Air Conditioning

With air con comes the need for competent maintenance services. If your workshop offers air conditioning repair or servicing to customers, you’ll need to ensure that the servicing equipment you use is always in peak condition.

We supply and install this equipment in garages and workshops, small and large, across the UK. If you’re not sure which service system is right for your business, let us help you decide, so that everyone can stay cool when they need to.

Why air conditioning maintenance makes sense

Over time, the refrigerant gas which forms part of the cooling system is naturally lost and requires replacing. In vehicles where the air conditioning is used intermittently, this process is accelerated. Air conditioning is known to consume fuel but a poorly operating air con system can really impact fuel efficiency – and your customers’ wallets.

Most manufacturers recommend an air conditioning system check every two years, and for workshops keen to secure regular business, it’s a no brainer.

Our air conditioning service systems are sourced from major manufacturers across Europe. These systems connect to the vehicle’s air conditioning unit and perform a series of important checks to detect leaks as well as a thorough clean and a system recharge of oil and gas.

Our air conditioning service systems

When choosing an air con service system, you’ll need to be certain it’s compatible with vehicle makes and models, including both the old R134a and new R1234yf refrigerant systems. Across the range of systems we stock, there are plentiful features to choose from to ensure you find the right model at the right price.
If you’re offering air con services for the first time, there are a range of ‘starter’ units to choose from, which are ideal. With today’s technological advances these are all now fully automatic and can retrieve vehicle information from an internal database with no technician assistance.

The starter units perform all essential functions including:

• Automated pressure test
• Oil separation
• Automated gas removal
• Programmable maintenance tasks

More feature-rich models are also available for larger garages or those who are upgrading their aircon servicing equipment. We sell fully-automatic units, suitable for carrying out servicing tasks in all vehicles including passenger cars, vans and trucks, agriculture and off-road vehicles.

Features and benefits

As with all technology, different systems offer different feature and benefits. The more sophisticated the product, generally the more automated and faster it is, and more likely to include wireless technology.

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular feature and benefits. Some of these you would expect to see included as standard across all models, for example, compliance with environmental standards.

Once you’ve decided which are most important to your operation, we can help you choose a model which ticks all your boxes.

• Printer option so that technicians can produce a printed maintenance report for the customer with key statistics
• Bluetooth option – with Bluetooth enabled, reports can be downloaded to a device and sent to customers digitally
• Deep recovery function which completely empties all gas from the vehicle’s air conditioning unit
• Automatic oil bottle system to recognise correct oil amounts needed for air conditioning systems in electric and hybrid vehicles
• Electric and hybrid vehicles options
• Multi-lingual software

Leak Detection

Leaks in the refrigerant circuit are the most common cause of problems with air conditioning systems. They go largely unnoticed by the car owner until system performance visibly reduces or fails completely.

Refrigerant gas naturally diffuses through rubber pipes and connections over time which is why regular air conditioning maintenance is important. This also makes it hard to diagnose a leak – hence a need for leak detection.

There are two main ways for a technicians to test for, and detect, leaks. At PGE, we can supply kits to you for either method.
Contract agent and UV lamp
Leak detection with ultrasound (sniffer)

A range of parts must be tested to identify the specific location of the leak. They are:

• All connections and lines
• Compressor
• Condenser and evaporator
• Filter dryer
• Pressure switch
• Service connections
• Expansion valve

Leak detection using a nitrogen set

Contrast agent and UV lamp

If the pressure drops, or a hissing noise of gas escaping can be heard, a leak is present. To identify the specific location, use the “sniffer” to locate the leak, even in the “hidden” areas.

F-gas training

There are four certification categories – if you require your technicians to be able to carry all tasks relating to the handling of F-gas, they will need a Category 1 certificate. This covers leak checking, refrigeration recovery, installation, service and maintenance.

Long-term customer care

We also connect all customers to our time-saving, user-friendly customer portal. Simply log in via your existing web browser to check the status of all jobs and retrieve important documents such as certificates, maintenance records and quotes. What’s more, you can book in new jobs and request quotes in a matter of minutes. It couldn’t be easier.