insulating air con pipes in engine bay
 

Hi everyone this follows on from an earlier post about condensation forming on the cold air con pipe no. 3 in the engine bay when i had the air con on, just curious wouldn't the air con be that much more efficient if this pipe was insulated with some foam tubing?



http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/n/f/304.png

Good question, mine seems alittle weak as well

pexho405 my aircon is not weak, in fact it it is too cold at 30c seems like 15c, but just wondering why the cold refrigerant pipe in the engine bay is not insulated from the heat in the engine as such?

Make sure you aren't creating a corrosion issue if condensation on the outside of the pipe gets trapped under the insulation.

I'm pretty sure #3 is the high pressure side, in which case you don't want to insulate it. If you insulate anything it would be #5 on the low pressure side.

Didnt mean to sound like you had the same problem, but was wondering if it would help

ok better leave it alone in that case.....

Rayxi not sure how the high pressure side of it is relevant, i am no air con expert but on split unit home air cons devices both pipes are insulated

I don't know whether heat is lost or gained on the high pressure side after the condenser. It depends on the temperature of the engine compartment and routing of the HP line. Since it could go either way it's best to leave it as designed.

On the other hand the low pressure side (#5) is definitely colder than the engine compartment. Insulating this line will prevent the cold gas from picking up heat from the engine compartment.

Personally, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.....if your ac is trouble free, and ice cold....I'd just leave them things alone.

Edit: with regards to the comparo to household a/c lines. I could see those needing to be insulated for 2 reasons:
1) the length of those lines can run often more than 20ft....heat absorption may effect the efficiency at those distances.
2) Moisture. Leaving those lines un-insulated would have water dripping off them every time you fired up the air...which isn't much of a concern if it sits over a concrete wall; but put it behind a wall or over a drywall ceiling and it can be disastrous.

I'm no HVAC expert though....so if we have one, hopefully they'll be able to set the facts straight!

I insulated the low side with fire sleeve.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../M62Block2.jpg

Don't mind the motor. It's together again. :)