We all want the ultimate chill blasting out of our vents; especially when it comes to surviving the hot concrete jungle. When the A/C system kicks in on those hot, sweaty days, that’s something we all relish. But, believe it or not, there’s no ice machine inside (but at one time ice was used to cool people’s rides down). In fact, the cold air generated by your A/C system is actually hot air with hot gases removed during a multi-step process.
Turn the A/C on and the compressor compresses the system’s refrigerant (Freon) raising its temperature. It loses heat as it flows through the condenser (that second radiator looking thing in front of the radiator). It passes through the receiver/dryer where contaminants and moisture are removed, and then on to the expansion valve/accumulator where the refrigerant is slowed down further, causing it to lose pressure and temperature before it gets to the evaporator. The evaporator is like a mini radiator (not to be confused with the heater core — they are two separate things) inside the dash of your ride that gets cold as it further lowers the temperature of the refrigerant and, additionally, removes moisture from the air.
The ventilation system’s blower motor blows air over the cold evaporator and pushes cool air into the passenger compartment. Complicated, but aaaaaaaaah is it refreshing!