Write up on how I made my not so great A/C a little better.
07-10-2013, 12:10 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Write up on how I made my not so great A/C a little better.
As others have complained, my A/C just does not quite cut it in the 110+degree AZ heat. After being told my truck with within spec at the dealership, I began searching on how I could improve it myself. After looking at the A/C lines I noticed big portions of the "cold" side lines were not insulated. Here is my truck, 2012 xlt ecoboost.
I went out and got some baseline temp numbers 2 days ago, the testing was done on the same stretch of highway for 15 minutes to get everything as cool as it would get, I had set cruise at 70. I used a digital thermometer in the driver side right vent. For this test the A/C was on max with the fan speed as high as it would go and it was 109 degrees outside. As seen below, the coldest it would get was 44.4 when the compressor was on, as soon as it shut down it would jump to 51.1 before cycling on again.
[/URL]
On to the project, you will need 3 feet of foam pipe insulation and 10 or so zip ties, both found at any home improvement store. You will need snips and a razor knife.
Your goal is to cover as much of the fat silver "cool" line as you can.
I did the run up to the firewall first, it was about a 14" piece. followed by 3 additional runs trimming around corners and the fill nozzle.
Next for the test run, it was 111 outside (2 degrees warmer), same speed and same stretch of road after 15 min my compressor on temp drooped to 42.2 and on the compressor off cycle the highest it would get 48.3 before cycling back on.
In summary for about $8 in material I got 2.2 degrees cooler on the compressor on cycle and 4.3 degrees cooler during the compressor off cycle.
*Keep in mind it was also 2 degrees warmer outside during the after the insulation install test.
I went out and got some baseline temp numbers 2 days ago, the testing was done on the same stretch of highway for 15 minutes to get everything as cool as it would get, I had set cruise at 70. I used a digital thermometer in the driver side right vent. For this test the A/C was on max with the fan speed as high as it would go and it was 109 degrees outside. As seen below, the coldest it would get was 44.4 when the compressor was on, as soon as it shut down it would jump to 51.1 before cycling on again.
[/URL] On to the project, you will need 3 feet of foam pipe insulation and 10 or so zip ties, both found at any home improvement store. You will need snips and a razor knife.
Your goal is to cover as much of the fat silver "cool" line as you can.
I did the run up to the firewall first, it was about a 14" piece. followed by 3 additional runs trimming around corners and the fill nozzle.
Next for the test run, it was 111 outside (2 degrees warmer), same speed and same stretch of road after 15 min my compressor on temp drooped to 42.2 and on the compressor off cycle the highest it would get 48.3 before cycling back on.
In summary for about $8 in material I got 2.2 degrees cooler on the compressor on cycle and 4.3 degrees cooler during the compressor off cycle.
*Keep in mind it was also 2 degrees warmer outside during the after the insulation install test.
Last edited by LS1POWERED; 07-10-2013 at 12:17 AM. Reason: spelling
The following 127 users liked this post by LS1POWERED:
06_footy (05-25-2014),
57hippie (07-11-2013),
918F150 (04-10-2017),
Adobe2X (07-10-2013),
Al Kohalic (07-19-2013),
and 122 others liked this post.
The following 2 users liked this post by Rynn:
davedaniel1120 (09-05-2016),
GooseChaser (09-01-2016)
The following users liked this post:
davedaniel1120 (09-05-2016)
07-10-2013, 08:33 AM
#7
Awesome job. I just got the stuff to do this on my 06. I did this in my 96 t100 and it made a big difference. At least these trucks have some insulation on the lines. My old truck had none.
Thanks for taking the time to measure the temps. On my old truck all I could tell was it felt much cooler.
Thanks for taking the time to measure the temps. On my old truck all I could tell was it felt much cooler.
The following users liked this post:
kendive (06-23-2015)
