Air Conditioner Maintenance

[Tom Bender]

We are in a cottonwood storm, it's been going on for 2 weeks. Had my wife vacuum the fuzz off the condenser fins. She enjoys tasks like that.

A couple years ago I raised it onto a pad of brick pavers, no compacted anything under it, just replaced the original plastic pad and went a few inches wider and 2" higher. Didn't need to disconnect the wiring or freon lines, plenty of flex available.

It's in a flower bed and we keep plants clear of it and keep mulch around it. That keeps the dirt out.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Once the Cottonwood storm finished, I suggest getting some coil cleaner and clean the coils. Lots of You Tubes showing how to do this

[Jason Roehl]

At work, I have two 170-ton chillers to maintain. They chill a propylene glycol solution that runs through them at about 500 gal/min. That solution is pumped about 600’ under the street to my building (an historic courthouse) for HVAC purposes. This time of year, I rinse the coils (10 coils roughly 3’x6’x2” in each unit) off once a week, and some of the coils are so thick with cottonwood seed that I can peel off a sheet of compacted cottonwood seed like carpet.

It may seem like a boring task (takes about an hour per chiller), but I see it as a chance to get outside and get some fresh air and Vitamin D, so it’s not too bad. I have to do it sometime today.

[George Yetka]

At work, I have two 170-ton chillers to maintain. They chill a propylene glycol solution that runs through them at about 500 gal/min. That solution is pumped about 600’ under the street to my building (an historic courthouse) for HVAC purposes. This time of year, I rinse the coils (10 coils roughly 3’x6’x2” in each unit) off once a week, and some of the coils are so thick with cottonwood seed that I can peel off a sheet of compacted cottonwood seed like carpet.

It may seem like a boring task (takes about an hour per chiller), but I see it as a chance to get outside and get some fresh air and Vitamin D, so it’s not too bad. I have to do it sometime today.


Not seeing your setup, a sound break may block a lot of that. Though a guy 2 hours once a year would probably be cheaper then having a sound break installed. Maybe sell them on it once those chillers go.

Just finished installing a 320 ton Carrier(air cooled) It was installed to take the burden of 2 with 80,000+ hours on a building with critical IT labs.
We mostly do centrifugal but have done 12-15 air cooled.

[Bill Dufour]

Do not overclean the coils. Coils transfer more heat if they are slightly rough. factory new clean and polished get better as a light dust film forms and causes turbrulance in the air flow.
Bill D

[Jason Roehl]

We’ve had about 4 of the coils replaced in the last year or so. The new coils don’t stay shiny very long (oxidation of the aluminum), and they all get a little dirty pretty quickly. Not to mention, we have VERY hard water here, so just rinsing them leaves behind a mineral film. I don’t have time to “overclean” them.

[Myk Rian]

I wrapped window screen around the ac unit to keep the fuzzies from plugging the coil.

[Kev Williams]

When my AC's fins get to needing cleaned up I turn off the thermostat, pull the breaker out of the box, put a basic jet-spray nozzle on the garden hose the blast the fins. First from the outside to get most of the packed-on guck off, then I pull off the fan guard and get down inside and spray the fins from the inside-out. Then I put the fan guard back on, fire it up and the fan pulls the residual water and dirt out of the fins---

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I am still learning that the fins are very delicate, not much thicker than aluminum foil. A little carelessness has led to a lot of time spent with the fin comb cleaning up my mistakes.

[Kev Williams]

yes they're delicate, too much water pressure can bend them. So can dragging the spray nozzle or the hose itself across them! 482201

[Bill George]

When my AC's fins get to needing cleaned up I turn off the thermostat, pull the breaker out of the box, put a basic jet-spray nozzle on the garden hose the blast the fins. First from the outside to get most of the packed-on guck off, then I pull off the fan guard and get down inside and spray the fins from the inside-out. Then I put the fan guard back on, fire it up and the fan pulls the residual water and dirt out of the fins---

Good way to burn up the condenser fan motor pulling water laden air across the motor. I always waited a few minutes for the water to evaporate. Yes I know when it rains they may get damp but that is a lot less water. In fact at times I covered the motor with plastic to keep off the soapy water when washing.