Recirculating Interior Air

[stan]

When I push the "recirculate inside air" button the A/C comes on. Is this typical? Is there a "fix"?for it?

 

[Chief]

Without the A/C on your windows would fog up and the inside would turn into a sauna

Yes, the A/C coming on when you press recirc is quite normal to prevent this from happening. Also, if it's cold outside (somewhere between 44 and 39 depending on conditions) your A/C may not come on at all, and you won't be allowed to enter recirc. This is also normal after a check of the owners manual.

Just to keep people who don't even to bother to ask why (that's a complement) from coming into service and saying, "I'm driving down the road and the windows keep fogging up. I hate this thing, I don't know why I bought it, can't you guys get anything right..."



(ya, I've seen it before)

 

[stanagain]

so when anyone drives their new avalanche past a stinky area and the temp outside is comfortable (the air here in the desert is DRY,no foggy windows) they have to live with the stench? thats a design error not a feature if someone has to drive in rural areas(cows,pigs Etc) I read the manual,thought maybe some wise person found a "fix" so I wouldn't need to myself.

 

[Chief]

so when anyone drives their new avalanche past a stinky area and the temp outside is comfortable (the air here in the desert is DRY,no foggy windows) they have to live with the stench? ? thats a design error not a feature if someone has to drive in rural areas(cows,pigs Etc) I read the manual,thought maybe some wise person found a "fix" so I wouldn't need to myself.

No, your missing the point. If you turn on air recirculation the A/C compressor is going to run. If it doesn't run your windows will fog up in most environments. The question was why does the A/C run when you go into recirc - if it didn't in most environments your cabin would turn into a sauna.

Whenever I'm driving in crappy weather and I see a car with more moisture on the inside windows than the outside, I KNOW that driver has recirc on and the A/C off. If you're cruising through Elizabeth, New Jersey you can turn on recirc, the A/C will come on, and you won't have to smell the Garden State.

Honest...

 

[stanagain]

I'm not missing the point,what I'm saying is it doesn't work here.I lived in Mich. for 50 Yrs, and know enough to reduce humidity with the A/C I just don't want outdoor air coming in or else the A/C on as the only options.the Question was "is there a fix for this"? thanks anyway.

 

[Guest User]

Hay Stan... Just being curious.... What exactly would you like it to do that putting the windows down wouldn't accomplish? (maybe I'm the one missing the point)

 

[stan]

I Don't want stinky outside air coming into the fresh smelling vehicle. ?Okay,I bought a new avalanche, on the way to dinner that night I drove past a food additive factory that stinks a lot, in every other vehicle i've had for the last 25 years I could simply recirculate the inside air when I got downwind from this place and escape with only a tiny bit of stench coming in the vehicle.
?Like the man said"around 40 Degrees you can't even get recirculation of inside air".Now it's stinkier yet!
?That first night it was about 65 Deg.outside,after dark, and I didn't need A/C, and didn't want the stench but could only keep it out by using recirculate which includes A/C so I had to use heat to offset the cold (my wife was cold), in the past vehicles that I've had, turning the heat up stopped the A/C and this wouldn't have been a problem. After all, this doesn't get great mileage anyway and running the A/C is a waste

 

[ygmn]

I hit my ac button to turn it off tonight when I hit inside air.

 

[stan]

Thanks, I'm glad that worked for you, it didn't work for me, you see, I don't have climate control, also the little A/C indicator light didn't come on, the air simply got colder and pushing the button didn't shut it off.
You know what though,this little problem is my biggest complaint concerning this truck so overall it's still a 9.6 out of 10 in my rating of it
Thanks for the input

 

[shafman1]

I thought you could override most things. I'm not going to say too much because I haven't ran into what you have yet, but I have always hit the recirculating button for the same reason you do. It still let's a small amount of outside air in, but not much. Also, the air conditioner won't come on if it's too cold out, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to get the controls to go in recirculation mode. Hopefully the Hepa filter will catch most of it. Try turning the controls to the dash vents or the floor and then try hitting the recirculation mode. I know it won't work in defrost mode.

 

[ygmn]

I think all cars are required to have fresh air introduced to the cabin all the time to prevent possible CO build up.

 

[stan]

Thanks for the suggestions and input. I did have it on the dash vents so that's not the answer and as for a little fresh air coming in,that is required , I understand that.
My problem with the system is that even when the outside air is cool, when I hit recycle, the A/C comes on. After the Temp. gets around 40 Deg. recycle won't even work. I guess I am stuck with the stench coming in the fresh air ducts until it gets hot enough to use the A/C, unless I put a manual cut-out switch in the circuit. Like Shafman1 said "I thought there was an override for almost everything".

 

[Allen42]

Here's what's happening in my 8/02 1500:

Start truck with recirc on, but not A/C: air blows warm... indefinately. Turn on A/C for 10 secs, turn back off. Air blows cold, indefinately. (But A/C light stays off.)

Start truck with recirc & A/C on, air blows cold regardless of what happens with A/C button & light.

I've never seen A/C light not go on or off each time I press A/C.

I havn't tried playing with recirc on/off, cuz the A/C can't keep up with Texas heat if you don't recirc.

Dealer said this is normal, but couldn't give me any kind of reasoning. Why would A/C behavior be different depending on what condition the truck was started?

Are y'all (I'm from Texas, remember?) seeing the same thing? I'd sure like to think my compressor was dis-engaging when I turned off the A/C (mpg).

 

[operkins]

Under what conditions can you not turn recirculate OFF? This is the opposite of what has been discussed in this thread previously.

My '03 has the Electronic Climate Control. About a month ago the recirculate switch began to come on by itself, even when the AC is not on. If I push the button, it flashes three times, and stays ON. (It even comes on when the whole system is off!)

Dealer is trying to say this is normal. Makes vague statements about the computer and all the different sensors. I think they are wrong. I think you should always be able to turn it off.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Similar experience?

 

[Tree_Hugger]

Under what conditions can you not turn recirculate OFF? This is the opposite of what has been discussed in this thread previously.

My '03 has the Electronic Climate Control. About a month ago the recirculate switch began to come on by itself, even when the AC is not on. If I push the button, it flashes three times, and stays ON. (It even comes on when the whole system is off!)

Dealer is trying to say this is normal. Makes vague statements about the computer and all the different sensors. I think they are wrong. I think you should always be able to turn it off.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Similar experience?

Your system is screwed,
Find another dealer.

 

[operkins]

Thanks Tree_Hugger,

I think I'll give 'em one more chance, but I sure would like to be able to say that I've talked to other people with the same system and they don't have this problem. Hint, hint....

 

[Tree_Hugger]

Thanks Tree_Hugger,

I think I'll give 'em one more chance, but I sure would like to be able to say that I've talked to other people with the same system and they don't have this problem. Hint, hint....

I have the Electronic Climate Control and mine doesn't do what yours does.
Mine works perfectly.

 

[SgtSchultz]

Stan dood - there is no way to prevent outside air from getting in. You're going to get stench no matter what. YGMN is exactly right about avoiding CO buildup. There is a federal regulation somewhere about every vehicle having a minimum amount of air changes/hour, no matter what you do with your HVAC settings. You are always going to get air coming in. Always. Even with the HVAC system shut off. Your cabin is not a pressure chamber.

The reason the 'recycle' won't work at temps below 40F-45F is that it would damage the seals in the a/c compressor, and, more simply, it is thermodynamically impossible for any 'work' to get done. There is a limit to the amount of pressure differential the R134 compressor can generate (this is called 'head') at any given R134 inlet temperature.

Simply put, you can't ask the R134 refrigerant system to 'work' (extract heat through endothermic expansion of compressed refrigerant through the evaporator) with air that is cooler than the system is designed to produce, or cooler than the R134 is in the first place. This is due to one of the principle laws of refrigeration. The law is that any refrigerant, under a specific pressure, will be at a given temperature. Only the FLOW of that R134 will conduct heat, at a specific rate, from the cabin through the evaporator.

In other words, a R134 stream at 45F (and I think that is pretty darn close to the design temperature) is not going to extract heat from air that is at 45F or below. There's no heat to extract. Heat always moves from hot to cold. The laws of enthalpy and entropy can't be broken.

 

[RichUF]

On a related note...

I have manual a/c in my '03. When system is OFF, I can hit recirc to close off the vents. However, if I then turn the knob to the FLOOR VENTS only, the recirc button turns off and air comes in. Weird.

 

[operkins]

Three times to the dealer. Each time, five minutes after I pick the Av up, the air recirc switch turns on and I can't turn it off. Going back Monday.

I need some advice here. Am I being too picky? The only overt indication of a problem is the silly little air recirculation coming on when it isn't supposed to, and then not being able to turn it off. Kind of goofy really.

What do you think? Am I being ridiculous in insisting that they fix, under warranty, something that may only be a very minor glitch. The shop foreman even said it was "bizarre", but they are starting to make me feel like I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Any comments and advice will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[AVid]

Three times to the dealer. Each time, five minutes after I pick the Av up, the air recirc switch turns on and I can't turn it off. Going back Monday.

I need some advice here. Am I being too picky? The only overt indication of a problem is the silly little air recirculation coming on when it isn't supposed to, and then not being able to turn it off. Kind of goofy really.

What do you think? Am I being ridiculous in insisting that they fix, under warranty, something that may only be a very minor glitch. The shop foreman even said it was "bizarre", but they are starting to make me feel like I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Any comments and advice will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

I would insisit they fix it right. For the amount of money you paid for your Av it shouldn't be bizarre. If you can't get anywhere with the dealer, then go to chevy customer service. Be calm, cool and collected but don't give up, Be persistant.

It seems that everyone in this thread has an HVAC that operates differently. There dealers are telling them that is normal. Somebodys wrong.

The recirc mode should only operate for a pre-determined amount of time. This is to prevent the build up on "bad air" in the cabin. When you push the recirc button manually, it should turn itself off after a while.

Just because the A/C light is lit, doesn't meant the compressor is on. It just means the A/C is available if needed. As SgtSchultz said, the compressor won't turn on below 45F.

Another problem I noticed here is there are several different model years and different systems here. They operate differently and all of us aren't talking about the same thing.

ImpactAv...what you describe ain't right no matter what system you have. make 'em fix it right. You deserve it, it's your right.

 

[Personal Touch]

Stan,

I feel your pain! .

I would like to recirc the air in my AV so I don't suck in outside exhaust when the temp outside is moderate enough not to need the A/C. My 1500, without automatic climate control, does the same thing yours does. If the recirc button is on...so is the A/C.

I regularly tow 5000 pounds and would like to save my MPG as much as possible!

While I appreciate the auto headlights and auto mirror dimmer, this feature is the worst part of the AV. When, or IF, I find a solution I will let you know.