Townlec Auto Electrical
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Specialist trade

Auto air conditioning, Townsville.

There's no fudging it up here. If your aircon can't keep up at 35°C and 80% humidity, you don't have aircon. We diagnose the actual cause — leak, compressor, condenser, blend door, fan — and fix it once. ARCtick licensed refrigerant handling.

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4.7 from 72 Google reviews
  • ARCtick licensed — RTA AU20590
  • Refrigerant and electrical — both sides under one roof
  • Free AC check for light vehicles — no appointment, around 10–15 minutes
  • Leaks found and fixed — a leaking system can't be topped up
  • Compressor, condenser, evaporator, blower work
  • Heavy machinery and truck cab AC specialists
What we do

The work, in detail.

Leak detection + repair

Vacuum the system, hold the vacuum, check for decay. If it doesn't hold, it gets gone over by hand — hoses, seals, connections, and the oily traces a refrigerant leak leaves at a joint. Then we fix the leak and refill the system.

Compressor replacement

OEM and quality aftermarket. We flush the system properly when we replace one — a dirty system kills a new compressor in weeks.

Washing out the cooling pack

A condenser sits at the front of the vehicle catching everything the road and the paddock throw at it. Pack it with dust, cane trash or mud and the system cannot shed heat, so it runs hard and cools badly while every component in it reads as fine. Washing the cooling pack out is often the cheapest thing that will be done to a machine all year.

Condenser, dryer, expansion valve

Replaced as a kit when the system has been opened — proper procedure, not a corner-cut.

Blower motor & blend doors

If it blows but doesn't get cold — or it gets cold but won't blow — it's the dash side, not the engine bay. We do both.

The electrical side of it

A compressor clutch that will not engage, a pressure switch reading wrong, a fan circuit that has stopped, a control head that has lost the plot. All of those present as "the aircon is not cold" and none of them are fixed by refrigerant. This is where being an auto electrician first actually matters.

Smells, cleaning & cabin filters

That musty smell when the aircon first comes on is growth in the evaporator and the ducting, and it is a health question as much as a comfort one. We clean the system out and change the cabin filter — which up here fills with dust and cane trash faster than anywhere down south.

Retrofit & upgrade

Older vehicles that never had air conditioning, or have a system nobody makes parts for any more, can often take a modern one. Heavy older trucks especially. It is a fabrication and wiring job as much as a refrigeration one, which is why it lands here.

Truck & heavy machinery cab AC

24V cab systems, slimline rooftop units and retrofits for older heavy gear — prime movers, loaders, excavators, tractors and the plant that runs all day in dust. Hino, Isuzu, Cat, Komatsu, Volvo; there are not many we don't work on. A cab that cannot cool is a work health and safety problem before it is a comfort one.

A Townlec technician diagnosing a car air conditioning fault with a Fluke multimeter and a scan tool, air conditioning gauge hoses connected over the engine bay
In the workshop

Before the gas, the diagnosis.

Gauges connected, a multimeter on the circuit and a scan tool full of live data — comparing what the vehicle's ECU reports against what is actually happening. Air conditioning is half refrigerant and half electrical, and the compressor clutch, the pressure switches, the fan circuits and the controls all have to be right before the gas matters at all.

Which is why the order runs this way round. A system that is not holding gas will not hold new gas either, and a fault on the electrical side will not be fixed by filling it. Find out which one you have first, and the repair you pay for is the one that fixes it.

Auto electrical diagnostics
In the workshop

Air conditioning, job by job.

Cars, utes and trucks. Gauges on, systems open, and now and then a whole dash on the floor. Every one of these was photographed at Townlec — no stock images, no catalogue shots.

High side, low side, and what the system is actually doing rather than what it is supposed to. The pressures are what tell you whether it is short of gas, blocked, or not the refrigerant side at all.
A ute in for its air conditioning, hoses on and the machine alongside it. Light vehicles all go through the same order — check it, find the leak, fix the leak, then charge it.
Outside for a cooling-pack wash. Dust and cane trash pack into a condenser out on the job, and until that is cleared the system cannot shed heat no matter what else about it is right.
A whole dash on the floor. When the fault is an evaporator or a heater core, that is what reaching it looks like — which is exactly why the diagnosis comes before anyone starts pulling things apart.
A tipper with the bonnet tipped and the gauges on. A truck cab that cannot cool is a work health and safety problem long before it is a comfort one.
A prime mover with the front off and the gauges on. Truck cab air conditioning is the same refrigeration with considerably more dismantling in front of it.
Know the symptoms

What a tired system does first.

Air conditioning rarely stops dead. It fades, and by the time it is blowing warm in January it has usually been telling you for months.

Two Townlec technicians running air conditioning checks on two vehicles at once in the Townsville workshop, both bonnets up and a service hose connected
Two air conditioning checks running side by side. Both bonnets up, both systems on the gauges — because what a system is actually doing has to be measured before anyone talks about what it needs.
  • Cool, but never properly cold — worst in traffic
  • Takes longer and longer to cool the cabin down
  • A musty smell for the first minute after you turn it on
  • Cold on one side of the car, warm on the other
  • The fan only works on the highest setting, or not at all
  • A rattle, squeal or knock when the aircon kicks in
  • The windscreen fogs up and will not clear
  • Water pooling in the passenger footwell

Recognise a few of those? Bring it in and we'll test it.

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Why us

Why bring it to an auto electrician.

ARCtick licensed

Our Refrigerant Trading Authorisation is AU20590, and our technicians hold their own automotive refrigerant handling licences. Nobody can legally handle refrigerant without them, so it is worth checking that whoever opens up your system does.

Half of aircon is electrical

Clutches, pressure switches, fan circuits, climate controls. A general workshop sends that work out. It is the trade we are actually in, so it does not leave the building.

We find the leak first

A system that will not hold gas will not hold new gas either. Vacuum, hold, check for decay — then find the leak, then repair it, then refill it. Any other order means paying to refill a system that will only leak again.

Built for the wet season

35 degrees and 80 per cent humidity is the test that matters here. A system that just passes in June is the one that gives up in January.

Cars through to plant

The same trade covers a hatchback and a 24V cab on a loader, and having both under one roof means a fleet does not need two suppliers.

You find out before you spend

Light vehicles get a free check, around 10 to 15 minutes. You are told what it is doing and what we found, and you decide from there. An electrical fault needs proper diagnostics and a booking — but you will know that is what you have.

Related work

What usually comes with it.

Air conditioning rarely arrives on its own. A compressor that will not engage is often an electrical fault rather than a gas problem, and a system working hard through a Townsville summer is hard on the battery charging it.

Auto electrical repairs TownsvilleClutch circuits, pressure switches and the wiring behind a compressor that will not engageBattery replacement in TownsvilleTested before it is replaced — air conditioning and short trips are hard on oneMarine electricalBoats and cabins, where salt gets at the same componentsTownsville workshopWhere the work is done — address, hours and the suburbs covered
FAQ

Air conditioning questions, answered.

Do you check air conditioning for free?+
Yes — light vehicles get a free AC check, and it takes around 10 to 15 minutes. We look at how the system is performing and tell you what we find. If it needs a leak test, repairs or parts, you get a quote before anything happens. If it turns out to be an electrical fault rather than the refrigerant side, that takes proper diagnostics and you would be booked in for it — the free check is what tells you which of the two you are dealing with.
Can I just get a regas?+
Not on its own. Refrigerant does not get used up — if the level is low, it has leaked out, and topping up a system without finding and fixing the leak is not allowed under Australian codes of practice. We find the leak, repair it, then refill the system as part of the repair. It is also the only order that leaves you with an air conditioner that still works next season.
How much does an air conditioning repair cost?+
It depends on the fault, the gas type and the system's capacity. Call for a quote — we do not quote a refill without first checking the system holds vacuum, because gassing a leaking system takes your money and vents refrigerant into the atmosphere.
My aircon worked last summer — why not now?+
Usually a slow leak. Refrigerant does not get used up, so if the system is low it has escaped somewhere. We find the leak before the system is refilled.
Can you retrofit aircon to my older truck?+
It can be done, and we have — aftermarket units into older Kenworths and Accos among others. It is not everyday work though, and whether it is worth doing depends on the truck and on what you need out of it. Ring us with what you have and we will tell you honestly what is realistic.
What does the free check actually include?+
Four things. We test what temperature the vents are actually putting out, inspect the system for refrigerant leaks, go over the hoses, seals and connections, and check the compressor along with the other components that matter. Then you are told what we found. It is for light vehicles — cars, utes and vans — and there is no obligation attached to it.
Do I need to book the free check in?+
No. Drop in during opening hours and we will look at it — no appointment, no obligation, and no pressure at the end of it. It might be a slow leak, it might be the compressor, or it might be perfectly fine. You will know either way.
Why does my aircon smell when I first turn it on?+
Because the evaporator sits wet and dark behind the dash, and in this climate that is where mould and bacteria set up. A can of deodoriser through the vents only masks the smell for a while. Cleaning the system out and replacing the cabin filter treats the cause.
Do you work on R1234yf as well as R134a?+
Yes. Newer vehicles run R1234yf rather than R134a and the two are not interchangeable — different gas, different fittings, different handling, and you cannot put one into a system built for the other. Tell us the vehicle and we will tell you which one you have and what it needs.
Next step

Wet season starts in November. Don't leave it until December.

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