Yep - it's another dummo question people!

Anyone else's rad fans come on when the airco is switched on? Never seen that before on any car I've driven with airco!:confused:

I think mine does, yeah...

Although now I really think about it, it's not something I've made a mental note of. Pretty sure though!

Its to cool the condenser of the air con. From looking at my old Octy and current Superb the condenser is embedded into the radiator ( some cars have the condenser as a seperate add on to the rad).

The condenser is where the heat from the coolant that has been absorbed from the evaporater is thrown off (look at the back of your own fridge..its the black grid on the back)( oh and the evaporater is the part where the coolant expands after being forced up a verysmall capillary pipe thus chilling down rapidly as it expands making the air cold that is forced over it).

Hope this doesnt confuse you further.

Cheers

Andy

Can't say I've noticed that (and my airco is always on), but what I did find interesting is that (especially noticable on hot days) the airco doesn't immediatly kicks in after you've started the engine... like their is some sort of programmed delay.

Yup, I've noticed that too. The fan kicks in, then there's a 15-20 sec delay. The fan then goes off and comes back on again, but this time with chilled air.

BTW - I've noticed that the air isn't that chilled. Certainly less so than the Mondeo. Maybe I just need to turn it all the way down to get the max effect.

Howard

The fan kicks in, then there's a 15-20 sec delay. The fan then goes off and comes back on again, but this time with chilled air.

I've noticed that as well and did wonder about it , but if it's normal , thats OK .

Originally posted by fen_l&k in this post

BTW - I've noticed that the air isn't that chilled.

I have been very impressed with how cold the air is with the aircon (Climatronic) temperature selected to LO. Too cold, in fact, to be comfortable! And the aircon coped with last summer's heatwave without any problems.

Good morning and thank you people!

Late into the discussion (sorry).

I have 2 fans behind my radiator, both of which appear to run all the time (though I've never checked

with the aircon off). As previously stated, one is for the aircon condenser.

And I've always found the air very well chilled, certainly better than the aircon in my 1.0l Micra!

I've managed to run it so that on a warm day it's cold enough in the car to get steamy breath...

Rob.

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Late into the discussion (sorry).

I have 2 fans behind my radiator, both of which appear to run all the time (though I've never checked

with the aircon off). As previously stated, one is for the aircon condenser.

And I've always found the air very well chilled, certainly better than the aircon in my 1.0l Micra!

I've managed to run it so that on a warm day it's cold enough in the car to get steamy breath...

Rob.

You need air con to be able to do that??....I have a much more pleasureable method

Cheers

Andy

Originally posted by fen_l&k in this post

BTW - I've noticed that the air isn't that chilled. Certainly less so than the Mondeo. Maybe I just need to turn it all the way down to get the max effect.

I've a sneaking suspicion that the climate control system is smart enough to include some sort of "rate of change" limiter, so the air entering the cabin isn't cold enough to cause condensation*. If you leave it run long enough, you can get the cabin down to uncomfortably low temperatures.

* I've driven cars with aircon (not climate control) in humid climates, where the lowest aircon setting has produced clouds of fog in the cabin.

Originally posted by numskull in this post

Yep - it's another dummo question people!

Anyone else's rad fans come on when the airco is switched on? Never seen that before on any car I've driven with airco!:confused:

The Electric radiator fans altenate ON and OFF by a thermo switch.

But as soon as you turn on your airco it kicks on one of the fans to keep cooling the condenser.

Isaac