Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)

brimac50 on Wed August 14, 2013 9:37 PM

Year: 1980
Make: Chevy
Model: C20
Country of Origin: United States

Is it safe to insulate the accumulator? Or, by design, ....does it need to absorb engine compartment heat, in order to prevent any liquid refrigerant, from getting back to the compressor?

Thanks.

GM Tech on Thu August 15, 2013 9:09 AM

The accumulator is designed to suck the gas off the top of the liqud- that is its job to assyre no liquid gets to compressor- many luxury cars do insulate- cheap made cars do not- its a matter of cost- it does help- you weigh the cost if you make 200000 of one model with or without insulation...per year

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The number one A/C diagnostic tool there is- is to know how much refrigerant is in the system- this can only be done by recovering and weighing the refrigerant!!
Just a thought.... 65% of A/C failures in my 3200 car diagnostic database (GM vehicles) are due to loss of refrigerant due to a leak......

Dougflas on Thu August 15, 2013 12:29 PM

Ford used to insulate their accumulators. they were made of steel. And they rusted out causing leaks. Most are now aluminum so no rusting.