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it would be nice, but... Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 8 Aug 2001 12:14:22
In Reply to: Re: A philosophical question?, PaulN, Wed, 8 Aug 2001 07:54:19 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Don't underestimate the effects of heat, vibration, and lots of connectors. Home refrigerators live in a very benign environment - 68 to maybe 80 degrees, no vibration, minimal loads. The auto air conditioner lives outside in the winter, and on a winter day will go from 20 F to maybe 150F in the few minutes the car takes to warm up the engine compartment. Those kind of temperature swings are murder on equipment.
This environment isn't much different than on aircraft, for some systems that mean the difference between life and death, not just feeling warm. And those components cost A LOT more than a compressor, and guess what - they fail, too. Quite often they are simply replaced after so many hours, needed or not, just to be sure.
So - please avoid the 'this day and age' - auto Air conditioners work in a very harsh environment. Because of fuel economy, weight, and styling concerns, compressors need to be made as small as possible, and aren't packed into the best places - like over the turbo and exhaust manifold in a 9000. And the point is well made about powering it - it's got to work well when you're sitting in traffic at an 800 rpm idle, and not blow up when you hit 5000 rpm passing a truck. There are a lot of engineering constraints to meet.
Yup, AC systems could be made much more robust, but that would greatly increase their cost and weight. Nobody wants to pay for the extra cost - but they assume that as time goes on, things will just 'get better'. Well, they do. Most AC systems are much more efficient and more reliable than 20 years ago. But they still fail.
As Scotty would say ' Capt'n - ye can't change the laws of nature'
posted by 140.157....
, Wed, 8 Aug 2001 12:14:22 <-- Viewing This Message
, Tue, 7 Aug 2001 14:25:57
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