Blog Car Parts

The auto air conditioning system is, in layman’s terms, a refrigerator with a heavily modified set up for a car. The AC Compressor is an integral part of this layout. The AC compressor’s job is to compress and circulate the ac refrigerant throughout the system; think of it as literally, the heart of the system.

There are many AC compressors out there, in my experience the Sanden AC Compressor, Denso AC Compressor, Delphi AC Compressor and AC Delco AC compressor products are ahead of the pack. These encompass max RPM up to 9000, up to 7 pistons and (Denso especially) some of the quieter, vibration free AC compressors out there.

All these ac compressor performance numbers really mean is how efficiently and quietly a compressor pumps the refrigerant through the ac system. The AC compressor does this by first putting the refrigerant under pressure before sending it to the condenser.

Hybrid principals of chemistry and physics dictate the compression of a gas makes it extremely hot. The AC compressor’s other duty is to super heat the refrigerant. You need this because for an AC system to work, the gas needs to act as a high pressure gas source which will be used later.

What happens to this super heated gas once it leaves the AC compressor? I will cover that in Part 3 as it requires the introduction of another part – the condenser.