What have you done to your Superb III today?

[freeglide]

Just fitted a flat-bottomed alcantara steering wheel to my L&K wagon. Ordered from local skoda dealer. Total steal at ~£260. Surprised that buttons came included. Disconnected battery. Figured out how to pop out the airbag with screwdriver. Disconnect wiring loom and button loom. Used torx head and took old wheel off. I also ended up removing horn fuse under the bonnet. Night and day difference. Feels amazing and sporty. One of my best mods so far. Dash lit up with many errors after battery reconnected and started. But these all clear after a short drive. 
 

 

[JR RS]

4 hours ago, freeglide said:

Just fitted a flat-bottomed alcantara steering wheel to my L&K wagon. Ordered from local skoda dealer. Total steal at ~£260. Surprised that buttons came included. Disconnected battery. Figured out how to pop out the airbag with screwdriver. Disconnect wiring loom and button loom. Used torx head and took old wheel off. I also ended up removing horn fuse under the bonnet. Night and day difference. Feels amazing and sporty. One of my best mods so far. Dash lit up with many errors after battery reconnected and started. But these all clear after a short drive. 

 

 

Nice work.

 

I did that recently too - but not the Alcantara version.

I didn't disconnect the battery when I did mine.

 

Much better look n feel, and the Leyo Paddle Shifters finish it off nicely.

 

[numskull]

So I’m waiting for a local Aircon expert to come over and check the system. It works perfectly but there is a gas circulation noise when it’s on and it’s really driving me mad; it’s one of those “once heard, never un-heard” things. I had the system recharged by Kwik Fit in December and he suspects they haven’t fully refilled it. Fingers crossed he solves it. Update later….

[petrolcan]

Funny enough, mine has started making a gassy noise this week when on. Hoping it just needs a top up as pressure is still good.

[numskull]

1 hour ago, numskull said:

So I’m waiting for a local Aircon expert to come over and check the system. It works perfectly but there is a gas circulation noise when it’s on and it’s really driving me mad; it’s one of those “once heard, never un-heard” things. I had the system recharged by Kwik Fit in December and he suspects they haven’t fully refilled it. Fingers crossed he solves it. Update later….

UPDATE. So, he was right, there was nowhere near the amount of gas in the system there should’ve been. Noise has gone (yay!) and in now it’s seriously bloody cold! He said that the likes of KF don’t have a clue what they’re doing and invariably have their “automatic” Aircon regas “Dalek” incorrectly setup so it doesn’t fully discharge the system and / or delivers too little gas or both. His “system” was fully manual, so he completely removed the gas and oil, checked the system for leaks and slowly recharged it. He also put in an additive which lubricates the seals and has a die in it so a leak can be identified under UV light. Cost was £130, so yeah, more expensive than KF but it’s fixed. Anyone in interested in his services in Surrey/South London drop me a PM for his details.👍🏻

[Breezy_Pete]

That'll be leaking then.

[numskull]

No, there’s no leaks. Idiot Kwik Fit Fitter-Uppers… 🙄

[Breezy_Pete]

Sounds like only the passage of time will help you realise I'm right. Good luck.

[Graham Butcher]

37 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

That'll be leaking then.

I'm inclined to agree with you, if there was the incorrect of gas recharged, then it would have been making those noises from December.

[numskull]

Sorry, I should’ve been clearer; it has been making the noise since December, but I had no time to go back initially as we drove to Ireland the following day and TBH, life has just got in the way since then. Yeah, I suppose the leak test could be inaccurate, but I’d suspect it’s unlikely. As you say, time will tell.
Perhaps I should get a second opinion from the Halfords aircon expert (a Master Tech too, apparently) we went to last year (no fix no fee) who said the wife’s AC was fully gassed so it had to be the compressor which had failed. Yeah, it was completely empty…. 🙄

[Breezy_Pete]

Did your latest refiller do a test with pressurised dry nitrogen gas? Any written evidence of?

Should have, since there was knowledge of a recent refill.

Vacuum hold test not as good.

[ApertureS]

Ive got to say, for the price of a maxton kit the fixings it comes with and instructions are shocking!

 

They really expect you to just slap some tiny self tappers through the sills and that will hold the side skirts on. Really not good enough in my opinion. 

 

Instead I went down the route of drilling the sills, painting the now exposed metal, fitting stainless steel rivnuts flush with the underseal. Then fitting the side skirts with stainless steel bolts and large stainless washers as well as a good seam of PU adhesive to prevent water getting into the area. 

All of these extra parts cost me £15 and a good few hours of my time. But at least I dont have to worry about rusting out sills or my side skirts falling off.

 

Edited 13 May, 2023 by ApertureS

[Danoid]

5 hours ago, numskull said:

Sorry, I should’ve been clearer; it has been making the noise since December, but I had no time to go back initially as we drove to Ireland the following day and TBH, life has just got in the way since then. Yeah, I suppose the leak test could be inaccurate, but I’d suspect it’s unlikely. As you say, time will tell.
Perhaps I should get a second opinion from the Halfords aircon expert (a Master Tech too, apparently) we went to last year (no fix no fee) who said the wife’s AC was fully gassed so it had to be the compressor which had failed. Yeah, it was completely empty…. 🙄

Hopefully you don’t have the same issue as me, it’s still on going and with a Skoda executive now because of the potential fraud that goes on at my local dealership grr

 

Saying that my issue seems to be a design flaw but should have been picked up by my dealer when it was serviced and they should be doing a fully diagnostic as part of a service

[numskull]

9 hours ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Did your latest refiller do a test with pressurised dry nitrogen gas? Any written evidence of?

Should have, since there was knowledge of a recent refill.

Vacuum hold test not as good.

He connected it to a cylinder initially, after he’d drained the system and after 10 mins he said there wasn’t a leak. Then he refilled it. If it is leaking, then he’ll be called back. 

Edited 13 May, 2023 by numskull

[Colin170CR]

38 minutes ago, numskull said:

He connected it to a cylinder initially, after he’d drained the system and after 10 mins he said there wasn’t a leak. Then he refilled it. If it is leaking, then he’ll be called back. 

Under current F-Gas regulations it is illegal to add or "top up" any AC system that contain F-Gases without first undertaking a "pressure & leak test" to determine if the system has a leak. It stands to reason that if a system has lost some refrigerant a leak must be present (unless under charged previously). If a leak is found it must be repaired & tested before any more refrigerant is added to to the system. 

Long gone are the days of topping up leaky AC systems whether they be in cars or fixed installations. The maximum fine for intentionally releasing F-gases to the atmosphere or, adding F-Gases to known leaky systems, is currently £200,000. For "lesser" offences fines of £100k, £50k & £10k can be applied. 

Ref Cooling Post F-Gas fines   DEFRA doc

Enjoy!!

[JR RS]

9 hours ago, ApertureS said:

Ive got to say, for the price of a maxton kit the fixings it comes with and instructions are shocking!

 

They really expect you to just slap some tiny self tappers through the sills and that will hold the side skirts on. Really not good enough in my opinion. 

 

Instead I went down the route of drilling the sills, painting the now exposed metal, fitting stainless steel rivnuts flush with the underseal. Then fitting the side skirts with stainless steel bolts and large stainless washers as well as a good seam of PU adhesive to prevent water getting into the area. 

All of these extra parts cost me £15 and a good few hours of my time. But at least I dont have to worry about rusting out sills or my side skirts falling off.

 

 

Excellent reinforcements u've done there.

 

I've heard various stories about the poor instructions and fixtures that come with various Maxton products.

 

The Rieger products r great in that regard, hence why I went with Rieger side skirts and front splitter.

[ApertureS]

6 hours ago, JR RS said:

 

Excellent reinforcements u've done there.

 

I've heard various stories about the poor instructions and fixtures that come with various Maxton products.

 

The Rieger products r great in that regard, hence why I went with Rieger side skirts and front splitter.

The only issue now is I can’t refit my front mud flaps which is a big shame!

[JR RS]

4 hours ago, ApertureS said:

The only issue now is I can’t refit my front mud flaps which is a big shame!

 

Yeah, I don't like that either.

I had modified my front mud flaps successfully for the Rieger side skirts, but I couldn't do the rear mud flaps properly after I put rear bumper valance. 

So I had to remove my mud flaps altogether.

Tis a shame as the sides of my car gets a lot of crap thrown up on the sides now.

 

This was before, when I had the mud flaps.

 

[numskull]

On 13/05/2023 at 21:56, Colin170CR said:

Under current F-Gas regulations it is illegal to add or "top up" any AC system that contain F-Gases without first undertaking a "pressure & leak test" to determine if the system has a leak. It stands to reason that if a system has lost some refrigerant a leak must be present (unless under charged previously). If a leak is found it must be repaired & tested before any more refrigerant is added to to the system. 

Long gone are the days of topping up leaky AC systems whether they be in cars or fixed installations. The maximum fine for intentionally releasing F-gases to the atmosphere or, adding F-Gases to known leaky systems, is currently £200,000. For "lesser" offences fines of £100k, £50k & £10k can be applied. 

Ref Cooling Post F-Gas fines   DEFRA doc

Enjoy!!

As I said, it had been making a noise after the system had been “refilled”, so that suggests it was not “filled” correctly by KF in December.

 

There are ‘000’s of static and mobile AC experts/engineers/refillers in the U.K. Given this, I’m sure very, very few fully comply with these regs you cite which, from my quick look around, still appear not to’ve actually been implemented.

https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/13c0893a-049a-4608-9f9b-7f268a71f15a/climate-change-civil-penalties

 

Obviously, if they have been put in place - and you appear to know your stuff on this subject - can you post the link to the legislative documents as it’s something of which we should all be aware. 

Edited 15 May, 2023 by numskull

[Colin170CR]

1 hour ago, numskull said:

As I said, it had been making a noise after the system had been “refilled”, so that suggests it was not “filled” correctly by KF in December.

 

There are ‘000’s of static and mobile AC experts/engineers/refillers in the U.K. Given this, I’m sure very, very few fully comply with these regs you cite which, from my quick look around, still appear not to’ve actually been implemented.

https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/13c0893a-049a-4608-9f9b-7f268a71f15a/climate-change-civil-penalties

 

Obviously, if they have been put in place - and you appear to know your stuff on this subject - can you post the link to the legislative documents as it’s something of which we should all be aware. 

48 years in the AC/Refrigeration industry & I retired 2 years ago.  

I believe this document might be what you are looking for regarding the legal aspects. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/82878/html/

There are a variety of cases where individuals & companies have been fined for releasing refrigerants to atmosphere & other F-Gas regulation infringements. 

That said, it is also well documented that DEFRA & the Environment Agency do not have the manpower to enforce these laws which allows widespread breaking of the laws to continue. 

Example.

When I was involved in an AC installation company we regularly got calls from builders or office interior fit out companies who needed to move or relocate split AC systems as part of their their works. When we told them the price to attend site, remove & recycle the gas in accordance with F-Gas regs they said "nah, I'll get jimmy to "accidentally" cut the pipes!! Unless you can video someone in the act of deliberately releasing refrigerant to atmosphere then its very difficult to get a conviction. The cases that get prosecuted are mainly those involving workplace injuries or fatalities in which the HSE get involved.  

    

You are correct in that there are many many HVAC engineers in the UK but not nearly enough the increasing demand for home heat pump systems brought about by the increase in people working from home & the massive rise in Gas & Electricity prices. Most HVAC engineers are well trained & aware of their environmental responsibilities. However, like most industries, there are always a few rogues individuals & companies  who seem to go out of their way to cut corners in the pursuit of profit or, are just unaware of the current regulations that apply to the industry they work in. As the famous saying goes, "ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law".   

[ApertureS]

3 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

they said "nah, I'll get jimmy to "accidentally" cut the pipes!!

Luckily theres a bit more of a financial incentive now... the huge price increase in R134A and R1234yf means that collecting the gas is often a bit more beneficial than just venting it. 

[numskull]

4 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

48 years in the AC/Refrigeration industry & I retired 2 years ago.  

I believe this document might be what you are looking for regarding the legal aspects. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/82878/html/

There are a variety of cases where individuals & companies have been fined for releasing refrigerants to atmosphere & other F-Gas regulation infringements. 

That said, it is also well documented that DEFRA & the Environment Agency do not have the manpower to enforce these laws which allows widespread breaking of the laws to continue. 

Example.

When I was involved in an AC installation company we regularly got calls from builders or office interior fit out companies who needed to move or relocate split AC systems as part of their their works. When we told them the price to attend site, remove & recycle the gas in accordance with F-Gas regs they said "nah, I'll get jimmy to "accidentally" cut the pipes!! Unless you can video someone in the act of deliberately releasing refrigerant to atmosphere then its very difficult to get a conviction. The cases that get prosecuted are mainly those involving workplace injuries or fatalities in which the HSE get involved.  

    

You are correct in that there are many many HVAC engineers in the UK but not nearly enough the increasing demand for home heat pump systems brought about by the increase in people working from home & the massive rise in Gas & Electricity prices. Most HVAC engineers are well trained & aware of their environmental responsibilities. However, like most industries, there are always a few rogues individuals & companies  who seem to go out of their way to cut corners in the pursuit of profit or, are just unaware of the current regulations that apply to the industry they work in. As the famous saying goes, "ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law".   

So basically, Colin, the “U.K. law” actually isn’t, as it still hasn’t been enacted into law by Parliament as yet; still, you can’t rush these things. Seems to me that given what you’ve said, it’s enforcement is practically pointless anyway as it’s effectively unenforceable, given there is no manpower, absolutely no control of the refrigerant products, no purchasing or sales audit trails kept and no operative registration system to act as a form of control. I could buy all the equipment and refrigerant product needed to empty and regass a car and I set myself up as a Mobile Aircon Expert tomorrow. Brilliant… 🙄

[Colin170CR]

38 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

Luckily theres a bit more of a financial incentive now... the huge price increase in R134A and R1234yf means that collecting the gas is often a bit more beneficial than just venting it. 

 

38 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

Luckily theres a bit more of a financial incentive now... the huge price increase in R134A and R1234yf means that collecting the gas is often a bit more beneficial than just venting it. 

I'm not so sure. The amount of paperwork that is now needed to track every gram of refrigerant used & recovered from old systems plus every gas cylinder in circulation is very tiresome. Much of the reclaimed refrigerant in cylinders these days is destroyed so not worth anything. Especially if it is not pure & contaminated with different types. No one pays you to take refrigerant back to a recycling centre you are just expected to do it as part of your job.  

 

There was a time when I was an apprentice that we only had 2 different types of refrigerant gas in the van. R12, R22 & perhaps a bit of R502 for lower temperature freezers. If you ran out of R502 you could mix R12 & R22 together to top up a R502 system. We also used to use R12 for cleaning air cooled condenser coils - just like a high pressure air line!! No environmental worries in those days! If our bunsen burner leak testers had run out of gas we often used lit cigarettes to leak test joints. If the tip turned green when you pulled on the cig then you knew you had a leak. Little did we know that we were inhaling Phosgene gas - the stuff that was used to gas troops in WW1 😲. Frightening really but we knew no better back then.

 

My abiding memory as a rookie apprentice was ripping out an old walk in chiller cabinet system in a butchers shop on the Edgware Road in London. First job was to de-gas the system. The engineer told me to grab a bucket & fill it with water. He then handed me a hose & told me to put on a rubber glove & keep the hose under the water. The engineer connected the hose the the compressor discharge valve & opened it slowly. At my end the hose started bubbling as the refrigerant came out under the water. It smelt of rotten eggs which was not surprising because the refrigerant was Sulphur Dioxide. When finished I asked the engineer what to do with the bucket (which was now Sulphuric Acid ☠️). He told be pour it down the drain in the road outside 😕. At least the drains were clean!!

 

[Colin170CR]

30 minutes ago, numskull said:

So basically, Colin, the “U.K. law” actually isn’t, as it still hasn’t been enacted into law by Parliament as yet; still, you can’t rush these things. Seems to me that given what you’ve said, it’s enforcement is practically pointless anyway as it’s effectively unenforceable, given there is no manpower, absolutely no control of the refrigerant products, no purchasing or sales audit trails kept and no operative registration system to act as a form of control. I could buy all the equipment and refrigerant product needed to empty and regass a car and I set myself up as a Mobile Aircon Expert tomorrow. Brilliant… 🙄

It's not quite that easy. Wholesalers, trade counters & A/C manufacturers & distribution companies "should" want to see your personal & company F-Gas handling & registration certificates before they sell you any bottled refrigerant gas or any pre-charged A/C equipment. There are audit trails on gas cylinders & every piece of pre-charged equipment you buy. Back in the day you couldn't get an F-Gas certificate unless you were a minimum 2 year apprentice & attended a 4-5 day practical & written test. These days you could get an F-Gas cert in a day if you had some previous experience. It's a lucrative market for "training centres". Say no more. 

Most Mech services companies, won't employ subbies if they don't hold all the right tickets or industry association memberships.

That doesn't stop the chancers doing their thing though.    

[numskull]

You should open an airco business, Colin… oh, hang on, seems you did! 😂