Read somewhere in these forums that loss of aircon might be caused by poor battery so thought I might swap the battery on our BA.

I've got a new one on hand.

Would it be a good thing to do or is there something else I should check first?

Then how to do it? I read an old thread here about it. Still not entirely clear to me.

Does it do any 'damage' removing the battery for a few minutes?
If so what and what do I do about it or should I go to the mechanics?

Could I/should I connect a third battery in parallel while I take one out and put the other in?

A low battery can cause a few little issues with BAs but I think you should take the car to someone that can check the aircon system first especially if the car cranks over normally and not slow.

No you wont damage anything changing the battery unless you connect the ( + ) and ( -) the wrong way.

Using another battery to connect whilst doing the change is just basically preventing you having to re do the clock and radio settings etc.

At the end of the day if you are not mechanically minded or unsure in any way don't do anything...

It's just the clock and the radio? Oh, well, I don't care about those. That's what I was worrying about - the unspecified settings I'd read could get lost. I read somewhere about the car having to learn your driving style again, whatever that means!

Radio and clock. Nothing. No worries.

So I can change the battery for what I know is a totally new one kinda immediately for no further cost. Find out in half an hour if it's fixed anything. So I guess I'll do that first.

It does have other little hassles:

engine immobiliser light is on all the time it is not running. But the engine isn't immobilised. It switches on, starts up, runs okay (without the light, then).

The driver side window is weak as water and has you worrying it won't close all the time. No override manual system, what a bummer.

The cruise control doesn't work.

That's it. Good car elsewise. Not as good as my XY but then, how could it be?

The ECU will have to relearn if the battery is disconnected for 30 mins ish or more.
Try putting some silicon spray in the window tracks to speed the movement.
Check you have no brake lights blown which can contribute to cruise control not working.

I just rang an auto aircon guy. He said $70 to look at it. Test, find out what's wrong. And then maybe $700 or so to fix it if the dash has to come out - which is does if 'the flap' is gone.

Maybe I should try the battery trick first, don't you think?

How the hell can they build cars like this and then complain they can't stay in business?

Silicon spray? I'll look for some. I suppose it would be a silicone lubricant spray? I'll ask at autopro.

Disconnected/swapped the battery and only the clock needed resetting and it didn't fix the aircon at all.

It was disconnected for maybe one minute - two minutes max. Perhaps I should disconnect for a good ten minutes?

Each terminal has an extra wire fastened to it. Neg and pos both. A lighter wire. The clamp is tightened onto the terminal post with a nut and this this lighter wire goes on and then there's a second nut to fasten that second wire on.

What's that all about?

Is the compressor not activating or is the temp not working. If temp is not working it could be a dash out job. If no compressor it may be low on gas and maybe a top up could sort it.
Dont know where the smaller wires run from the battery but i dont think thats the cause for the aircon not working.

How am I going to know if the compressor is working? The fan is working, blowing air, I can tell you that much.

I read somewhere some talk about hearing something moving in there when operating the aircon. So I pushed a few buttons when it was nominally 'on' but I heard nothing moving.

As soon as I switch on the car - start the car - I do hear a sound like air moving somewhere in there though, don't know what that is.