what? air conditioning?

roadxing · #1 07-14-2006, 10:21 PM

ok, im confused, today i was watching the news and they had a mom who had left her kids in the car. she had the car running w/ the ac on. (still not any excuse) now for my question, the news interviewed a patrol officer and he claimed that people shouldnt do this because the air conditioning needs air flow to work. this guy claimed that ac doesnt work unless the car is moving. i think he is completely full of crap. i can go outside right now and start my car and let it idle and run the ac all day and it will keep it cool. so is this guy just a moron or am i going crazy

and "imagine" i feel cold air when my cars stopped??? i can see it mabye being a little cooler once the car is moving since the rpm's rise but its still cold at an idle.
since the ac runs off a belt from the crankshaft to the compresser which has the freon and so forth making it cool. so i dont have any idea how he could say that the car has to be moving. he even said that "many car manufactures would agree" with him.
in fact i know im right! i just cant stand how dumb he was, and acted like he was an ase certified mechanic or something.

i feel like e-mailing the news station and telling them how dumb the guy they interviewed was. AHH.
and im only 17 and it almost makes me second guess my automotive knowledge. so i must ask if im wrong?

just had to rant alittle

-thanks

TheSilentChamber · #2 07-14-2006, 11:19 PM

2/70 AC's only work with the car moving.

UncleBob · #3 07-14-2006, 11:53 PM

there is two obvious issues with AC when a car is stopped and idling. One being the RPM being low at idle....depending on the pump, this may or may not be a problem. A variable compressor won't care as much as a traditional pump.

The other issue is the air flow over the condensor. The AC won't work if it can't shed the heat, and that requires air flow. Fans can only push so much air.

But as you point out....as is obvious to anyone that has a properly working AC system, they are all designed to "work" at idle. It may not work as well, but it will most definitely work.

roadxing · #4 07-15-2006, 08:49 PM

just for the sake of learning what is 2/70 ac?
-thanks

TheSilentChamber · #5 07-15-2006, 10:11 PM

Two windows down, 70mph.

roadxing · #6 07-16-2006, 01:36 PM

well, there ya go!

its the only reliable type of ac

beef_bourito · #7 07-16-2006, 05:12 PM

not if your windows jam

roadxing · #8 07-16-2006, 08:33 PM

well, that could pose a problem... but as well as you can keep one of them windows working it'll be all good!

when they both jam, you got yourself a real problem

but at least you'll have a moble sauna

MT-2500 · #9 07-16-2006, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadxing

ok, im confused, today i was watching the news and they had a mom who had left her kids in the car. she had the car running w/ the ac on. (still not any excuse) now for my question, the news interviewed a patrol officer and he claimed that people shouldnt do this because the air conditioning needs air flow to work. this guy claimed that ac doesnt work unless the car is moving. i think he is completely full of crap. i can go outside right now and start my car and let it idle and run the ac all day and it will keep it cool. so is this guy just a moron or am i going crazy

and "imagine" i feel cold air when my cars stopped??? i can see it mabye being a little cooler once the car is moving since the rpm's rise but its still cold at an idle.
since the ac runs off a belt from the crankshaft to the compresser which has the freon and so forth making it cool. so i dont have any idea how he could say that the car has to be moving. he even said that "many car manufactures would agree" with him.
in fact i know im right! i just cant stand how dumb he was, and acted like he was an ase certified mechanic or something.

i feel like e-mailing the news station and telling them how dumb the guy they interviewed was. AHH.
and im only 17 and it almost makes me second guess my automotive knowledge. so i must ask if im wrong?

just had to rant alittle

-thanks

The air cond will still work ok at idle no problem. But they do cool better going down the road or when engine is at higher a RPM.
But leaving kids in a car and the engine running may not be the best idea or even against the law some places.
I would think the police would have been more conserned about that than the air cond part.
MT

roadxing · #10 07-17-2006, 09:37 AM

which i completely agree about not leaving kids in the car. the only reason they addressed the ac is because alot of people think it's ok to leave the kids in the car with the ac on, however it never helps when you have a cop lying to the public (or he just had no idea about ac) to make them stop doing that.
all he had to say is that it's possible for the ac to malfunction. not say it doesnt work at an idle. then your going to have people testing it and thinking "well in my car it works at an idle", then thinking they can leave the kids in the car and sure enough theyll end up arrested and in the wrost case the kids dying from heat exhaustion.

*moral of the story*
- dont leave your kids in the car alone. its to dangerous! is risking your kids life worth your convenience of not dragging them around in a store?

just my

Moppie · #11 07-17-2006, 02:32 PM

Im amazed no one has mentioned CO and CO2.

If the A/C is running then the engine is on, if the engine is on then there is exhaust gas coming out the exhaust pipe. That means CO and CO2 in the air around the car, which means theres a chance it might get drawn into the car through the A/C.
A very peaceful way to fill your kids.

UncleBob · #12 07-17-2006, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moppie

Im amazed no one has mentioned CO and CO2.

If the A/C is running then the engine is on, if the engine is on then there is exhaust gas coming out the exhaust pipe. That means CO and CO2 in the air around the car, which means theres a chance it might get drawn into the car through the A/C.
A very peaceful way to fill your kids.

can't say I've heard of too many cases of people dieing or passing out while stuck in stop and go traffic. The odds of this happening are pretty dang minute. The simple fact that you have air circilating in the car at a decent rate, means that you would have to have a large quantity of CO and/or CO2 directed at the intake of the HVAC system, which is typically at the front windshield....not a common problem

Moppie · #13 07-17-2006, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UncleBob

not a common problem

In 99% of modern cars, I would says its highly unlikely.
However, an older car, with a rusty floor and leaky exhaust could be very dangerous.

UncleBob · #14 07-17-2006, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moppie

In 99% of modern cars, I would says its highly unlikely.
However, an older car, with a rusty floor and leaky exhaust could be very dangerous.

a leaky floor won't matter if the intake is at the windshield. Again, you're talking very low odds.

If it was a customized turbo'd car, that had a dump pipe that ended really close to the intake for the HVAC (like a car of that type would still have AC, let alone HVAC)...and the car had no hood, then it might be a high enough quanity....but for the run of the mill exhaust leak, even a very large one at the manifold, will be blown under the car, not towards the HVAC intake, because teh hood is for the most part sealed, so the fumes would not have a direct path to the intake.

ilgoldstein · #15 07-17-2006, 08:06 PM

We all conceed its a bad idea to leave the kids in the car a/c or no a/c, just not safe.

Obviously the cop felt he had to say something. He COULD have used any of the following --

"If the car stalled or over heated and the engine stopped, the ac stops."

"Kids have been known to play around with the gearshift, ignition, etc. and so it presents a hazard."

"Its just against the law to leave the kids in the car. AC or not."

"No comment."

"I'm just a patrol officer, what do you want from me?"

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