Air conditioning performance

[Boatjockey]

Found this on a tinting website. The majority of so called experts agree it is safe to tint the pano roofs. Quite a few recommend mettalic / silver tint.

Tinted glass is a major absorber of heat, and leads to a great deal of stress within the glass. Window film itself absorbs a certain amount of heat. If the combined absorption of the window film and tinted glass is very high, this can result in the glass cracking as a result of thermal stress. Thermal stress may also occur if the sheet of glass has not been installed with the appropriate amount of care. An example of this would be if the edge of the glass is either chipped or damaged. Tempered glass, or toughened glass is engineered to be four to six times stronger than average glass and to withstand higher temperatures. Tempered glass can withstand temperatures up to 470 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is exposed to higher temperatures, it will gradually weaken, making it more prone to damage. Prolonged exposure to 600 degrees Fahrenheit or greater eventually will cause the pane to shatter into small pieces. In cases where tinted glass is tempered or strengthened, the application of window film is unlikely to result in the glass cracking or fracturing.

 

[392DCGC]

Checked with my very well qualified tint installer regarding tinting the pano roof. His shop does work for several local dealerships so he has a ton of experience. He advised against tinting the pano glass. There is a pretty good potential that if the glass got hot enough it could shatter. The way I understand it is that the roof panel is designed to let a certain amount of heat through the glass. The tint would reflect the heat back into the glass and cause it to shatter under certain conditions. He will not tint the roof panels unless the customer signs a liability waiver. Here in Texas when the temps reach well over a 100 degrees that potential is much higher that in colder climates. He advised that there is plenty of evidence of this issue online if anyone cares to verify it.

I've heard something similar (not necessary roof glass) but with an important differentiator: laminated glass. What I heard (and have not fact checked) was the extreme heat build-up on laminated glass can cause cracking due to different rates of heat absorption & thermal expansion/retraction amongst the layers of the glass & plastic. This seems much more plausible than just tempered glass cracking due to heat. Like I said, glass roof Tesla's are basically black (the darkest tinted glass I've ever seen) and they have no issues cracking from heat. They're not laminated glass.

I doubt the pano roof is laminated glass (the windshield is, and the front windows on the higher trims... shame they didn't do the rear passenger windows too like they do in the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit, for acoustic properties).

 

[habfan]

I think the pano roof shattering due to tint is an urban myth. I did quite a bit of reading around before tinting mine due to the number of postings claiming problems, but could never find anyone that actually had a problem. It was all hearsay.

I have an Acura suv which has a sunroof and a couple of years ago the wife was driving and it just shattered as she was driving, No real reason for it. And it was just the stock sunroof glass..
I’ve done some googling on sunroofs shattering and there have been complaints, Here’s a link to a news story https://globalnews.ca/news/3942801/exploding-sunroof-jeep-toronto/
It seems many companies are getting complaints. And I don’t think it’s necessarily the tinting that is the problem. ,but who knows..

I also googled “shattered sunroof” and found more reports such as https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/exploding-sunroofs-danger-overhead/ and others.


I’m actually torn about getting a sunroof because although I don’t care for it , the wife does like it and so do the kids...

 

[Blazn]

The numbers are no where near significant and I believe the variable is not tint but consistency of the glass making process (which is still high). Even at the 110° my truck which is black on black gets up to 120° and I doubt the surface of the glass gets up to 600° like a previous post mentioned. The numbers are neglible enough to not cause
concerns...look at this snippet, dated looking at 1995-2017 but here...from consumer reports:

 

[RT70808]

Checked with my very well qualified tint installer regarding tinting the pano roof. His shop does work for several local dealerships so he has a ton of experience. He advised against tinting the pano glass. There is a pretty good potential that if the glass got hot enough it could shatter. The way I understand it is that the roof panel is designed to let a certain amount of heat through the glass. The tint would reflect the heat back into the glass and cause it to shatter under certain conditions. He will not tint the roof panels unless the customer signs a liability waiver. Here in Texas when the temps reach well over a 100 degrees that potential is much higher that in colder climates. He advised that there is plenty of evidence of this issue online if anyone cares to verify it.

I had an installer tell me the same thing on my 15 Grand Cherokee. He refused to do it. I’ve seen all the posts here about people tinting theirs and shrugged it off as nonsense. Maybe there’s some truth to it.

 

[202snowman]

Mine just entered the shop this morning to have it done (along with PPF). I'm only going 50% on the pano in order to reduce some of the heat, yet not drastically change the amount of light coming in. Course I live in NY and dont have to worry about 100+ days consistently.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

I just called my tinter..... Still no go. He will not tint any sunroof.

 

[robinxlee]

I just got my 2019 RAM Laramie and found this thread. I have full ceramic tint and no sunroof. Yesterday the AC was performing intermittently. Not normal as all my passengers noticed it too. I had to put the temp at 68 and even then it was not cooling that well. Temp outside was in high 80s...not bad for Texas.

I have etorque and I noticed when we came to a stop and the auto stop kicked in and all cooling pretty much stopped and it was blowing humid air. I normally keep my temp setting on Auto.

I turned off auto stop and cooling returned but still not that great. I did notice as others mentioned as I sped up cooling improved.

I have used the truck in 90+ degrees and it was fine. Yesterday was the first time it was severe enough that I had to start playing with the temp setting. I used the truck later on the day and it was back to normal again.

I think AC system is having trouble managing temps. Had a 2010 F150 before and did not ever have this kind of problem. Hope a fix comes out. Love everything else about the truck.

 

[Kaz]

Did you ask about trouble codes?




Not necessarily. Temperatures up to 64*F are within spec if the apparent temperature is high enough.


View attachment 1572


Good luck cooling down a black truck, with a pano sunroof, in the middle of a 110* day if AC is only putting out 64*...

Tint... RF reflective tint.

 

[Kaz]

I just called my tinter..... Still no go. He will not tint any sunroof.

Find another tinter?

 

[GM convert]

My ac is ice cold. 11,000 miles.

 

[Neocane]

My ac is ice cold. 11,000 miles.

What part of the country are you in and what are the avg highs?

 

[356]

Very pleased with A/C performance. Mid 90s and humid outside, icy cold inside. Seemed tepid the first day I brought it home, but since then, very good A/C performance here in the Midwest.

 

[Mohab]

Very pleased with A/C performance. Mid 90s and humid outside, icy cold inside. Seemed tepid the first day I brought it home, but since then, very good A/C performance here in the Midwest.

Do you have sunroof in yours

 

[GM convert]

What part of the country are you in and what are the avg highs?

Wisconsin. It’s been hot and humid this summer, many days of upper 80/90. The only thing I did notice is that when I had my air-conditioner side and super cold on the driver side the passenger turns there’s warmer it did affect the coldness on my side. It definitely is colder when both sides are synced to a cold setting

 

[GM convert]

I have the big sunroof and front windows tinted

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Ok, I've been back in Florida for a couple of weeks now after taking delivery and blasting up to Michigan right after. A/C is operating just fine. Yesterday 95° with air you can wear. I keep the system on auto and the temp at 74° on my side and 73° on the passenger side. My mother in law is now staying with us full time and rides in the rear. No complaints from anyone. The system is as good as my previous F150 and Ram 2500. I haven't touched /changed the system since day 1.

 

[Agustinacosta]

Well, dropped my Ram off at the dealer for a couple of issues this week, one of them was poor A/C performance. I realized I've had my A/C on "lo" temp and recirc almost since I bought it, which is not normal. I've also noticed that the air coming out of the vents when on non-recirc feels a bit humid/clammy. My best comparison was today, as I drove the base nissan loaner back to them and then my own truck home, the A/C in the Nissan felt better.

Dealer said "system was performing to spec" and I didn't have time to deal with them. It does look like they took the caps off the pressure lines under the hood. Any other ideas? Seems like I'm going to have to get a temperature probe and find another 2019 in person to do a side by side with. Trouble is, it isn't a deal-breaker, it isn't actually "broken", it just does not feel as good as my 2011 Ram. (or as any new high $ vehicle should)

Anyone have a way to find out what the temperature differential should be?

This is my second ram and none of the ones I’ve had are that cool, they are like this don’t ask me why. Japanese cars are like a freezer I had a sonata and a Camry and those were freezing. Maybe is the cabin size the problem.

 

[SpeedyV]

This is my second ram and none of the ones I’ve had are that cool, they are like this don’t ask me why. Japanese cars are like a freezer I had a sonata and a Camry and those were freezing. Maybe is the cabin size the problem.

That's interesting. My extended family's Camrys, Corolla, and my own Corolla always blew cold air...when moving. With zero power at idle, they blew hot air (or couldn't even spin up the fan) at a stoplight!

 

[Wheeljack169]

Iv just purchased my first ram 2019 new body style got the Laramie 4x4 in grey but one week of owning it I notice the ac blows air that does not feel nearly as cold as my 2015 Gmc duramax truck I also own I live in Louisiana so it’s always humid but this new ram even when vents are set to blow on passengers only. It fogs up windshield from the defrost vents like it’s set on defrost but it’s not like I’m losing cold air to the windshield when it not suppose blow up there does anyone else have this issue. I have never owned a truck that fogs the windshield when it’s not set to blow up there