Anyone ever have any issues with playa dust wrecking your air-con?

[Kenshiro]

Sorry if this is a common thing I magically never heard of, but the car I use for Burning Man has had the air-con go out twice and I’m just covering possible explanations. It doesn’t coincide at all with when I go to Burning Man, but I’m wondering if playa dust getting into things could be causing the problem to develop months later.

[ygmir]

Sorry if this is a common thing I magically never heard of, but the car I use for Burning Man has had the air-con go out twice and I’m just covering possible explanations. It doesn’t coincide at all with when I go to Burning Man, but I’m wondering if playa dust getting into things could be causing the problem to develop months later.

what "goes out", or stops working?
dust getting "into things" is sorta wide ranging. The only things it could get into would be filters, bearings, belt/pulley surfaces or heat exchangers. It should not be a real issue for belt or pulley surfaces, unless there is oil or some such present that would allow a build up. Bearings are usually sealed.

[Ratty]

My heater and air conditioner stopped working a couple of months ago. Or i should say, if i turn on the fan located in the dash it vibrates and howls. Heat and cold can trickle out.

[TT120]

I've taken my truck out there 5 times and never had any problems with the AC. It does smell like Playa dust when I turn it on but I kinda like that. Brings back good memories.

What keeps going out on your AC?

[Token]

Highly unlikely. 20 years and hundreds of thousands of vehicles later, it would have been a thing.

I’m guessing crappy vehicle with crappier AC?

[Captain Goddammit]

There’s no doubt playa dust is not good for vehicles, it’s very corrosive.
However, you haven’t given enough information to diagnose what’s going on.

[Kenshiro]

Highly unlikely. 20 years and hundreds of thousands of vehicles later, it would have been a thing.

I’m guessing crappy vehicle with crappier AC?

Mkay. Yeah, I’ve gone a half dozen times as well now and have never had anyone else having A/C issues pop up in conversation, but I wanted to explicitly ask in case this is an established thing anyone might know anything about.

But I’ve never had any other car have this issue, let alone recurring, only this one that is the “Burn car”, and according to the mechanics this model pretty much never has this particular issue so naturally I had to question if playa dust was the unique factor.

Turns out it probably wasn’t this time. The issue this occasion ended up being slightly different than previous and was entirely electrical in nature, a shorted out resistor, so I guess I’ll chalk it up to unrelated randomness.

Thanks for the input, all.

[Token]

Every now and again, a reliable model of some car brand X can just be a lemon.

Time, miles and neglect add up. Not judgement, just an observation on our high-pace lifestyles. Im just as guilty as the next guy.

What I wouldn’t give to have my grand-dads pace of life and endless collecting of old nails to be straightened later and reused to build a chicken coop.