Condenser

[bullet7]

I am in need of a new aircon condenser and an original AM part is expensive - nothing new there. Does anyone know of an alternative supplier here in the UK?

[oilit]

I went thru this with my compressor and sourced it a LOT cheaper from these guys:

http://www.compressortech.co.uk/

May be worth a call to see if they can help with the condensor - or recommend a source.

My main dealer was doing the service and was happy to fit it for me - it turned out these guys knew who to ship it to when I mentioned the dealer name...


Also:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Edited by oilit on Sunday 9th February 13:44

[bullet7]

Cheers Oilit. I've just had a quick look on their website and they do seem to be just compressors, but they may well know of another company that does condensers if they don't do them themselves.

The problem on mine is definitely a leaking condenser, I'm just hoping that nothing else is wrong!

[phumy]

Try a radiator repair shop they may be able to re-core or repair for you at a much reduced cost.

[bullet7]

That's a good shout Phumy. There's one place locally that does radiators, I've sent an email, so we'll see.

[Gazza450]

Would be really interested to see if the condenser can be recored as I suspect my Vantage has a similar problem!

[phumy]

My local radiator recore repairer also does condensers so it should be available for you if you shop around.

[bullet7]

Amazingly, I have already had an email reply from the local repairer. They say they can do it but want to see the damaged one first to give a quote. I suspect that once they know it is for an Aston, the usual 'tax' will be added but we'll see.

[phumy]

If you want them to take the condenser off for you and do the fix then refit it, why wouldnt they ask to see the car first? They need to assess the job. Unless you can take the condenser off yourself and take it in for them to fix.

[bullet7]

The plan was always to be that I would replace the condenser myself. You're absolutely right that they need to see the job before they can quote, it's only fair after all. They should be able to give a price to recore the condenser fairly easily, it is what they do daily.

[phumy]

My "other" car is an Audi RS2, last year it needed a recore on its Aux radiator (it has a main and an aux). At Audi they are NLA due to the car being 25 years old, however many after market companies were selling them for between £250 and £400, I decided to get my own re-cored at the local radiator specialist. He did it for me for £120 and was ready next day all finished, painted and pressure tested. I'm sure you will find similar with yours, I wouldnt worry too much about the hidden "AM tax" if it's too high just go elsewhere.

[bullet7]

That was a good result phumy. My last car was a 911 and I managed to replace one of the condenser for about £65 from memory. There is of course a price difference in getting a part that is reasonably mass produced and one that isn't! I'll post how I get on.

[phumy]

Excellent I'll keep watching.

[oilit]

What was the outcome here - did you get it re-cored or just buy a new one ?

[bullet7]

Hi Oilit, there are two places 'local' to me that do radiator recores but neither offered it for the aircon rad. One of them did a little digging and said he could get a new one from the company that supplied AM, but the cost was going to be more than what I could get it from AM Bristol including AMOC discount. He said there were other cheaper sources for condensers, but I should be wary of them because they have a high failure rate. In the end I went for the genuine AM part, although the first one delivered to me was the shape of a banana!

It turned out to be an expensive fix ultimately, because not only was the condenser holed, but there were also minor leaks to two of the pipes. Unfortunately I didn't have time to look around to get the pipes repaired and ended up with brand new ones from AM - almost the same price as the condenser. At least the air in the cabin is cool. Useful this time of year......

[oilit]

Thanks Bullet7 - interesting to know the options .... I am looking for a different vehicle tbh but I remembered this discussion and was hoping the re-core route was successful!

Oh well - I will buy a new one and think myself lucky that its not the AM label on it (this time)