Is aircon turning on by itself normal?

[cdlk]

Hi guys,

I've had my GTI for a few months now - today I noticed the air conditioning came on 'by itself'. I could hear the AC compressor going and the air coming out the vents was very cold. At some point it stopped and then it got lots warmer inside. Not noticed this before but it's possible I just never noticed? Anyone know if this is normal? Some kind of automatic thing because I haven't used the AC for a couple of weeks?

I don't have the climatronic unit
I didn't turn the AC on (obviously!) and the AC light on the button wasn't on
The air was all set to go to windscreen
The temperature dial was pretty near to cold but not all the way
I hadn't touched the climate settings at all that journey

Cheers!

[Willni]

Mine does that too, also automatically goes on recirculation, on full cold. I think if you go past half way cold it just automatically turns on.

Only should be worried if the a/c starts to whine and it needs re-gased.

[cdlk]

Ah okay - cheers for that. And yeah that automatic recirc thing also confused me at first until I worked it out!

[Jessesam]

It's normal for air con to turn itself on when air directed to windscreen so clean air hits screen to give better demisting performance

[RUM4MO]

Ah, I have been sorting out the AC in my daughter's late 2009 Ibiza, it is manual AC as well, and after forcing it to work hard to prove it was "fit for use", I switched off the AC and during the final 4 miles of my journey I demanded Lo Temp, really to force outside air through the evaporator to warm it back up and so avoid moisture lying in it and causing bacteria to grow - but I spotted that it had switched the AC back on with recirc - I just thought it was clumsy fingers syndrome!

That does not happen with auto systems that I have like VW or Audi auto AC.