Desiro Aircon

[BestWestern]

Why on earth is the aircon so aggressive on these things?!

Having recently travelled early morning on a 444, on a day when it was icy and very cold indeed, I cannot get my head around why the a/c would still be pumping cold air into the saloon. Not only does this create an rather unwelcome chilly edge to the internal environment (not to mention the infernal racket, of course), but it seems utterly wasteful having both the heating and aircon powering away all the time - I presume there is a theoretical 'harmony' of the two, but clearly it doesn't work. Why not simply one or the other with an internal thermostat?!

Do all the Desi's do this or is it something that's been ironed out on the later builds? Has it ever been made an issue of within SWT?

 

[Crossover]

As far as I know the ventilation system on Desiros is HVAC which controls heating as well as cooling.

 

[BestWestern]

As far as I know the ventilation system on Desiros is HVAC which controls heating as well as cooling.

Yeah I guess it's all integrated and all, but the heating is floor mounted and the a/c merrily continues blasting cold air noisily out of the ceiling!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yeah I guess it's all integrated and all, but the heating is floor mounted and the a/c merrily continues blasting cold air noisily out of the ceiling!

I have long wondered when the railway will catch up the private car and instead of cooking your ankles from below and freezing your ears from above (yes I know it does eventually mix) they might have a system that produces air at the specified temperature and then circulates it from both above and below. The ducting needed could be placed differently and not take up half the legroom of the window seat, too.

Neil

 

[Kristofferson]

Unfortunately the AC on LM's Desiros seems to have become pretty ineffective in the last year. It used to be aggressively cold, now it feels like it isn't on at all.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unfortunately the AC on LM's Desiros seems to have become pretty ineffective in the last year. It used to be aggressively cold, now it feels like it isn't on at all.

Seemed fine yesterday evening, though admittedly it was a cold evening. I haven't found the situation you mention to be the case at all, though maybe the temperature has been adjusted up a little due to complaints of being too cold.

Neil

 

[badassunicorn]

Its nice when you go through a neutral section and it cuts out for a few seconds =D

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Is the aircon temp done by a thermostat/sensor in each coach or is it set by the driver on the TMS?

 

[ainsworth74]

I believe it's set centrally for the whole train by depot staff. The on-board train crew have no access to the thermostat.

 

[chris11256]

As far as I know it's set individually in each carriage.

I had an occasion once where ticket inspectors were checking my train. One of them complained about the heat in the carriage. I saw him pull out a T key and opened a cupboard, fiddle with something and moments later the air con came on.

 

[ainsworth74]

I stand corrected! Now my next question is was I thinking of a different class and if so which one!?

 

[SpacePhoenix]

I stand corrected! Now my next question is was I thinking of a different class and if so which one!?

Was you thinking of the class 323s perhaps?

 

[Blindtraveler]

I stand corrected! Now my next question is was I thinking of a different class and if so which one!?

The 185s, so same family but a DMU have heating and aircon controlled by depot staff I believe?

 

[Bertie the bus]

Its nice when you go through a neutral section and it cuts out for a few seconds =D

What was that, I can't hear you. I'm on a Desiro and the 150 dB aircon has temporarily deafened me.

 

[Smitham]

Was you thinking of the class 323s perhaps?

319s also, I believe.

 

[Juniper Driver]

Is the aircon temp done by a thermostat/sensor in each coach or is it set by the driver on the TMS?

Not that the driver can access AFAIK.Probably can be set deeper in the TMS.(by a fitter or computer bod?)

 

[455driver]

I stand corrected! Now my next question is was I thinking of a different class and if so which one!?

No you don't, the crew don't have access to the air-con except for the circuit breakers.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

It seems crazy that the train crew don't have access to alter the temperature of the air con

 

[Bletchleyite]

It seems crazy that the train crew don't have access to alter the temperature of the air con

Wouldn't that leave it set to random temperatures based on different peoples views?

Neil

 

[MCR247]

"Its too hot"
turns air con on

"Its too cold mate"
turns air con off

"Why do TOCs insist on making us boil on delayed overcrowded trains?!"

Tbh I think it would get ridiculous. IMO as long as it is set correctly at the depot there generally isn't a need for the guard/driver to be able to control it. The only times I've ever been on trains that are too hot/cold it has been because someone has set the wrong temperature at the depot

 

[ainsworth74]

No you don't, the crew don't have access to the air-con except for the circuit breakers.

I stand re-corrected! In fact I think I'll just go stand over in the corner to be honest. It's less stressful...

 

[swt_passenger]

I have long wondered when the railway will catch up the private car and instead of cooking your ankles from below and freezing your ears from above (yes I know it does eventually mix) they might have a system that produces air at the specified temperature and then circulates it from both above and below. The ducting needed could be placed differently and not take up half the legroom of the window seat, too.

Neil

I think the Desiro City is going to do that, in getting rid of the 'skirting board' heating elements in favour of warm air ducting...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sounds good.

 

[Wolfie]

319s also, I believe.

319s with aircon???

 

[Blamethrower]

as SWT said, the new desiro citys will have "smart" aircon (i hate using that word)

It will respond to how many people are on the train and where they are.

When I used to travel from Bletchley every day on the southern 377, the aircon was always set just right, yet on a 377 from Bedford it is often far too warm, culminating in my partner passing out one day

When the southern train was cancelled, I'd get a desiro which was always way hotter than the 377, but this was almost always full so that would have an impact on it.

In my opinion, if a train cannot change it's temperature during the day then it is a very poor train. This is England, we often have 3 types of weather in one day so restricting aircon to be only operable from the depot is very short-sighted

 

[DownSouth]

I stand re-corrected! In fact I think I'll just go stand over in the corner to be honest. It's less stressful...

Might be more stressful if the AC doesn't get into the corners.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I think the Desiro City is going to do that, in getting rid of the 'skirting board' heating elements in favour of warm air ducting...

Good move. Ducted air is much better for passengers than heating elements, because the air gets passed through a biological filter as it goes through the system.

Saying goodbye to public transport syndrome can only be a good thing.

 

[W230]

And set it at 20C. Year round. Then everyone's happy, right?

 

[HarleyDavidson]

The problem lies with passengers from Surrey who love to fiddle with the little green buttons which isolate the internal doors on 444s, because they're too idle to keep their finger on the door open button for a few seconds.

That causes stress to the air con system as it's working too hard and that causes a failure to appear on the TMS & consequentially requires a technician to come along & reset it.

So the moral of the story is LEAVE THE GREEN EMERGENCY DOOR BUTTON ALONE!

 

[Juniper Driver]

I normally press it to close the open door but I didn't think it was the passengers doing it...I have never seen a passenger press the green button.

 

[Bigfoot]

I normally press it to close the open door but I didn't think it was the passengers doing it...I have never seen a passenger press the green button.

Many many press it just to stand in the doorway 6 inches closer to the external door almost as if you're locked in the coach if not in the vestibule when the door release goes up!