Does the car AC Compressor, works all the time, even when AC is turned off, as it runs with motor ?

Question

Does the car AC Compressor, works all the time, even when AC is turned off ? Compressor runs with motor with the help of the belt. So it must be working all the time. But I think this may be not the case. I have seen that complicated pully to drive the Compressor. I think so this pully controles this requirement. Probably the AC switch makes some type of contact in this pully then actual compressor works, and on other times, when AC is off, only the pully runs, but Compressor does not run. This is all that I guess my self. Can some body please confirm or explainthe situation for me and for other readers. Thank you very much in advance.

Answer 1

There is a flat electric clutch on the front of the pump that engages the pump when the A/C or defroster is turned on.

So basicaly you were right.

Answer 2

Some of these answers are right, but as usual, Dodge Man's is mostly disjointed words that add up to nothing. There is most certainly an electromagnetic clutch triggered by switches and pressure sensors that engages and disengages the compressor. When the compressor is not needed, the electromagnetic clutch between the pulley and the compressor is deactivated. This allows the pulley to freewheel without driving the compressor. You will notice that the clutch engages and disengages while you are running the air conditioner. This happens because, and absolutely ONLY because the compressor has only one purpose, which is to maintain the refrigerant at a preset pressure range in the system, and when that pressure is reached, the compressor is disengaged. When that pressure drops to a certain level, the compressor is engaged. Most vehicles with air conditioning have a system that automatically activates the air conditioning when the inside window defogging system is activated. This is because air-conditioned air is very dry, and it clears the windows much faster than it would if it were not conditioned. This is very important in cold, damp or rainy weather, or when there are a lot of people in the car, when even hot air blowing on the windows is highly ineffective. So, when you turn on the defroster, the air conditioning system activates, and with that the compressor is engaged with the electromagnetic clutch. And while we're on the subject, the MAX AIR setting on your car, old or new, absolutely does not have anything to do with the compressor. If the compressor ran longer than it should, the result would be excessive system pressure, which will damage components and blow off hoses. The MAX AIR setting, or MAX A/C, or whatever it's called on your car, is a part of the system that allows the air that's already in the car to recirculate. Here's how it works: If you run your A/C on the NORMAL setting, ambient outside air is brought into the car and cooled. The warmer the outside air, the harder the A/C has to work to cool it, the more time that compressor is activated, and the less efficient the system is at cooling it. This is why in cold weather your A/C seems to work so much better. It's no illusion. However, if you run the system on the MAX A/C setting, the system is recirculating the air inside the car, which after you run the A/C for a while, is substantially cooler than the outside air, and therefore much less work for the system to keep cool. This is exactly why your mother railed on you for leaving the refrigerator door open while you decided on what to have for a snack. An air conditioner system can only cool air a certain amount. Logically speaking, if the system can cool the air by, say, 20 degrees, that means that if it's 90 degrees outside and your system is bringing in outside air, it will cool that air to at the lowest 70 degrees. If you recirculate the air inside the car, the system can theoretically cool it to less than 70 degrees because it's working with gradually cooler and cooler air. The downside to this is that the air is recirculated and very little fresh air is brought in. This can make the car kind of stuffy, or worse if you have a lot of sweaty people or smokers in the car or if grandma has a lot of that perfume on that grandpa gave her in 1956. Remember that what an air conditioner system does, all it does, is extracts heat from the air inside the car and dumps it outside. There are hundreds of articles on the web and in books and magazines about how air conditioning works. That's how I learned.

Answer 3

An a/c compressor only works when the magnetic clutch is engaged. When you depress the a/c button or turn the switch,
the clutch is engaged, the pulley on the compressor turns whenever the engine is running, but the compressor is not " working " unless the clutch is engaged.

Answer 4

the compressor does not work all the time.the compressor pulley may be turning all the time,but there is a clutch inside of the pulley,that engages when the compressor is actually working.the clutch engages in and out depending how low you have the setting.in the older cars,there was a setting called max air.on this setting,the compressor would run all the time.

Answer 5

No , it has an electronic clutch that only engages when the A/c is turned on.That pully is the outer part of the clutch assembly.

Answer 6

I would still like an answer as to why the compressor runs even with the switch off and yes the clutch is engaged.

Answer 7

the inner part of it doesn't turn all the time the outside pulley does turn all the time though, but the inner part only works when the air is on,and sometimes when using the defroster also,other than that ,it doesn't turn all the time,good luck hope this helps.

Answer 8

will it hurt the unit if no power is to it/still lubricate it since it still is turning