LOL! I learned this lesson last summer when I was pressure washing my house. I spent the better part of an afternoon straightening fins on my window shaker, never again!
Very Glad i discovered Your Ch Id honestly put on a wide angle and clean it, but i watched how you used a set it and forget it spray and it did a great job. Love Your Ch (i hate our hvac Guy hes such a bag a bones havin him over is like dealing with my prehistoric inlaws) I live in n/east, i always brush mine clean. Any tips for living in the n/east with snow and the elements. I keep the connections clean of snow mainly.
I combed out a coil once that a kid was bouncing a tennis ball against it. He must have spent a few hours doing it because the heat pump was freezing up and defrosting about twice an hour with temperatures in the 30s. Like you said, about half a comb width at a time was the maximum that I could do. The homeowner was very surprised at the diagnosis and even more surprised that it worked. He knew how it happened but wouldn't tell me how he knew.
He probably didn't understand that was a problem, I get a lot of customers that look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them things that are common sense not only to an HVAC/R tech but even to someone who is reasonably mechanically inclined. I had a customer roll their eyes at me a few weeks ago because I told them if they want the refrigerator to stay cold they can't have so much in there that it pushes the door open a 1/2 inch.
Good video. I had a guy work on my old slant top AC unit a few years ago and he showed me how to clean the condenser fins. Use a garden hose (no spray attachment) and wash from the inside out. He said that a common mistake is when a guy’s wife buys him a pressure washer for Fathers Day (I’m thinking that most men want to make that purchase themselves) and he decides that it’s time to clean the condenser fins. Bends them flat. The high in northern Ohio was 49 a couple of days ago with early morning temps in the low to mid 30s. There was a freeze warning. It’s 82 and a bit muggy today so we closed up the house and turned on the AC. I’m going to clean the fins in a day or so with some of that foaming AC cleaner and a garden hose.
A lot of those Goodmans have bent over fins anyway. In my opinion it's because their shrouds are so flimsy and get pushed into the coils during shipping and installation.
I had a mechanic that I know about using a pressure washer on his condenser coil. I told him to never use a pressure washer on any coil. You can lessen the efficiency of the system. I told him to only use use regular water pressure with his thumb.
I have had to pressure wash MANY condensers. Some places have crap or literally no water pressure. Some coils are so impacted with dirt and grease that no nozzle exists to wash it normally in a reasonable amount of time. I’m also not a moron and know how to do it without destroying the coil 🤣
I had some friends gripe that their window AC wasn't working right. They wanted it changed out. I took home their old unit. I was then that I noticed that nearly every inch of the fins were smashed. The unit had a problem with that fancy plug tripping. I deleted the plug, straightened out the coil the best I could. I use it in the shed out back because his wife smoked and they had cats. YUCK!
Using a pressure washer on an aluminum finned coil comes down to experience! Besides just the amount of pressure there's almost a grain to the fins as in which way they are already slightly canted from the manufacturer. A lower pressure hitting the fins the direction they are already leaning will flatten the fins easily but a higher pressure at an angle that is direct with the fins will work workout issue. I almost exclusively use a power washer on residential condensers all the way up to large Intellipaks.
I was told use shower setting or soak and dont hold your finger over the hose If u wreck these fins your looking at 3,100 for the new machine so treat them like they are fine crystal cause they damage that easy
You're not wrong but I still wouldn't, I use coil cleaner and a pump sprayer most of the time and that is more then enough pressure. Sometimes I use a hose depending on availability, I do mostly commercial and commercial refrigeration and not everywhere has a spigot that's reasonable to access.
We had a old 25,000 btu window ac that we were cleaning, pulled it out of its window shroud to vacuum it out. turns out where you set it to clean is as important as how you clean it.........until I got a set of the cheap combs it had a very nice indentation of what I can only assume . . 🙄. . was a kwikset door knob. But I wouldn't know anything about that 😒
Ted, residential units should not be pressure washed. I have worked for a contractor that cleans commercial rooftop units, and that's the only way to get the dirt and bugs out of these. We have certain procedures for cleaning them, and they don't include using any soap as the roof water drains to a fish pond, and any soap would be destructive. All the units get locked out for safety. A garden hose on gentle spray is usually most adequate for split units. We, on occasion have needed combs for the coils, but not necessarily due to our work. Some get bumped and the coils on some of the units are coming to the end of serviceability. The panels have been patched a few times, and many fan motors have been changed out. Some of the dog box units are holding up better than some of the others we clean.
Hey this is Ray the wrong guy with the wrong pressure washer tip with the wrong pressure washer with no experience and this is the result you can expect. But if you select the right pressure washer with the right volume and pressure you can custom order different tips that do not have a strong high velocity flow. In the hands of a experienced person it’s no more than the best hand pump sprayer that you ever did use that doesn’t run out of energy and have to keep on pumping. In experienced hands you never damage the fins and you get done 10 times faster. The difference between experience and a right tool, and the inexperienced with the wrong tool
I clean my units with a pressure washer no problem, but I use a high end Kranzle machine that can have pressure set to as low as 10 bar, which is harmless.
oh lord, typical of what happens when idiots have and pressure washers. I can use one to clean them and bend near zero fins.. sometimes pressure washers are not needed to flatten fins, city water at 70+psi and a mean nozzle will flatten them too. I have done that a few times also, and always cringed
Not for the DIY person, that is for sure. If you know how to use the wand...its likely you can do it without damage however, you would have to pay full attention to the correct direct angle.
I ALWAYS USE A PRESSURE WASHER,ITS CALLED A GARDEN HOSE, BUT THEN I ALWAYS REMOVE THE TOP,AND WASH FROM INSIDE, I can NEVER UNDERSTAND CLEANING FROM OUTSIDE BLOWING IN THE DIRT, I HAD NEVER FLATTENED ANY FINS YET,what you need is LOW PRESSURE & HIGH VOLUME ! A ex friend brought a photo, of 6 roof top units lined up which ALL UNITS WERE FLATTENED, as even he knew because of me the pix was in MEXICO, you see HE had a pressure washer,and decided to CLEAN HIS BIG WINDOW UNIT AND DESTROYED, THEN CALLED ME TO FIND OUT WHY HIS A/C WAS NOT COOLING,I HAD NOT LAUGHED SO MUCH,,,,HE REALLY WAS PISSED,I gave him a fin comb, he got tired & bought a new unit ! Stay well&Safe,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
thats a high pressure engine driven washer, a low pressure washer like used for car cleaning will not do this, I've done it so many times with my little unit and never damaged a singe fin on window units and split system units.
That's what prices should be for someone with any skill to an expert level. Especially with tools, van, insurance taxes, etc. There are alot of etcs...
I use my pressure washer for the nice gentle foam cannon Have been for years and years and never bent a fin Good distance and the right spray and plenty of foam Then rinse out with normal garden hose People who thing the high power is good, ugh I can’t comprehend the stupidity
LOL! I learned this lesson last summer when I was pressure washing my house. I spent the better part of an afternoon straightening fins on my window shaker, never again!
I really like this yellow jacket combs. The best I've found.
That's not ruined, its in Winter mode, lol
Very Glad i discovered Your Ch
Id honestly put on a wide angle and clean it, but i watched how you used a set it and forget it spray and it did a great job.
Love Your Ch (i hate our hvac Guy hes such a bag a bones havin him over is like dealing with my prehistoric inlaws)
I live in n/east, i always brush mine clean. Any tips for living in the n/east with snow and the elements.
I keep the connections clean of snow mainly.
I combed out a coil once that a kid was bouncing a tennis ball against it. He must have spent a few hours doing it because the heat pump was freezing up and defrosting about twice an hour with temperatures in the 30s. Like you said, about half a comb width at a time was the maximum that I could do. The homeowner was very surprised at the diagnosis and even more surprised that it worked. He knew how it happened but wouldn't tell me how he knew.
if he paid attention to what he was doing, he could of seen the fins were being mashed down and would of stopped or use less pressure.
Some people don’t know
He probably didn't understand that was a problem, I get a lot of customers that look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them things that are common sense not only to an HVAC/R tech but even to someone who is reasonably mechanically inclined. I had a customer roll their eyes at me a few weeks ago because I told them if they want the refrigerator to stay cold they can't have so much in there that it pushes the door open a 1/2 inch.
Malco makes a really good fin comb that is all in one I think it has like 4 or 5 of them on one little wheel on the tool
Thanks for sharing the video !
I have encountered this but instead of replacing the unit, I charged them to comb it out. It does take some time, a lot of time.
Thats a good sample, I would never tough about that
Good video. I had a guy work on my old slant top AC unit a few years ago and he showed me how to clean the condenser fins. Use a garden hose (no spray attachment) and wash from the inside out. He said that a common mistake is when a guy’s wife buys him a pressure washer for Fathers Day (I’m thinking that most men want to make that purchase themselves) and he decides that it’s time to clean the condenser fins. Bends them flat.
The high in northern Ohio was 49 a couple of days ago with early morning temps in the low to mid 30s. There was a freeze warning. It’s 82 and a bit muggy today so we closed up the house and turned on the AC.
I’m going to clean the fins in a day or so with some of that foaming AC cleaner and a garden hose.
A lot of those Goodmans have bent over fins anyway. In my opinion it's because their shrouds are so flimsy and get pushed into the coils during shipping and installation.
Good advice there Ted.
Using just water through a garden hose gets most of the dirt off unless you're dealing with grease. I rarely use coil cleaner on outdoor coils
I Always use just a garden Hose, with a wide/narrow stream nozzle. NEVER A JET, those fins are so delicate.
tell him to pressure wash it from other side of coils to open them back up again...lol
Had that on farms, cows lick the fins flat, some time with a fin comb gets the system operational again.
Ted a side note. I saw U remodeling ur new office / shop but never saw the finished product . Did i miss it ?
Are those yellow jacket fin combs?
You can pressure wash em in Florida, just low pressure mist.
$200 an hour for an ac guy, come on man! It's not even summer yet, must be a good friend lol
I had a mechanic that I know about using a pressure washer on his condenser coil. I told him to never use a pressure washer on any coil. You can lessen the efficiency of the system. I told him to only use use regular water pressure with his thumb.
What’s that trane unit behind you there for?
I wish everytime i got a comb job, i could leave the tool with the costumer,such a tedious and slow task
I have had to pressure wash MANY condensers. Some places have crap or literally no water pressure. Some coils are so impacted with dirt and grease that no nozzle exists to wash it normally in a reasonable amount of time. I’m also not a moron and know how to do it without destroying the coil 🤣
I had some friends gripe that their window AC wasn't working right. They wanted it changed out. I took home their old unit. I was then that I noticed that nearly every inch of the fins were smashed. The unit had a problem with that fancy plug tripping. I deleted the plug, straightened out the coil the best I could. I use it in the shed out back because his wife smoked and they had cats. YUCK!
Just a quick question Ted heating cooling ventilating is that all not air conditioning
Using a pressure washer on an aluminum finned coil comes down to experience! Besides just the amount of pressure there's almost a grain to the fins as in which way they are already slightly canted from the manufacturer. A lower pressure hitting the fins the direction they are already leaning will flatten the fins easily but a higher pressure at an angle that is direct with the fins will work workout issue. I almost exclusively use a power washer on residential condensers all the way up to large Intellipaks.
Hi Ted, even a water hose will do that if it's sprayed at angle.
I was told use shower setting or soak and dont hold your finger over the hose
If u wreck these fins your looking at 3,100 for the new machine so treat them like they are fine crystal cause they damage that easy
Anti diy is a good channel name😂
He went at that one full bore!
It’s not the pressure washer issue, it’s a user error. Someone with more experience can wash that properly with or without a pressure washer.
You're not wrong but I still wouldn't, I use coil cleaner and a pump sprayer most of the time and that is more then enough pressure. Sometimes I use a hose depending on availability, I do mostly commercial and commercial refrigeration and not everywhere has a spigot that's reasonable to access.
100% agree.
Ive seen regular water pressure and a garden hose do this
We had a old 25,000 btu window ac that we were cleaning, pulled it out of its window shroud to vacuum it out. turns out where you set it to clean is as important as how you clean it.........until I got a set of the cheap combs it had a very nice indentation of what I can only assume . . 🙄. . was a kwikset door knob. But I wouldn't know anything about that 😒
Let me know asap Mr. Ted , I'll come scrap it out for ya !!
You only need half or even a third of a garden hose pressure to clean the coils.
How much to pay someone to come clean them out?
Ted, residential units should not be pressure washed. I have worked for a contractor that cleans commercial rooftop units, and that's the only way to get the dirt and bugs out of these. We have certain procedures for cleaning them, and they don't include using any soap as the roof water drains to a fish pond, and any soap would be destructive. All the units get locked out for safety.
A garden hose on gentle spray is usually most adequate for split units.
We, on occasion have needed combs for the coils, but not necessarily due to our work. Some get bumped and the coils on some of the units are coming to the end of serviceability. The panels have been patched a few times, and many fan motors have been changed out. Some of the dog box units are holding up better than some of the others we clean.
Hey this is Ray the wrong guy with the wrong pressure washer tip with the wrong pressure washer with no experience and this is the result you can expect.
But if you select the right pressure washer with the right volume and pressure you can custom order different tips that do not have a strong high velocity flow.
In the hands of a experienced person it’s no more than the best hand pump sprayer that you ever did use that doesn’t run out of energy and have to keep on pumping.
In experienced hands you never damage the fins and you get done 10 times faster.
The difference between experience and a right tool, and the inexperienced with the wrong tool
I wish you'd taken the measurements before and afer to see the difference in PSI's.
I clean my units with a pressure washer no problem, but I use a high end Kranzle machine that can have pressure set to as low as 10 bar, which is harmless.
Same here. I purchased a Kranzle last year. Running at 900 psi with a 5 or 6 nozzle both at 40 degree. About 2.25 to 2.5 gpm
Yup, I've pressured washed all mine and never bent the fins
It’s shinier🤣👍
I've cleaned thousands of coils with a pressure washer, all about the tip being used. This guy clearly had no idea what he was doing.
Just because you have done it, that doesn't mean its right.
A good hail storm can flatten coils too. At work the insurance company bought us 12 brand new rooftop units after a storm last year.
Update when he is done next year
That goodman scrap is especially delicate. They bend way too easy, gotta be careful even with a damn garden hose 1/4 the way open.
It happens to ALL brand names.
Costly mistake but the comb looked like it was gonna save him
That Goodman died a terrible death even for a Goodman.
oh lord, typical of what happens when idiots have and pressure washers. I can use one to clean them and bend near zero fins..
sometimes pressure washers are not needed to flatten fins, city water at 70+psi and a mean nozzle will flatten them too. I have done that a few times also, and always cringed
Not for the DIY person, that is for sure. If you know how to use the wand...its likely you can do it without damage however, you would have to pay full attention to the correct direct angle.
It's a Goodman no love loss lol.
Don't lie Goodman fins bend when the wind blows
I ALWAYS USE A PRESSURE WASHER,ITS CALLED A GARDEN HOSE, BUT THEN I ALWAYS REMOVE THE TOP,AND WASH FROM INSIDE, I can NEVER UNDERSTAND CLEANING FROM OUTSIDE BLOWING IN THE DIRT, I HAD NEVER FLATTENED ANY FINS YET,what you need is LOW PRESSURE & HIGH VOLUME ! A ex friend brought a photo, of 6 roof top units lined up which ALL UNITS WERE FLATTENED, as even he knew because of me the pix was in MEXICO, you see HE had a pressure washer,and decided to CLEAN HIS BIG WINDOW UNIT AND DESTROYED, THEN CALLED ME TO FIND OUT WHY HIS A/C WAS NOT COOLING,I HAD NOT LAUGHED SO MUCH,,,,HE REALLY WAS PISSED,I gave him a fin comb, he got tired & bought a new unit ! Stay well&Safe,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
👍
Tedious work straightening those
People probably do that to their cars at automatic car washes.
He didn’t take panels off when using pressure washer. A low powered electric pressure washer can be used safely
It will take time ,but it’s doable.
title should be "how to not let some stupid arse with a pressure washer clean your aircon" 😂
I thought that it was against the law to give cruel and unusual punishment. 😆
Why don't companies make these repairable?
thats a high pressure engine driven washer, a low pressure washer like used for car cleaning will not do this, I've done it so many times with my little unit and never damaged a singe fin on window units and split system units.
Most people have no concept of fins and what they do
Gloves would really save his hands
$215.00 an hour is pretty good money.
That's what prices should be for someone with any skill to an expert level. Especially with tools, van, insurance taxes, etc. There are alot of etcs...
I confess I’ve mashed a few dents in these when I was a kid. 🙄😳
Need a fin come and time to fix it
yikes
Yikes
2 things they should ban... pressure washers and leaf blowers...
I use my pressure washer for the nice gentle foam cannon
Have been for years and years and never bent a fin
Good distance and the right spray and plenty of foam
Then rinse out with normal garden hose
People who thing the high power is good, ugh I can’t comprehend the stupidity