Car AC vs Fridge freezer

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Chippy_Tea

Administrator.
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
52,171
Reaction score
19,640
Location
Ulverston Cumbria.
I noticed lots of water dripping from a pipe under the front bumper (which if i remember right is water from the condenser) of my truck today when I had been stopped for my 15 minute break with the ac running I know this is normal but it got me thinking, assuming they work in a similar way (probably wrong to do so) why do fridge freezers not produce water like car and truck ac systems.
 
Last edited:
I think because in almost all modern fridges/freezers the cooling element is embedded in the fabric of the fridge so no moist air comes into contact with it.

Freezers that have open cooling elements get completely frozen up - this is the water that would have dripped off them if it wasn’t so cold.

Fridges that have open elements usually have a drip tray to catch condensation or employ a wet wall with a hole in it that allows the water to run through the hole onto a hot plate where it evaporates.
 
I noticed lots of water dripping from a pipe under the front bumper (which if i remebr right is water from the condenser) of my truck today when I had been stopped for my 15 minute break with the ac running I know thisxis normal but it got me thinking, assuming they work in a similar way (probably wrong to do so) why do fridge freezers not produce water like car and truck ac systems.
I think they work the same. With a fridge the water/condensation collects on the inside. Usually at the back where the cooling cables are.

If you look at bottom and back of the fridge there’s a drain hole follow that out the back and you’ll see it leads to a collection tray located above the compressor which gets warm and evaporates whatever gets collected.
 
Car -

If you are talking about the water that gets condensed on the Car evaporator core, that is normal.
There is a drain that lets that water run out, if you look under a car that is sitting still with the AC running you will see water dripping on the ground.

---------------------

Fridge -

Under normal circumstances, this water runs down a drain hole and collects into a tray at the bottom of the appliance, close to the compressor.
The heat from the compressor then evaporates the water inside the tray.
 
I think because in almost all modern fridges/freezers the cooling element is embedded in the fabric of the fridge so no moist air comes into contact with it.

Freezers that have open cooling elements get completely frozen up - this is the water that would have dripped off them if it wasn’t so cold.

Fridges that have open elements usually have a drip tray to catch condensation or employ a wet wall with a hole in it that allows the water to run through the hole onto a hot plate where it evaporates.
The fridge or freezer cools the air in it. This causes moisture in the air to condense.
As others have said the water drains through a small hole at the back and collects in a reservoir from where it evaporates.
Incidentally, the "drying" of the air by cooling it is why your car wibdscreen demister works better with air conditioning on as well as the heating. The ac dries the air before it is heated and blown on to the windscreen.
 
I noticed lots of water dripping from a pipe under the front bumper (which if i remember right is water from the condenser) of my truck today when I had been stopped for my 15 minute break with the ac running I know this is normal but it got me thinking, assuming they work in a similar way (probably wrong to do so) why do fridge freezers not produce water like car and truck ac systems.
"why do fridge freezers not produce water like car and truck ac systems."
answer : they do
I think they work the same. With a fridge the water/condensation collects on the inside. Usually at the back where the cooling cables are.

If you look at bottom and back of the fridge there’s a drain hole follow that out the back and you’ll see it leads to a collection tray located above the compressor which gets warm and evaporates whatever gets collected.
"water/condensation collects on the inside."
yes thats correct


I thought this thread was going to be about ripping the AC out of a car and using it in a brewchamber :(

me too .

darn!
 
"why do fridge freezers not produce water like car and truck ac systems."
answer : they do
They do but certainly not in the quantity i saw i assume because in my instance i am frequently opening the door so the AC is working hard to keep the cab cool, after the 15 minutes period i mentioned above there was quite a big pool of water on the floor.
 
i think the fridges have a catch and the cars dont the cars are allowd to drip on the floor . that would be no good for fridges. in the past all window AC's would drip. it was fun in the city especially walking in front of apartment buildings. nothing like AC water on the head or in the mouth - yuck. and as a bonus AC water is the perfect environment for listeria and this bacteria is often recovered form stagnant AC water.

it was responsible for a listeria outbreak in NYC in one of the major hospitals in the 90's, it was found in the stagnant water in the HVAC system in the hospital.

but i noticed over the last 10 yeasr they dont drip anymore. apparently they have a reservoir now like the fridges to catch the water and evaporate it rather than let it drip.
 
The big difference is that the fridge door is predominantly closed, so there are very few air changes. The car or truck has fresh air blowing in, and being cooled constantly, the condensate is removed from the fresh air, hence the much larger amount of condensate .
 
They do but certainly not in the quantity i saw i assume because in my instance i am frequently opening the door so the AC is working hard to keep the cab cool, after the 15 minutes period i mentioned above there was quite a big pool of water on the floor.

Is your cab is a smidge bigger than the fridge compartment?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top