Taking one’s car to a car air conditioning service for a re-gassing is a time-honoured ritual for most serious car owners. It’s often a part of some people’s regular maintenance routine, and sometimes, it’s done without any serious thought.

For those unfamiliar with how air conditioning systems work, most air conditioners require a refrigerant gas to help transfer heat outside of an enclosed space, such as a car cabin or a room. Contrary to common belief, you do not expend any refrigerant gas when you use your air conditioner. This gas is contained within a closed system, and if all goes well, leakage should be nonexistent in a new or recently serviced car.

In real world use, however, these gasses will eventually leak, either due to corrosion in the air conditioning system or because of a leak between different parts that contain this gas. Because car air conditioning tends to see heavy use, regular check-ups and re-gassing are necessary for the efficient and safe operation of your car air conditioner.

How often should you go to your car air conditioning service provider for a re-gassing?

The answer isn’t so simple, but if you have a new car, it’s probably not as often as you need to with an older model. However, you will still want to have your air conditioner inspected and serviced yearly or every two years.

Why do some cars need to re-gas more often than others?

As recently as 40 years ago, when car air conditioners weren’t standard on all vehicles, car aircons were not quite as sophisticated or reliable as they are today. A lot of them were certainly quite powerful, but by and large, they were susceptible to leaks and breakdowns. This, in turn, made very regular inspections of the car’s systems and frequent air con regassing necessary. With these old car models, it may be necessary to top up your system every six months.

These refrigerant gasses almost invariably leaked into the atmosphere during regular use and re-gassing. Unfortunately, the refrigerant gasses commonly used during that early era of car air conditioning were found to be extremely harmful to the ozone layer. This was a problem that uniquely affected Australians, given that the “hole” in the ozone layer was directly above us.

Things are quite different today, thanks to improved leak prevention in car air conditioning systems, as well as the use of less harmful gasses. For the average car owner, this means re-gassing can be done far less often than it used to be. Modern cars may only need to be re-gassed every 5 years in some cases.

In any case, here’s when you should consult a car aircon service centre to see if your car aircon needs regassing:

• 1.) Every 1-2 years as part of regular maintenance
• 2.) When you smell a foul odour coming from your aircon vents
• 3.) If your car aircon is no longer cooling your cabin properly
• 4.) You can no longer remember the last time the air con was serviced or re-gassed
• 5.) Your car was recently submerged in water
• 6.) You can no longer hear your aircon clutch clicking

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