Air Conditioning - DIY A-Coil Cleaning
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Yoder
09-06-05, 10:49 AM
Hello. Yesterday my wife and I noticed that our return filters were severly dirty...we have cats and have been bad about changing them. Could see it getting sucked up and air "whistling" by it. By the evening we realized the AC had stopped...we then changed the filters but had a hard time getting it to cycle back on. Then it shut off during the night and won't come back on.
Seeing how dirty the actual return duct is (from dirt getting past filter) I believe my evap coils may be dirty (and possibly freezing up??) so I'd like to clean them.
I have a 4 ton York heatpump with the handler/evaporator in my garage at eye-level so it should be straight forward.
Can someone walk me thru this? My plan was to cut power, vacuum dust off with shop-vac then spray on diluted foaming coil cleaner. Should I try to hose it off or just let AC run to rinse it out? Should I get a special brush or comb or will the coil cleaner do the work?
Anything else I need to do or worry about?
Thanks!
Seeing how dirty the actual return duct is (from dirt getting past filter) I believe my evap coils may be dirty (and possibly freezing up??) so I'd like to clean them.
I have a 4 ton York heatpump with the handler/evaporator in my garage at eye-level so it should be straight forward.
Can someone walk me thru this? My plan was to cut power, vacuum dust off with shop-vac then spray on diluted foaming coil cleaner. Should I try to hose it off or just let AC run to rinse it out? Should I get a special brush or comb or will the coil cleaner do the work?
Anything else I need to do or worry about?
Thanks!
Yoder
09-06-05, 11:03 AM
By the way...our main filter was one of those washable types. I see on here that the pro's don't like these...it seems to impede flow even though we washed it last night.
That may have added to the problem if these things are no good...
That may have added to the problem if these things are no good...
mattison
09-08-05, 05:27 AM
You're on the right track. I would reccomend pulling the blower out and cleaning the whell good also.
And those washable filters are junk. Throw it out and just use the pleated $5 dollar ones and change them every 30 60 days depending on how dirty they get.
And those washable filters are junk. Throw it out and just use the pleated $5 dollar ones and change them every 30 60 days depending on how dirty they get.
DNT1
09-08-05, 06:36 PM
I have seen some systems where the coil is hard to get to, involving removal of duct work and panels sometimes in very tight spaces I have also seen Homeowners that were not careful and will run a sheet metal screw right into the coil or tubing when reinstalling panels and duct and costing themselves big bucks, so you just need to be careful. I use a nonrinse evaporator coil cleaner on the ones that are hard to get to, you can typically access enough to get a sprayer wand at the face of the coil and it usually does a pretty decent job although if it is real dirty, the coil may actually have to be pulled out (big bucks) to get it clean.