AC Condensers

Have you ever wondered how your vehicle's air conditioning system works? Or how it creates a cool environment inside the vehicle despite the scorching heat outside? And did it ever occur to you to wonder where the AC system gets the cool air it blows inside the vehicle's cabin? If you think of it, all these things are really amazing, even magical considering that all processes are done by simply clicking a button or pulling a lever. But the operation of the auto air conditioning system is really easy to understand, if you'll only take time to know the basics of the system and its parts.

The AC system is composed of many parts, including the evaporator, compressor, condenser, expansion valves, and others. Together, these parts serve as a large system of heat exchangers, replacing the heat developed inside the vehicle's cabin with cool air. But the auto air conditioning system is not confined within the vehicle's cabin. In fact, many parts of the auto AC system are nowhere to be found inside the vehicle's cab. Instead, most of them are installed under the hood, where more heat exchanging processes occurs.

One of the more important parts of the auto air conditioning system located under the hood is the AC condenser. The AC condenser is that particular AC system part where actual heat dissipation occurs. After absorbing much heat inside the vehicle's cab, the refrigerant is delivered by the compressor to the top of the condenser as a hot, high-pressure gas. Inside the condenser, the gas is cooled and condensed into liquid form (thus the name "condenser"). The liquid refrigerant is then delivered back to the other parts of the system, where it is again expanded into cool, gaseous form to once again absorb the heat inside the cab.

The AC condenser does for the AC system's refrigerant what the radiator does for the engine's coolant. Not only do the two components share the same function; they also share the same appearance, although the AC condenser is a bit smaller than the radiator. The AC condenser is usually installed in front of the radiator, just beneath the vehicle's grille. In this position, it takes good advantage of the air flowing through the grille and the radiator fan/engine fan to help it cool the refrigerant better.