator wet, the greater the chance of bacterial growth. Consider two situations; firstly, a car which does one 500 mile trip once a week. Secondly, a car which does one 10 mile journey a day. It would be more likely that the car in the first situation would suffer from the "smelly A/C" problem. I ran a Focus for 10 years. Whilst I was working, I had a 14 mile each way commute. When I retired, I resolved to try to cut down on multiple short trips, and walk instead. The car is often unused for between 3 and 7 days. After a couple of months, the A/C started to smell. I started turning it off before journey's end, and over time the smell disappeared. Chris -- Remove prejudice to reply.
From: DavidR on 23 Jun 2010 17:35 "Chris Whelan" <cawhelan(a)prejudicentlworld.com> wrote > On Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:03:25 +0100, DavidR wrote: >> "Chris Whelan" <cawhelan(a)prejudicentlworld.com> wrote >>> On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:26:37 +0100, DavidR wrote: >>> >>> It has nothing to do with mileage, or the length of journeys, and >>> everything to do with the amount of time the vehicle is left unused >>> between journeys. >> >> ...because...? > > ... the longer the vehicle is left unused with the evaporator wet, the > greater the chance of bacterial growth. > Consider two situations; firstly, a car which does one 500 mile trip once > a week. Secondly, a car which does one 10 mile journey a day. It would be > more likely that the car in the first situation would suffer from the > "smelly A/C" problem. <...> I had hoped that with a statement like the one you made above you did so with technical background. Your scenerio only holds on the assumption that the evaporator is wet when parked and it sits wet between journeys (what, it takes more than 6 days to dry out?). So, we seem to return to the frequency of it parked wet being the issue and little to do with the length of parked up period. What you said even suggested that a dry system would develop a smell.
From: Chris Whelan on 23 Jun 2010 17:54
On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:35:16 +0100, DavidR wrote: > "Chris Whelan" <cawhelan(a)prejudicentlworld.com> wrote >> On Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:03:25 +0100, DavidR wrote: >>> "Chris Whelan" <cawhelan(a)prejudicentlworld.com> wrote >>>> On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:26:37 +0100, DavidR wrote: >>>> >>>> It has nothing to do with mileage, or the length of journeys, and >>>> everything to do with the amount of time the vehicle is left unused >>>> between journeys. >>> >>> ...because...? >> >> ... the longer the vehicle is left unused with the evaporator wet, the >> greater the chance of bacterial growth. > >> Consider two situations; firstly, a car which does one 500 mile trip >> once a week. Secondly, a car which does one 10 mile journey a day. It >> would be more likely that the car in the first situation would suffer >> from the "smelly A/C" problem. > > <...> > > I had hoped that with a statement like the one you made above you did so > with technical background. Why? It's not a "technical" situation. Common sense is all that's needed here... > Your scenerio only holds on the assumption > that the evaporator is wet when parked But it will be if the A/C is running when the engine is switched off, and conditions are humid enough. What do you think the pools of water are that appear under a car in such conditions? > and it sits wet between journeys > (what, it takes more than 6 days to dry out?). So, we seem to return to > the frequency of it parked wet being the issue and little to do with the > length of parked up period. (Yawn) The time it takes to dry out is not relevant; the length of time it takes for bacterial growth to happen is. Oh, and yes, it could easily take 6 days or more for an evaporator to dry out in the right (or wrong!) conditions. > What you said even suggested that a dry > system would develop a smell. How? Chris -- Remove prejudice to reply. |