27 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

Your right… the condenser on front of the car is the highest pressure part of the whole system? As the note I took was on the phone was:

low pressure side condenser 

low pressure pipe to condenser 

low pressure seals

Yes.  The low pressure side is between the evaporator (under the dash) and the compressor.*

But it doesn't matter what they called it as long as they've found the leak.

 

*AC Process is fairly simple if you were good at GCSE physics.

Start with low pressure gas.  Squeeze that in the compressor, creating high pressure gas.

Cool that in the condenser, creating high pressure liquid.

Evaporate that into a low pressure gas inside the evaporator.  This change of state from liquid to gas creates the cooling effect we are after.

Return that low pressure gas back to the compressor to start the cycle again.

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

 Process is fairly simple if you were good at GCSE physics.

My A level physics teacher would be very proud of you!

Right. I’m even more confused now as they said if it was on the high pressure side it would have emptied much quicker.

 

Ive had a look at the AC system from the outside and I cannot for the life of me see any dirt or anything that might show where it’s leaking.  

18 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

Ive had a look at the AC system from the outside and I cannot for the life of me see any dirt or anything that might show where it’s leaking.  

Goodness me... I said, right at the start, a proper A/C guy would full the system with a UV dye so it could instantly be a visual indicator where it was actually leaking!! All you're doing is sticking your finger up in the air and guessing where it's all gone 🤣 That is no way to diagnose a fault...

9 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Goodness me... I said, right at the start, a proper A/C guy would full the system with a UV dye so it could instantly be a visual indicator where it was actually leaking!! All you're doing is sticking your finger up in the air and guessing where it's all gone 🤣 That is no way to diagnose a fault...

Yes i appreciate that - thought I would just look to see whether anything got pushed out yesterday and tried with a UV torch 

 

while sure they seemed to have found the right area for the leak, I’m not fully convinced with their explanation which probably why im still looking for it. I suspect it might be a good idea for me to potentially find someone else to look at this?

1 minute ago, captaincadet said:

... I suspect it might be a good idea for me to potentially find someone else to look at this?

What, you mean like a guy that specialises in A/C repairs?? Better hurry, once the warm weather hits, they'll be swamped 😂

I mean the garage I did go to did advertise themselves as a ac specialist… 

7 minutes ago, captaincadet said:

I mean the garage I did go to did advertise themselves as a ac specialist… 

If they also 'fix' cars, that's not an accurate statement...

This is an A/C specialist, I'm sure Wales has some too...

 

9 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

If they also 'fix' cars, that's not an accurate statement...

This is an A/C specialist, I'm sure Wales has some too...

 

I appreciate they however local AC garages to me also all appear to do other car repairs. There are some travelling ones that only do AC  however they only appear to use sealants. 

Air con systems come with a dye from  new so any leak really should be visible even leaking for 6months. A good UV light and glasses should be sufficient to source the leak. 2 main leaks are normally condenser and main pipes where they join the condenser( o rings) 

Yes it seems like that - spoken to another garage and they said it wasn’t worth attempting to diagnosed it if you know it’s coming from the front end as such a slow leak in their experience is the condenser or O rings 

As promised here’s an update. Managed to get a new condenser into the car for £450 and regassed. No leaks were showing and the ac while has gone away.

 

We never found the source of the leak in the end but this garage was certain it was the condenser as they seen a few Ford with the same grill as mine come in with damage as it’s so exposed.

 

 

Just now, captaincadet said:

As promised here’s an update. Managed to get a new condenser into the car for £450 and regassed. No leaks were showing and the ac while has gone away.

Crikey, £450? I struggled to find one (new) on Ebay for any more than £100. Still, if that's you back up & running, well done...

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

Crikey, £450? I struggled to find one (new) on Ebay for any more than £100. Still, if that's you back up & running, well done...

It also included new pipping and dryer and the cost of the gas refill and labour.

it works out cheaper than what the other place quoted and while I may have gotten it cheaper it was done at a garage that I trust 

the piping is extortionate had to have mine done as the union failed