How Your Car AC System Works
Your cars air conditioning system is vital for the summer months. Now that the temperatures are finally heating up, we want to make sure you feel miraculous on the next summer afternoon.
We here at Mazda we want to make sure you understand what’s going on underneath your hood. Having a good understanding of how it works can help you save a couple bucks in repairs in the AC system.
The purpose of your Mazda AC system is to take the warmer air from outside and remove all the moisture from it leaving you and your passengers feeling more comfortable. In many vehicles the air conditioning cycles during the defrost setting pulling the humidity from the windshield to improve the visibility.
The main parts of a vehicles air conditioning system are:
-compressor
-condenser
-expansion /orifice tube
-receiver drier/accumulator
-evaporator
The AC in your Mazda is pressurized by refrigerant. The system in most vehicles usually holds up to 4lbs of refrigerant. The compressor then takes the gas and makes it into a fluid and it is then cycled through a refrigerant line. The refrigerant then flows through a small grid and the air passes through the condenser removing heat from it. Next, the refrigerant flows to the expansion/orifice tube where the pressure in the line is reduced and thus returns to a gas. After this, the refrigerant enters the receiver drier/accumulator which removes moisture. The air is then blown through the evaporator core, the heat is removed from the air and transferred into the refrigerant, leaving cooler air to blow thus cooling down all the passengers in the vehicle. This cycle then cycles through the compressor and the cycle continues again.
