[s-cars] Routine maintenance on air con

[Paul Heneghan]

Has anyone any recommendations for routine maintenance of the air con.  I
always run it at least once a week, and it's still putting out cold air (car
is 8 years old).

Do I just wait for something to go wrong, or do I get it serviced (I have no
tools for air con maintenance)?  I've glanced through the list of fault
codes that the control head puts out, but I'm none the wiser.  The AA
suggests getting a regular checkup:
# Diagnosis and re-gas consisting of:
# - A comprehensive 40-point service
# - A full system diagnostic check
# - Oil and refrigerant gas levels checked and topped up

Cost - £75

They also talk about:

# Duct clean
# - Cleaning of the ducts to help remove bacteria fungi and unpleasant
odours

Cost - £40

If you turn the air con off for a couple of minutes, then when it's turned
on, you get a rather unpleasant smell (mould?) for a few seconds.

Any DIY recommendations?

Am i worrying unnecessarily?

Paul
1995 Audi S6 Avant (UK spec)
on the look out for another one (wife keeps borrowing car!)