AirCon: Hazard to visibility
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Member
Joined: Nov 2006
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300CE 24V Sportline 1991
AirCon: Hazard to visibility
In about 1988, I bought a 1985 300E - good car, no complaints.
One night I was deep in the country, on a winding road in England when I turned on the aircon. The result was an immense 'chuff' of steam that COMPLETELY fogged up the windscreen - ZERO visibility.
I've often reflected on this as a real safety issue but put it down to earlier aircon sytems etc.
In 2002, a friend of mine visited with a brand new Jaguar XKR belonging to Jaguar cars for whom he was doing some consultancy at the time. He was also motoring correspondent for a UK Sunday paper and we talked about a lot of exotica and generally played around with this Jag. We compared under-bonnet quality of the Jag and my 1991 300ce-24 - no comparison, Jag not even close.
Anyway, the point of all this is that my chum tossed me the keys when I neede to collect my daughter from the station in the early evening. Half way there, turned on the AirCon and, you've guessed it, "Chuff" - TOTAL white-out.
So, 10 years' advancement in aircon and the systems can still conspire against us.
I wonder if MB, Jag (Ford) know about this?
RayH
One night I was deep in the country, on a winding road in England when I turned on the aircon. The result was an immense 'chuff' of steam that COMPLETELY fogged up the windscreen - ZERO visibility.
I've often reflected on this as a real safety issue but put it down to earlier aircon sytems etc.
In 2002, a friend of mine visited with a brand new Jaguar XKR belonging to Jaguar cars for whom he was doing some consultancy at the time. He was also motoring correspondent for a UK Sunday paper and we talked about a lot of exotica and generally played around with this Jag. We compared under-bonnet quality of the Jag and my 1991 300ce-24 - no comparison, Jag not even close.
Anyway, the point of all this is that my chum tossed me the keys when I neede to collect my daughter from the station in the early evening. Half way there, turned on the AirCon and, you've guessed it, "Chuff" - TOTAL white-out.
So, 10 years' advancement in aircon and the systems can still conspire against us.
I wonder if MB, Jag (Ford) know about this?
RayH
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England
1996 W124 E320 Coupé, 1990 W124 300E twin turbo, 1991 W126 300 SE, 1984 Ford Capri 2.8i
Leave aircon on permanently. That's the best way to use it anyway and any steaming-up will disperse soon after start-up. My aircon servicing guy agrees that it's best to adopt a "use it or lose it" attitude to aircon.
It was interesting to see when I changed my 1994 E320 Coupé for my 1996 version that the aircon was off by default in the former and on by default in the latter; I took that to indicate that MB reckon constant use is better.
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=14
It was interesting to see when I changed my 1994 E320 Coupé for my 1996 version that the aircon was off by default in the former and on by default in the latter; I took that to indicate that MB reckon constant use is better.
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=14
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Bellevue, NE
1995 E320 SE, 162,000 Miles (Sold) 2007 CLK350 Cabriolet 2014 ML550
If the AC is off (economy mode) you should leave just the fan running on low speed for about 10 minutes to let the moisture evaporate from the evap coil. This will eliminate the cloud at startup, and prevent mold from growing on the coil and producing odors.
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ding ding ding we have a winner.
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Joined: Apr 2007
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When the air con first comes on, the air con compressor is also just starting up, therefore the air coming out in the first instance probably has a lot of moisture in contrast to when the compressor has been on for a while where there is less moisture.
