7. Do you recommend remote condensers?
Hot Rod Air
Only as a last resort. Keep in mind that remote condensers pick up road heat and exhaust heat (it's not getting fresh air that is available when the condenser is installed in front of the radiator), so if you use one, be sure to run a trinary safety switch-just a little piece of insurance. That way if your system should develop higher head pressures, the switch will cycle the system off so you will not blow an A/C hose. It will also act as a low-pressure switch in case the system develops a leak somewhere. Remote condensers work fine around town or at slower speeds, but once on the open road, the system starts working harder and building up pressures, thus becoming less efficient than a front-mount condenser.
Southern Air
Our remote condenser will perform as well as the radiator-mounted one, and even better in traffic situations. It has a high-performance fan, pulling air across it constantly to stay cool, as opposed to the front-mounted ones that have very little air flowing through them at idle. Our remotes have a full shroud also. In some cases, the remote is a must on Model As and cars with exposed radiator cores through the grilles.
Vintage Air
Our first choice is always to mount the condenser at the front of the vehicle where it gets the best airflow at the coolest possible temperature. We look at remote condensers as an option if there is no way to package a condenser at the front air stream of the vehicle. Remote condensers must be mounted in such a way to direct an adequate amount of the coolest airflow available through the condenser to remove the heat from the refrigerant. A trinary safety switch is an absolute must with a remote condenser to protect the compressor from excessive system pressure and engage the condenser fan.
8. Do you offer heat-and-air/air-only/ heat-only packages?
Hot Rod Air
Approximately 98 percent of what we sell would be heat and air-combination systems, but we do offer air-only and heater-only units.
Southern Air
We offer heaters, air-only units, as well as air and heat units. We have them to hide behind the dash or hang under the dash, and have our new TrimLine Heat Air unit that hangs under the dash and has defrost also.
Vintage Air
We offer several cool-only underdash systems, as well as a variety of heaters and heater/defrost systems, but our most popular systems are our Gen II heat/cool and heat/cool/defrost systems.
9. Do your systems include defrosters?
Hot Rod Air
Yes, all of our air-conditioning systems are available with or without dehumidified defrost.
Southern Air
Yes, all of our MaxiKooler units and most TrimLines feature our electric-servo motor-controlled defrost.
Vintage Air
Most of our systems are available with dehumidified defrost. Our Gen II-series system features a dedicated defrost mode.
10. What are the most common air-conditioning installation errors?
Hot Rod Air
1. Not preparing for air conditioning in the planning stages, lack of insulation, and not allowing for the space required. The evaporator requires a certain amount of space-fuse panels, computers, and speakers can be remotely mounted if necessary.
2. Overcharging system: 134a is very critical on the charge. We all need to keep in mind that 134a is a bubbly milky refrigerant; you will have bubbles in the sight glass. These are dryer and expansion valve systems, so the low side should be around 12-18 lbs.
3. Under-sizing the evaporator to the vehicle-especially on finished vehicles. Customers constantly call stating they only have so much space left, so they'll take whatever will fit. They don't like to hear that they really need to move other components around to get an evaporator large enough to do the job.
Southern Air
The biggest error is the incorrect installation of the water valve. Many people think that the water flow is from the water pump, but it's from the intake manifold or my favorite place, the cylinder head. If you use the port between numbers 7 and 5 on the head, you have one quarter of the heater hose to run and this is the hose you install the water valve on. Our electric four-way valve helps solve this problem.
The second biggest mistake is the over- or undercharging of the system.
Vintage Air
The most common installation error we deal with is improper system service.Modern 134a systems must be properly evacuated and charged to operate at maximum efficiency. Failure to properly charge a system will result in improper operating pressures, unsatisfactory duct temperature, and overall poor system performance.
The second is failure to properly install and insert the thermostat capillary tube. This results in improper coil temperature sensing by the thermostat, which leads to coil freeze-up, reduced airflow from the unit, and poor duct temperature.
Finally, improper condenser installation. Parallel-flow condensers must be mounted with the manifold tanks in a vertical orientation on each side with the larger fitting (#8) at the top, and the smaller fitting (#6) at the bottom. Mounting the condenser on its side leads to oil pooling in the tanks, and mounting the condenser upside down forces the compressor to push liquid refrigerant uphill as it condenses.
RADIATORS
1. What are the pros and cons of copper/brass radiator construction?
Be Cool
Pros: Cost, and they can be recorded if necessary.
CONS: Heavy, less effective heat dissipation, lead retains heat.
Flex-a-lite
Pros: At one time, materials to build this style of radiator were more economical and construction required less labor, as automation could be used to produce and assemble radiators.
CONS: The use of zinc and tin in the solder can create a point of failure once antifreeze-coolant additive packages fail. Without installation of a zinc anode or additional additives to the coolant, the solder, which holds the radiator together, would degenerate, causing the radiator to leak or just come apart. To limit the amount of solder in the assemble process, some radiators are put together under pressure, pinched, or "glued." These methods have not always held up in the long term.
Griffin
Pros: Easy to repair using a solder.
CONS: Heavy, tube construction inhibits maximum heat transfer.
Mattson's
Pros: They are rebuildable, and you can recore them. You can keep it looking original.
CONS: It's hard to stay competitive because the cost has gone up dramatically. The cooling technology in aluminum cores is much more efficient than the copper/brass.
U.S. Radiator
The thermal conductivity or heat transfer rate of copper is 92 percent versus aluminum at 49 percent. However, the copper fin is bonded to the tubes or water passages using lead solder, which is very inefficient and slows the heat-transfer rate to just slightly better than that of aluminum. This can be a disadvantage if the bonding process does not allow the copper fin to touch the brass tube and why not all copper/brass cores of similar design but different manufactures transfer heat equally. Our tests revealed an almost exact temperature drop, aluminum versus copper/brass, at all operating ranges where the core design was the same, with a slight advantage going to the copper/brass unit (even against our own aluminum units).
Walker
All pros. Copper transfers heat better, has twice the tensile strength as aluminum, and resists corrosion.
2. What are the pros and cons of aluminum radiator construction?
Be Cool
Pros: Better heat dissipation, lightweight, aesthetically pleasing, repairable.
CONS: Raw material cost, does not resemble an OE radiator.
Flex-a-lite
Pros: Aluminum radiators dissipate heat more readily than other materials. In the case of the Flex-a-fit radiators, the tanks with the "T" bar mounting and internal fins have shown an increase in heat dissipation by 230 percent. Aluminum radiators can be assembled with welds for strength, and the tanks can be produced with an alloy for additional strength.
CONS: Aluminum radiators are more susceptible to internal damage from electrolysis if coolant additives deteriorate or a scavenger material like zinc is not introduced into the cooling system. Aluminum radiator construction is more prone to fatigue cracking over time than the softer copper or brass material.
Griffin
Pros: Large tube construction allows maximum heat transfer, lightweight.
CONS: Not as easy to repair, must be welded.
Mattson's
Aluminum cost is becoming more competitive compared to copper/brass. Aluminum radiators are much more efficient than copper/brass radiators. We can make a custom aluminum radiator sometimes faster than we can order a brass core, receive it, and put it together. We can also polish or powdercoat an aluminum radiator to make it blend in or stand out.
U.S. Radiator
Because of their weight and durability, copper/brass radiators have been around a long time and are easily disassembled and reassembled for cleaning purposes. Not the case with aluminum unless speaking of the OE version that comes with crimp-mounted plastic tanks.
Walker
All cons. Aluminum cannot handle vibrations as well as copper; it does not transfer heat as well as copper or resist corrosion.