Cleaning a/c coils

Depends on how much buildup you have on the coils outside

6 years is a long time without cleaning. I try to clean every 1-2 years.

Dirty coils restrict the amount of air that passes over the coil, which reduces the ability of it to cool properly. Increases strain on your compressor. All of which increases power consumption and your utility bill.

Theoretically if you keep up with changing your filter inside, your indoor coil should be pretty clean and not need cleaning.

Got a call from my sister-in-law a couple years ago asking me to come see if I could figure out why her A/C wasn't working right. She has central A/C in her home in Slidell.

I get there and first check the filter inside and it's fine, check to see how much air is blowing out the registers and it's flowing nicely, but not real cool.

Head outside to look at the condensing unit and the entire outside of the coils are layered in dog hair about 1/2 in. thick. It is situated in a shaded area on the side of the house and her------get this------6 dogs dug ruts next to the cement pad to lay in when outside to stay cool and over the years the hair took over.

I had to pull all the framework off the unit and first use a stiff nylon bristle brush to remove the brunt of the hair and then used a spray cleaner mixed with water to soak the coils for several minutes and then carefully ran the brush over the fins before using a fairly high pressure hose to rinse the grime away.

When using the brush and hose you have to be careful to hit the fins straight on and not from the side or they can easily bend.

That did the trick and the A/C started working like it should.

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Theoretically if you keep up with changing your filter inside, your indoor coil should be pretty clean and not need cleaning.

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Yep. My previous 4 ton unit lasted me 29 years and was still working when I changed it out just to be safe since I didn't want to have an issue mid-summer. I did that in the early spring 4 years ago.

I was diligent with the filters all that time and only once did the unit not work properly when it was around 25 yrs. old. It was summer and not blowing cold air.

I shut it down and took the face plate off the unit to access the coils and they were covered in ice. Using my wife's hair dryer I defrosted the ice and saw the coils had a layer of dirt on them and got to cleaning them off with a nylon bristled brush and used my shop-vac to remove most of the debris and lightly hosed it all down to finish the job.

Worked great for another 4 years without issue.

Ok thanks. So no disassembly?

Just spray it?

The dirtiest indoor coils are the easiest to clean. Peel off from one corner to the other.

easy,

drag a water hose around and spray them down. I try to spray as much from the inside of the coils as I can if the fan isn't running.

But I do this at least yearly.

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Pull the unit circuit, take off the fan and outer shell. Use a hose to blow from inside to out at a light pressure.

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This, always take off the metal shell around the condenser unit and spray from the inside out. You don't need all the coil cleaner bs just water

Very easy. It’s crucial

Coil cleaning, lubricants, refrigerant check, and electrical connection check, and they nlow out the drain lines with air

The coil cleaning and blowing air in the line is the most time intensive part of it really.