Should aircon be ON all the time?

[anotherbob]

Reading "Honest John" website they say that if you have a manual aircon system you should have it "ON" permanently. They say that if it's not used for any length of time you'll get problems. My 451 Fortwo Cabrio (84) has aircon and I wouldn't normally leave it on all the time, (certainly not with the hood down), what do other users think?

[tolsen]

Main reason for running ac at least weekly is to ensure seals on ac compressor do not dry out which may cause a leak and render ac useless.
Leaving ac on also helps drying out interior of your car especially useful on cold damp mornings.

[anotherbob]

Main reason for running ac at least weekly is to ensure seals on ac compressor do not dry out which may cause a leak and render ac useless.
Leaving ac on also helps drying out interior of your car especially useful on cold damp mornings.

Thanks for that.

[lancepar]

Interesting.
Only thing I can add is what happened to my Smarty, December 2019.

Aircon packed up not long after we had it and I found the Condenser Radiator was holed so with help from friends abroad bought a new one in approx' 2013 and it has been stored in my garage until late 2020 when with some other overdue jobs got it installed.

The Smarty is a 2010 451 MHD Cabrio.
One cold morning the engine wouldn't turn over completeley, just like the battery had expired, it was 10 years old so I replaced it. Expecting a cure didn't happen so one day I pushed it into the garage to have a play and expecting to find something had siezed or coolant in a cylinder etc. I rotated the crankshaft with a spanner and round it went in stages overcoming compression on it's way. I didn't try starting it and because it rotated I decided I'd get the A-Frame out at some time and tow it to SmartTechnic with the MoHo to sort it for me and left it at that.
Next day when I decided to put it back outside I gave starting it ago, low and behold the bugger spun over fully and fired up effortlessly as normal.

Touch wood this failure has not happened since but I was wondering if the fact that the Aircon was out of action for so long was something to do with the issue.

Anyway Aircon used now to help clear the front screen on cold mornings. (Not often these days due to the Pandemic).

Hapy new year.
Stay Safe.