Potentially the longest thread in history...

[kmanmx]

I keep seeing articles say Nvidia partners are offering steep discounts on 3xxx series cards. And i'd have zero interest except for the fact my card has been producing artifacting on desktop apps (black rectangles) a few times now this past month or two. I reboot and it goes away but eventually it comes back.

Anyway, whenever I go and check card prices, they are still expensive as hell and a 3080 is still more expensive than I paid for mine. Where are these supposed heavy discounts ???

 

[PP Mguire]

I keep seeing articles say Nvidia partners are offering steep discounts on 3xxx series cards. And i'd have zero interest except for the fact my card has been producing artifacting on desktop apps (black rectangles) a few times now this past month or two. I reboot and it goes away but eventually it comes back.

Anyway, whenever I go and check card prices, they are still expensive as hell and a 3080 is still more expensive than I paid for mine. Where are these supposed heavy discounts ???

I believe that is a driver issue, as I have the same problem and I know it's 0 relation to hardware.
Also, maybe just the US. The 3090ti was pushing 1100 for a minute and now it's settled for 1200 on FE. eVGA has 3080ti for 899, 3080 12GB for 799, and 3080 10GB for 739.

 

[kmanmx]

I believe that is a driver issue, as I have the same problem and I know it's 0 relation to hardware.
Also, maybe just the US. The 3090ti was pushing 1100 for a minute and now it's settled for 1200 on FE. eVGA has 3080ti for 899, 3080 12GB for 799, and 3080 10GB for 739.

Oh that'd be good if it was a driver issue. Maybe i'll ignore it then. I don't really want a GPU right now. I'm sure the 40 series will be quite a lot faster but there are not really any games i'm looking to play where I really need it. Maybe at some point next year.

The 30xx's are cheaper than before here, quite a lot infact. But still not back down to launch day prices.

 

[PP Mguire]

Oh that'd be good if it was a driver issue. Maybe i'll ignore it then. I don't really want a GPU right now. I'm sure the 40 series will be quite a lot faster but there are not really any games i'm looking to play where I really need it. Maybe at some point next year.

The 30xx's are cheaper than before here, quite a lot infact. But still not back down to launch day prices.

GPUs were never at MSRP to begin with besides at places like Best Buy. Problem is, they are only discount A102 chips rather than the lower tiers which need it because that's what they have an overstock of. Their miner cards they were shipping by the pallets.

 

[Smart_Guy]

System is originally r134. I flushed because I replaced the compressor (due to loss of pressure) and everything else out of concern they pushed something into the evaporator and condenser which were not replaced because they were clean. But anyways, the other day coolant temp almost reached the red line so I stopped the car and did the basic diagnostics any drivers should be aware of; opening the hood and looking around the subject system. Found out that one of the aux fans stopped working. Now, this is a big issue for this car which also reminded me that at some point the fans changed pitch at the same speed which means they were not working at stock speed all the time. Couldn't find good alternative replacement so I tried to hit them several times and see perhaps some dirt did something. The stopped one (not jammed, just stopped) started working slower than the other one but the more I hit it the faster it ran. This last part was done to the other fan too. A/C then worked better than before. Now, it's either the fans really worked wrong or the condenser has internal problems that required more air to cool than usual. I know I'm looking for A/C factory deficiencies in this car to custom-improve, but I did have a slightly reduced A/C performance for a while now. I have a feeling I will finally replace the clutch driven engine fan with an electric one to cool better (both radiator and condenser) at lower engine speeds.

I guess this subject took more that I should. Let's carry on.

I don't play games as much as I used to due to reasons related to myself and to the gaming industry so I'm sticking with my RTX 2060 6GB I got 2 years ago for now. The gaming laptop I got has an RTX 3060 6GB which fairs kinda like the latter or a little better in non Nvidia enhanced games like the one I'm playing now; Elden Ring. Being a 1080p60 gamer (and very happy with it) I don't think I'm gonna upgrade anytime soon. Feels like not even 3 years from now.

 

[PP Mguire]

Oh that'd be good if it was a driver issue. Maybe i'll ignore it then. I don't really want a GPU right now. I'm sure the 40 series will be quite a lot faster but there are not really any games i'm looking to play where I really need it. Maybe at some point next year.

The 30xx's are cheaper than before here, quite a lot infact. But still not back down to launch day prices.

Might have narrowed it down more. I typically only notice it with HDR content enabled.

System is originally r134. I flushed because I replaced the compressor (due to loss of pressure) and everything else out of concern they pushed something into the evaporator and condenser which were not replaced because they were clean. But anyways, the other day coolant temp almost reached the red line so I stopped the car and did the basic diagnostics any drivers should be aware of; opening the hood and looking around the subject system. Found out that one of the aux fans stopped working. Now, this is a big issue for this car which also reminded me that at some point the fans changed pitch at the same speed which means they were not working at stock speed all the time. Couldn't find good alternative replacement so I tried to hit them several times and see perhaps some dirt did something. The stopped one (not jammed, just stopped) started working slower than the other one but the more I hit it the faster it ran. This last part was done to the other fan too. A/C then worked better than before. Now, it's either the fans really worked wrong or the condenser has internal problems that required more air to cool than usual. I know I'm looking for A/C factory deficiencies in this car to custom-improve, but I did have a slightly reduced A/C performance for a while now. I have a feeling I will finally replace the clutch driven engine fan with an electric one to cool better (both radiator and condenser) at lower engine speeds.

I guess this subject took more that I should. Let's carry on.

I don't play games as much as I used to due to reasons related to myself and to the gaming industry so I'm sticking with my RTX 2060 6GB I got 2 years ago for now. The gaming laptop I got has an RTX 3060 6GB which fairs kinda like the latter or a little better in non Nvidia enhanced games like the one I'm playing now; Elden Ring. Being a 1080p60 gamer (and very happy with it) I don't think I'm gonna upgrade anytime soon. Feels like not even 3 years from now.

So exactly as I originally said then. The basic fundamentals of car systems operate like any other.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

System is originally r134. I flushed because I replaced the compressor (due to loss of pressure) and everything else out of concern they pushed something into the evaporator and condenser which were not replaced because they were clean. But anyways, the other day coolant temp almost reached the red line so I stopped the car and did the basic diagnostics any drivers should be aware of; opening the hood and looking around the subject system. Found out that one of the aux fans stopped working. Now, this is a big issue for this car which also reminded me that at some point the fans changed pitch at the same speed which means they were not working at stock speed all the time. Couldn't find good alternative replacement so I tried to hit them several times and see perhaps some dirt did something. The stopped one (not jammed, just stopped) started working slower than the other one but the more I hit it the faster it ran. This last part was done to the other fan too. A/C then worked better than before. Now, it's either the fans really worked wrong or the condenser has internal problems that required more air to cool than usual. I know I'm looking for A/C factory deficiencies in this car to custom-improve, but I did have a slightly reduced A/C performance for a while now. I have a feeling I will finally replace the clutch driven engine fan with an electric one to cool better (both radiator and condenser) at lower engine speeds.

How positive are you that there's not a plugged up orifice tube or TXV? If either of those are plugged or malfunctioning, it can cause a higher superheat to get the cooling needed in the cabin, thus dumping far more heat into your radiator, and causing an overheat condition of the engine. If the condensor was plugged, you would see very high head pressure, low superheat, and virtually no cooling.... Anything down-stream would cause high head pressure and high superheat.

Check your pressures, make sure you have proper subcooling and superheat before you do anything else.
Also, don't jump to an electric fan if you have a clutch fan, chances are your alternator wouldn't handle the extra load of a properly sized electric fan, they pull a rather substantial amount of power compared to the rest of a vehicle.
Lastly, check the fan clutch, they go bad, they aren't expensive to replace, and a properly functioning clutch does wonders.

Also, no, I haven't read everything, but you DID replace the TXV/Orifice tube when you replaced the unit, yes..? If not, replace it, otherwise you are 100% throwing money, and time, to the wind.
A properly functioning AC system in a car should result in 20F to 40F temperature drop from ambient at the vents, when in vent mode and not in recirculation mode.

 

[Smart_Guy]

How positive are you that there's not a plugged up orifice tube or TXV? If either of those are plugged or malfunctioning, it can cause a higher superheat to get the cooling needed in the cabin, thus dumping far more heat into your radiator, and causing an overheat condition of the engine. If the condensor was plugged, you would see very high head pressure, low superheat, and virtually no cooling.... Anything down-stream would cause high head pressure and high superheat.

Check your pressures, make sure you have proper subcooling and superheat before you do anything else.
Also, don't jump to an electric fan if you have a clutch fan, chances are your alternator wouldn't handle the extra load of a properly sized electric fan, they pull a rather substantial amount of power compared to the rest of a vehicle.
Lastly, check the fan clutch, they go bad, they aren't expensive to replace, and a properly functioning clutch does wonders.

Also, no, I haven't read everything, but you DID replace the TXV/Orifice tube when you replaced the unit, yes..? If not, replace it, otherwise you are 100% throwing money, and time, to the wind.
A properly functioning AC system in a car should result in 20F to 40F temperature drop from ambient at the vents, when in vent mode and not in recirculation mode.

You mean the expansion valve? I did replace it with the receiver/drier when I replaced the compressor. It's the first part that can be replaced that's right before the evaporator I know of. If there's something else in between, I'm afraid I need to have a look at it. The thing is, this car is one exceptional car in A/C's. It even uses some kinda relay called Klima installed right next to the battery. So it's possible that nothing else is between the expansion valve and the evaporator, or it's something built-in to the evaporator, if there's any. But I will still check. Then again, on highways A/C still becomes ice cold, and under high ambience (+110F).

I checked the pressure of the compressor and it was as per specs as the tech told me. I don't remember the numbers, but I saw it after and before replacing the old compressor and it is clearly higher now.

The fan clutch is working wonderfully. When one of the aux fans stopped, temps went higher than usual and the clutch got engaged and disengaged much more frequently than usual and kept temps under control. I was driving on a highway at constant speeds and the A/C was ice cold thanks to that. When the clutch got engaged the first time, temp went to almost 115C but once it started the circle, temps hovered between ~95C and ~100C. I'm sure it did not go over 115C because the A/C is designed to disconnect at the coolant temp, and it didn't.

As for the alternator, I actually upgraded it from 90 amps to 115 amps to support good inverters. Any idea if typical passenger cars' electric engine fans can run on that? Original alternator as per the user's guide is only 70 amps, btw. Looks like the previous owner installed that 90 amps unit.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

115A alt should handle an electric fan set just fine, most cars with electric fans range between 90A and 120A on the alt, but 70A heck naw. Long as the grounding, and positive cabling had been upgraded with the alt, then electric fan away! I still prefer clutch fans, but ehh.

Curious, (it has several names, just depends on manufacture and where ya live sometimes), your expansion valve, is it a tube that sits inside the line, made of plastic and a metal screen? Not really sure what year/make/model you have, never heard of Kilma relays before, looked it up and went, "WTF kind of engineering is this?!"

 

[Smart_Guy]

This AC requires serious ventilation to stay cool enough, and this place is just too hot for a clutch fan to cool it well at lower RPM's.

Newer generations of this car (two generations later) use 150A altors. The fan I'm looking at is one of those used one them as it fits into the space after removing the current fan with its clutch and it in a good size with the radiator. Probably those 150 amps are meant for other things on those newer cars not because the fans actually need them.

The car is a Mercedes 1992 300E. Body type is called W124 (opposed to the Panther Platform for Crown Victoria, for example). They have their own proprietary AC relay the one called Klima. Weird name.

The expansion valve is the silver part with a yellow sticker (a picture for thousand words):

The tube going thru the firewall to the right side of the viewer is of the evaporator. Mercedes US friends call it expansion valve. Not sure what it's called in asdf where you live.