Insulating cold a/c lines?

[nemesis]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Yeah, this problem was mentioned on that forum. If the pipe is insulated, then water will still condense on it, but will take much longer to evaporate, and that may lead to corrosion.

Just wanted to make sure.

If I was you I'd leave it alone as is, I think there is a little to be gained in efficiency, and good amount of problems to deal with, just not worth it.

[03sl500]

Having read through this thread, my question comes more from the A/C maintaining it's cooling effect while in autostop mode. Living in AZ, I use the a/c a lot, and when the car engages the 15 cc electric scroll compressor it just doesn't cool the car while in operation during the summer, especially during the monsoon season (higher humidity). So my question is, insulating the low pressure line, will this help in maintaining the cooling capacity during the electric mode?

Note: this has been an issue since the car was purchased new, not to mention, I've read other blog posts mentioning the same complaint all of which have come from the southwestern part of the country.

Cheers,
Jason

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by 03sl500

Having read through this thread, my question comes more from the A/C maintaining it's cooling effect while in autostop mode. Living in AZ, I use the a/c a lot, and when the car engages the 15 cc electric scroll compressor it just doesn't cool the car while in operation during the summer, especially during the monsoon season (higher humidity). So my question is, insulating the low pressure line, will this help in maintaining the cooling capacity during the electric mode?

Note: this has been an issue since the car was purchased new, not to mention, I've read other blog posts mentioning the same complaint all of which have come from the southwestern part of the country.

Cheers,
Jason

Set it to recirculate, then turn up the fan. Let the wind chill effect work with you.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by 03sl500

Having read through this thread, my question comes more from the A/C maintaining it's cooling effect while in autostop mode. Living in AZ, I use the a/c a lot, and when the car engages the 15 cc electric scroll compressor it just doesn't cool the car while in operation during the summer, especially during the monsoon season (higher humidity). So my question is, insulating the low pressure line, will this help in maintaining the cooling capacity during the electric mode?

Note: this has been an issue since the car was purchased new, not to mention, I've read other blog posts mentioning the same complaint all of which have come from the southwestern part of the country.

Cheers,
Jason

Again, the only place insulation will help is after the expansion valve and before the evaporator. This likely already has insulation or is so short as to not matter.

Mike

[azaviator]

What I did was insulate the air chambers to keep the cooled air cool. The housing for the evaporator and the fan are covered in metallic bubble wrap insulation. This gave me a noticeable improvement in vent output temperature (3-5 degrees).

[BamZipPow]

I did this AC mod to my T-100 AC system. I didn't measure the initial temp drop at the time so I don't have true numbers to compare with. I do know my AC cools the truck much better than before.

[03sl500]

Azaviator,

Thanks for the response, where did you buy the bubble foil wrap?

[azaviator]

Originally Posted by 03sl500

Azaviator,

Thanks for the response, where did you buy the bubble foil wrap?

Found it at Home Depot in the Home Insulation aisle.

As a side note, I bought a bit extra (2 of the 10'x2' pieces I believe), and used it to make form fitting window covers. Once they are in, the car is pitch black in the daytime. If I'm going to be parked in the sun all day then I put those in, keeps the car SUPER cool!!!

[BamZipPow]

I found the same bubble wrap in bulk in both 24" wide and 48" wide at Ace Hardware. It might be another source to check out.