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Started By
Message
A/C Maintenance
Posted on 8/6/23 at 2:54 pm
Posted on 8/6/23 at 2:54 pm
I have a 19 year old house and 2 units are original. Over the last few weeks both units couldn’t keep up with the heat.
I searched the web and figured out the likely cause was dirty coils. Watched a video and went to work.
Boy I tell you they were very dirty. Had to lightly wipe off dirt then I used a cleaner.
Got them all back together and now I’m enjoying cool air in the mid-afternoon. Major victory.
It was plenty of work but worth it. Go clean them coils if it’s not keeping up!
I searched the web and figured out the likely cause was dirty coils. Watched a video and went to work.
Boy I tell you they were very dirty. Had to lightly wipe off dirt then I used a cleaner.
Got them all back together and now I’m enjoying cool air in the mid-afternoon. Major victory.
It was plenty of work but worth it. Go clean them coils if it’s not keeping up!
6
Posted on 8/6/23 at 5:14 pm to Godzilla
Which coils, inside (evaporator) or outside (condenser).
Posted on 8/6/23 at 6:12 pm to Godzilla
Keep the filters fresh too
Posted on 8/6/23 at 7:34 pm to Godzilla
I like to make sure my coolant line is wrapped properly. I've found at a lot of friend's houses they let that go. Not sure how much that helps. Yours probably has fuses so swapping that and a capacitor out is a cheap way to not have problems
Posted on 8/6/23 at 7:56 pm to Godzilla
Our units are only 5 years old and struggled a little bit last year and more this year. Hit me one morning to check the coils and they were filthy. Felt like an idiot since that was probably the first cleaning they've had. 
Posted on 8/6/23 at 10:09 pm to jmarto1
It's essential that the air can flow and provide a smooth heat exchange. The previous owners of this house had a unit directly under a valley in the roof so it got all matter of crap in it. Had a regular maintenance scheduled for our first spring in this house and the tech pulled about a foot of dirt and leaves out of the compressor housing. My sleep actually started improving because it was able to properly cool the bedrooms. Amazing.
If he has a fused disconnect at the compressor, it would simply not run if the fuse was bad. But it's definitely smart to have a spare capacitor on hand. I also have an old fan motor as well in case one of mine shits out. If you're handy, having the spare stuff is worth it.
quote:
Yours probably has fuses so swapping that and a capacitor out is a cheap way to not have problems
If he has a fused disconnect at the compressor, it would simply not run if the fuse was bad. But it's definitely smart to have a spare capacitor on hand. I also have an old fan motor as well in case one of mine shits out. If you're handy, having the spare stuff is worth it.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 4:19 am to bapple
Thats all part of a spring tune up.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 7:53 am to Tigerpaw123
quote:
Keep the filters fresh too
I just signed up for a service that sends filters on some frequency because the last two filter changes I let go too long. Never thought to buy filters while I was at Home Depot. I don't like subscription services but there are a few that just make life easier and you're not paying for something you don't use.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 12:07 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
Which coils, inside (evaporator) or outside (condenser).
Outside condenser coils.
Next time I’ll do it the spring so it’s not so hot….
Posted on 8/7/23 at 5:19 pm to Godzilla
Just wondering what did you use to clean the coil?
Posted on 8/7/23 at 5:20 pm to Godzilla
Just wondering what did you use to clean the coil?
Posted on 8/7/23 at 6:50 pm to gerald65
A mild detergent and water is all you need. But honestly just water is probably fine. You can just spray it with the garden hose from the inside to out. They sell coil cleaner for $10 or so a can, you spray it on and let it sit and then hose it off.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 7:37 pm to baldona
It depends on what has caked into the fins. We had one at Francos athletic club- high head pressure. Coils looked clean. We ran water thru the fins. Came out clean. I ran the bar code on the blade, thinking somebody put wrong blade. Nope- correct blade.
Before we started toward freon issues, went got some coil cleaner out the truck. Applied on one side as a test.
When i hosed it out, it looked like chocolate milk. Ha ! Cleaned the whole coil. All was well after that.
Before we started toward freon issues, went got some coil cleaner out the truck. Applied on one side as a test.
When i hosed it out, it looked like chocolate milk. Ha ! Cleaned the whole coil. All was well after that.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 7:41 pm to EF Hutton
Had another one at a furniture store . Compressor over amping big time. We ended up cleaning that one 2x with the cleaner we call root beer. St tammany school board favorite. Plugged solid but did not appear to be. Also had to remove 8 pounds of R22. Overcharged.
Some jack leg company was just there and got ran off.
Some jack leg company was just there and got ran off.
Posted on 8/7/23 at 9:54 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
I picked up one of those "lifetime" filters. I just pulled it out and rinse it. No problems so far after a few years
Posted on 8/8/23 at 9:42 am to Godzilla
quote:
Outside condenser coils
Have your interior units evaporator coils
Been cleaned? Highly Likely that you need that done as well. Might also use a Freon recharge as well
Posted on 8/8/23 at 7:03 pm to Godzilla
With this heat just a little bit of dirt on the coils will cause it to struggle. Micro fins coils are gapped more than your normal ac coils and they are even struggling. So yes cleaning them is imperative
Posted on 8/9/23 at 11:39 pm to Lsu4life42
quote:
A mild detergent and water is all you need. But honestly just water is probably fine. You can just spray it with the garden hose from the inside to out. They sell coil cleaner for $10 or so a can, you spray it on and let it sit and then hose it off.
As Hutton said, the coils can look clean using detergent, but to get them "really" clean you need A/C coil cleaner for outside units.
Many years ago, I also used detergent. But a friend that did A/C work told me to get some coil cleaner. It was $25 for a gallon and worth every bit of that. It only takes a little for each cleaning.
I had "cleaned" my coils a couple of months before. When I used the coil cleaner, it started foaming on the coils. When I washed it off, the water was brown.
After I cleaned up and went inside 30 minutes after turning the A/C back on, the house felt noticeably better.
This post was edited on 8/9/23 at 11:41 pm
Posted on 8/10/23 at 12:06 am to gerald65
Note to anyone that wants to DIY: The fins on the cooling coils are very fragile and can be damaged when rinsing off the coils using a water hose. If you have earth worms in the soil, they will come out when you rinse the cleaner off.
The rise water should always be sprayed at low pressure [Shower setting] and pointed straight at the coils, and not at an angle. To apply the coil cleaner, I mix it up in a garden sprayer and spray it on the coils, one side at a time. I let it sit as instructed and completely rinse it off really good. Then I do the next side. The instructions say the cleaner can damage the coils if left on too long.
I saw a house where someone must have sprayed the coils using a straight stream. Every fin on the unit was flattened to the point I don't think there was any air flow to cool the freon. This was during the winter and the next summer they had a new unit. I never said anything to that family.
The rise water should always be sprayed at low pressure [Shower setting] and pointed straight at the coils, and not at an angle. To apply the coil cleaner, I mix it up in a garden sprayer and spray it on the coils, one side at a time. I let it sit as instructed and completely rinse it off really good. Then I do the next side. The instructions say the cleaner can damage the coils if left on too long.
I saw a house where someone must have sprayed the coils using a straight stream. Every fin on the unit was flattened to the point I don't think there was any air flow to cool the freon. This was during the winter and the next summer they had a new unit. I never said anything to that family.
Posted on 8/11/23 at 9:51 am to Godzilla
Also, change your filters once a month.
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