HVAC Dirty Evaporator Coil Removal, Cleaning and Reinstall in Air Conditioning Unit. Part 2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 มิ.ย. 2013
- Hey folks! This is part 2 of 3 of the Evaporator pull and cleaning.
If you haven't seen part 1 yet then here is the link:
• HVAC Dirty Evaporator ...
This episode we pull and inspect the coil while examining problems, clean the coil, rebuild the coil caps in preparation of re-installation! In the third sequence (still working on the edits) we will replace the coil, braze in copper and look at what we need to do for building a Filter Base, which is in an upcoming video! Thanks for watching, and as usual Subscribe, Like and SHARE!
REMEMBER: This video is intended for technicians, other licensed professionals and those going to school for hvac, leave
testing and repair to the professionals!
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p.s. This link is here because several people have ASKED for it. I have only had one donation so far, so chill :)
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*So amazingly quiet and **Fastly.Cool** in my room! 42db is at a whisper level. I bought 2 and installed myself.Very sturdy bracket and easy to adjust to fit windows of different size. Absolutely fabulous units!!*
I was really wanting to see more on how to get it in and out
Me to
that makes 3 of us
I have that exact same system, mine's been running since 1998. I was hesitant about using a pressure washer, but not as much now, I now see you can do it at your own peril, just be careful. I can do that.
I cleaned the A coil without removing it over the weekend the best I could, but it's days are numbered. Thanks for the videos, great work.
U r adventurous! Thanks for showing. I see how bad my coil is now.
Another good one Mike !! That thing's gonna give a lot better cooling this hot Texas summer for ya brother !! Very creative thinking. Great job !!. Take care, Brett
The low cool feature is more than enough. Very efficient. A little noisy, but not bad
thanks for info!
I'm doing some PM on my AC unit..
I like your Vibe/Matrix.
Thank you very much for this very detailed process. I've searched you tube and finally got a winner with these videos. It's exactly my problem. However, I don't have the equipment as consumer to back out the freeon so I guess I'm reduced to calling for service. The whole point was to SAVE money. But thanks so much for a great video. Any suggestions on the freeon extraction step.
My husband claims we need to replace our coils. I don't accept that! We had this unit installed brand new just 2 years ago, so there is no way. This house was a super fixer upper and I admit that we did do a lot of painting and sanding in the house (wasn't aware at the time that we should have shut off the unit and cleaned up well before turning it back on), so he says a lot of the guck is from that. However, we had a guy come and he took the coils out and cleaned them! That was last year, right around July...as per usual. He spent quite a bit of time, too, so he must have cleaned them pretty darn well. The AC worked just fine after that. Then, summer 2019 came about and around July it started acting up. So my hubby went under there and cleaned it in place. And that worked find up until last week (so around September 1st). He went to clean it, again, in place, and said he cleaned it as much as he could but he didn't think it was going to help much. Sure enough, it's hotter than hell in there after about 3 hours! Thankfully we have 2 units so one half of our house is cooled, and I've blocked it off so that my other AC doesn't break trying to compensate for the constant failing one!.
We already have a slew of other costly issues going on here to fix...in your opinion, do you really think we need to purchase new indoor coils? Could this just be a faulty unit covered under warranty? I'd really like to avoid spending over a grand to replace this. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
thank you...
CRC makes a spray rust converter that works very well on those rusty ones , then top coat it with the spray can truck bed coating , it works good to stop the rust , and seal it to keep it from progressing any further ...
Plenty of life left in the evaporator coil. lol. Have you ever forgotten to plug the tubing before hosing the coil? It did it once. I had to leave the vacuum pump on it for the weekend before I felt comfortable enough to reinstall the coil.
aww man i thought last vid u said u were gonna show u pulling the coil and then video magic hits me in the face with it on ur table
Ill have to look up the rust converter... I remember seeing a rustoleum type product that you could brush paint over a surface after scraping off the rust that would do something similar. I wound up coating it with some liquid tape until I get around to pulling the triangle and doing something with it. Guess we should have cut a new set of triangles out while we had it out. Don't know why that didn't occur to me! Prolly preoccupied with the video :)
great presentation mikie! anatomy of evaporator coil. Thank you is part 3 on you tube?
Thanks! Yes its on here, cant remember the link but you should be able to look through my videos and find it. Guess I forgot to put the links to the other two on each video! Need to fix that soon.
Why not try to brush naval jelly on the bottom of the coil and then hose it off? Maybe not all of it would be removed but it would've been 10 times better on that part of the bottom of the coil.
So it’s a no go on how you took it off? Thanks Willy
left you 2 videos on the rust converter as vid responses , you don't have to add them unless you just want to , but they will show you what it is , and how it works , this is towrecker too by the way , but I bet you have that figured out already ;)
I have done this a few times , yank them , and hit the local car wash , then go put them back in lol
i am wondering on most ac units evaporator how is ice up detected or handled . Is it from the defroster board or is it from a thermostat near the evaporator?
Have you replaced it or has it been running fine
This is the first time I've seen a pressure washer used to clean any coil. Won't the hi pressure cause damaged fins?
Yup, very easily if you arent careful!! I wouldnt do it on a customers coil, but since it was mine I figured Id just be careful and get the fin comb out just in case! ;)
@@mikie2501 it Will. Don't? Recommend. If you do, suggested put 3 feet away & aim at 90 degree so water stream doesn't push fins from side
It is strange though. Normally the inside is dirty bcz it it suction side or air entrance. His A-coil is damn clean inside.
It depends on the angle of the dangle
With all that work and time, I think I just would have gotten new coil......Although I don't know how much a coil like that would cost...
2.5 ton about $230.00 I agree with you , go new and be done with it
@@jimbob207 The cheapest I've found is 350...some were over a thousand!! If you have a second, could you tell me where do you get them so cheap? And how do you know which one fits your model? TIA
seem most cooling unit ac , refrigerator /freezer , ...etc would have a defrost mechanism so kind of wondering on how normally that is done for the different cooling unit in devices or house or car units if any
I know this is an old video but how often should you clean the coil? I live in a condo with indoor HVAC system so it’s not exposed to the elements but the coils are just dirty on the ends. The technician guy wanted $200 to clean this small HVAC’s coil. What the heck?
Awesome, I appreciate the vids Tow, I'll check them out tonight! I might send you an email or something about multiple channels, been planing on doing another channel for non-hvac stuff :) ...I have one signed up somewhere, but can't remember the login.. prolly just as well since I should think about a proper name for whatever I choose!
my coil has delicate aluminum fins, on a Heil. you can only use a low pressure rinse with a foaming cleaner. High pressure would have knocked all the fins flat as a pancake and blocked the coils. also my evaporator is a side mounted A and the top of the evaporator fins turn to powder if you touch them, the bottom is ok. I cannot figure out what happened
Left to right at a 45 degree angle and not at the carwash
Oops! I forgot to switch accounts before I posted my last message. Michael, you know who I am. I'm just running incognito today.
An you show me what filters do you use I have trouble finding the size and I have to cut it out and tie it with zip ties
If you search on the web you can find companies that will make filters to your exact size, then you just buy from them a case of filters at a time.
I've had a few customers that did that.
Because if the temperature drops do far or the cooling temperature is to high won't you get ice ups on the evaporator coils?
I just wondering how this is handled be the ac unit if at all. I would imagine it is a defrost computer board or a temperature /thermostat near the evaporator that would shut down the compressor/ unit when temperature get drastically to low. Not sure anybody care to do a video on the defrost part.
Have over heating issue Evaporater leaking anyway.Can I just take the Coil out and run Furance till the Summer and replace it then?
Over heating issue? Could you explain ?
Technically if you just have electric heat, the unit isn't a heatpump, it will heat wether the chill is in there or not...
However, the systems are designed to work with a certain amount of back-pressure on the system with the coil in there, so removing it and just running the heat strips will let the motor run faster.
That sounds good in theory, but it can cost you more in electricity because the higher air speed dissipates the heat off the strips faster which means it takes longer to heat the house, even though the air is moving faster.
As far as removing the coil itself, even though it's leaking, you still have to get a licensed tech to recover the remaining freon. Pumping the system down to the condenser and locking it off is an option, but if it's an older unit you run a slim risk that the strain on the compressor from doing that could kill it.
I've never had it happen but have heard of it happening to others.
Since you really aren't using the ac now anyway, I'd just let it be, unless the over heating is being caused by a dirty coil.
(This new phone and its crappy autocorrect is killing me!)
In that case, if you can easily access the coil you could probably brush clean it, being careful not to bend the fins. It's a pain since it can be tedious depending on your access... :/ (never met anyone who loved cleaning them, hehe)
Are you sure the coil is leaking and is not leaking from the condensing unit or a spot on the lines?
Antsy
Anyway, sorry if I couldn't give you the answer you wanted to hear right off, heh. Usually the way it goes, how your weekend is going well!
@@mikie2501 The Blower Motor went out.Replaced it Furnace came on ran then shut down 4 flashs over temp switch? replaced it but still over heats cleaned blower wheel & housing.Opened up acess panel cleaned Evaporrator Coil with Vacuum Clear Attachment Best I could saw Were Core was leaking could hear freon .Could Evaporator be removed till Spring for the Furance Run Good Proving Blocking off A/C Lines?
I lost the towrecker channel to spammers , they killed it for use as an upload to channel , but I still watch and comment from it , as thats the one that I am subbed to everyone on lol , heck I even answer the comments from my other channel from the towrecker login , it's fun to confuse people ha ha ha
How often should this be done. Approximately what is the cost for the cleaning
Hi Mary! Usually if you have a well put together system that doesn't have any air leaks between the air filter and the coil, and you've always used pleated filters, and the filter fits in it's spot pretty snuggly without air leaking around it, then you shouldn't ever have to worry about it. I've seen a few rare cases where there was some kind of growth on/around the coil and box area, but those are usually special cases where the system wasn't designed and/or installed properly. I have no clue if it was mold, mildew or fungus since that stuff is out of my area of knowledge. Just passed those up the chain to the boss, hehe.
Anyway, when you see a lot of buildup on a coil like this, or worse, then you should think about having it cleaned. In my case the unit still ran just fine even though it was a bit dirty. If it starts getting really bad, well here is an example...
I got this call to go look at a unit in a mobile home, way out in the country. It was a four bedroom place and the indoor evaporator coil, blower and heating was installed upright/vertically inset in the wall.
In most mobile homes the vents are usually in the floor, but this one had the air vents in the ceiling, which changes the way the unit is installed, so it sucks air in from the bottom, goes up thru the coil, then the heat section, then the blower.
Well the filter section at the bottom actually used two air filters, narrow rectangular ones, and you literally had to get on your belly to put them in!
Apparently when they got dirty they had taken them out, but couldn't find any the right size, so just didn't put any back in!! Grandma, two or three adults, kids and dogs in the house, so lots of traffic, dust from the pasture and lots of dog hair!!
All that packed on the coils till the airflow got so low that the coil temp dropped below freezing, turning the things into big ice blocks!!
They had to have it cleaned. (Someone else did it, I don't recall who) The sad thing is that I was out there a year or two later for the exact same thing!! Apparently it was Grandma's house, because when Ib told her there still wasn't any filters in it, she blew her lid, lol! Apparently her son and daughter-in-law were supposed to have been taking care of it after the expensive cleaning.
You can search on line and there are s number of companies that will make custom sized filters for you and you just order by the case.
Now cost. Cost can vary by a HUGE margin! The cheapest way out is if the dirty side of the coil is easily accessible and they can clean it in place. Mine is a good example, I could easily clean it without having to remove it. It may not look brand new or anything when done, but as long as the airway is clear, that's what's important.
There are those that you just can't clean without pulling though, which means they have to pump the freon into the outside unit first, if it's too weak they might have to recover some or all of it into an external freon recovery drum. If they have an empty exchange drum from the supply house, then they can put most of your own freon back in your system and only have to add a little new freon. If they just recover your freon into a drum that already has freon in it from another job, they can't reuse it and will have to sell you new freon. Freon from a previous job could have acid or burnt oil in it.
I don't have any current prices, but they vary from company to company, can change depending on the season, and even be higher if they really would rather you call someone else to do it. (Yep!)
I know this doesn't necessarily help, but at least it's what you need to know, hehe.
You might want to get a few different quotes, if it really needs cleaned. Getting a quote for a new coil as a comparison is always an option too.
You will notice that a few people in the comments, either here or in part one, said the coil was shot, not worth cleaning, and would never last. It's still not pretty, hehe, but it's been quite a few years now and still going strong, it will be 19 this year! We keep the house between 67-68° any time the air conditioner is running, and it gets it there in a timely manner and keeps the humidity down. With the meds I have to take I get really uncomfortable in the house if it isn't cold and can't sleep! Lol. i used to think 73 was freezing cold, hehe!
Of course, having good insulation in the house will decide if the unit can do it's job!
Why didn't you just use foil cleaner?
I can't remove my coil but I did use some coil cleaner and cleaned it anyway. I can see through the fins to the coil inside but there is not much light passing all the way through. Is this normal? In the heat of the day it is not cooling enough. Even running constant, 79 degrees is the coolest I can get. When the sun goes down, I can cool the house to as low as I want. I have gone to 72 degrees. The repairman came a couple weeks ago and put 2lbs of freon in and even then the next day 76 degrees was as cool as it would cool in the heat of the day. What else could it be?
Barring something weird going on, the most likely problem is insulation. Usually when I get a call like this and the pressures arent too bad and everything is clean, then I'll check the attic. Often Ill find its a really old house and the insulation is really packed down up there and basically useless. All that attic heat, usually 120 degrees up to a lot hotter, just goes right through the ceiling and into the house. Heres some other possibilities:
1. Leaking ductwork, holes in it, ducts fallen off. Return duct sucking attic air. Insulation fallen off ductwork.
2. Soffit vents in the eaves of the house are smashed closed by painters and no fresh air getting in. Soffit vents are blocked by insulation inside attic. Not enough roof venting or vents placed in wrong areas on roof.
3. (This one is rare) heat sequencer/relay is stuck on and a heatstrip or two is running at the same time as the cooling. (What is the temp difference between the return vent and closest supply vent to the ac? If its really low and the system isnt low on freon then its one of several possibilities)
4. Condenser coils on outside unit are packed with dirt/dust and cannot dump enough heat during the day. You can rinse with a waterhose from the outside washing straight down, dont spray into the fins directly and dont use really high pressure water. SOME few units use a double coil system,its hard to spot as a homeowner, the coils LOOK clean but dirt has packed between the two. A tech has to seperate them and clean them. If the top of the unit, sheet metal, is so hot that it burns your hand, then you might havve a double and it could be dirty!
Hope this helps! Theres prolly more but im sleepy!
mikie2501 thanks, As have been asking around, no one mentioned anything you suggested to check. My return air vent is pretty close to other vents, a bathroom vent is only 6ft at the most so I keep that one almost closed. I will try cleaning the fins outside. My ducts are in the floor with 12" insulation. I will crawl under the house and see if anything looks wrong. I hate to cut the plastic holding the insulation up. I have been very diligent about keeping the crawlspace closed up. I've seen the damage that happens when a cat rips a hole and moves in and messes everything up. It's shocking to me to hear people complaining about their electric bills going up when they have families of cats living in their floor. They are always sure that the electric company set their meter to cost more. The fins outside do look clean but even I was wondering today when I looked at it if it was deceiving me. I actually bought a bottle of cleaner for it. I started thinking about how it could not possibly be clean after 18yrs and 2 hurricanes. I really appreciate the advice and I will be subscribing and taking a look at your other videos.
Hey! Not sure but I think youtube had been screwing with the posting/message system again! Looks like your last post stops before you were finished talking:/ if the vapor barrier/plastic underneath is intact everywhere I don't know if I would cut it open just to check unless you're pretty sure there is a problem under there; that stuff is HARD to tape/seal shut and stay put once you cut it open! ...yah, a lot of guys just fix the machine and don't put too much thought into wider cause and effect. You usually shouldn't have to use cleaner unless its really bad, but cant hurt. Make sure its for outside coils!
An another don't apply pressure.Ok, I'm using my pressure washer.
S S but of course! it's that parenting gene I guess, heh, do as I say, not as I do! it just worked out that way actually, my brother came to visit so I got his help while he was there, but didn't have any cleaner on hand. we live out in the country and our water pressure is really bad, hence me not just using a garden hose. (one of these days I'll buy a booster pump for the house!) but hey, it was my coil, not a customer's, that's the important bit :-) but wait! you haven't seen my chainsaw video yet!! ;)
I thought air would normally be blown from the underside of the A-coil to the upper side. That's the way it is in my furnace. Yours seems to be the opposite.
Loooong delay answering, sorry, lol. Yeah, my vents and ducts are under the house so the unit pulls air thru the coil on top, then thru the heat section, thru the blower and into the ducts.
The downside this is that if the coil gets too dirty and you don't realize it, it starts dropping water down on the heat coils then down on the blower housing. Same if the drain pan gets clogged up, water down into all the electric goodies :/ reminds me, I haven't poured any bleach into the drain line in s while! Need to get out my long, skinny funnel!
The downside to a coil on the bottom is that if the home owner doesn't use pleated filters and uses those crappy fiberglass filters ten times more dust and dirt start clogging up the coil.
I ran a home warranty call to this mobile home. Like three or four adults lived there. It was an upflow with this V coil on the bottom. It was frozen up and the blower couldn't suck anything thru. I told them I was turning off the AC but leaving the blower running and NOT to turn it back on and I would be back tomorrow after all the Ice melted. Can't check freon levels till you have good air flow.
Came back and out was melted off. Oh! Forgot to mention, there were NO FILTERS on the thing!!
The thing was seriously nasty and cruded up with dirt, grime and pet hair!!!
Then I dropped the Bomb on them. There were no filters in the system and that's why the coils are clogged up. Your home warranty policy doesn't cover coil cleaning. There was a grandma, two sons and a wife if I recall. They all worked, grandma too. The guys and wife were pissed that I wasn't fixing it. When grandma realized she was going to have to hire or company or another one to come out and clean it, she came UNGLUED on those kids!! Apparently it was their responsibility to change the filters! I didn't stick around to enjoy the free show, lol!
...but get THIS!! I go out there AGAIN the next summer and... yep, you guessed it!! The thing is froze up AGAIN!! Turn it off, cone back the next day and the Ice is melted off.
Coil its nasty, clogged with dirt and pet hair again! NO FILTERS AGAIN!!!
Grandma was asking the kids, wtf?! One of the sons said, "I couldn't find any filters that would fit."
Holy F. Grandma was livid!! She came unhinged on those boys!! Especially when she realized she was going to have to pay someone to clean it AGAIN!!
I got out of there fast after that, Hehe!!
I have a Goodman system and evaporator coil and its only been 4 years brand new house and i already replaced the coil 1 time back in 2011,and I am on my second COIL that needs to be replaced apparently, and again this time due to a leak in the coil ! what are the odds of a goodman evaporator coil needing to be replaced due to leak in evaporator coil, 2 times in a 4 year span !!?
Well it is a little odd. Is it actually a goodman coil or is it just a goodman air handler with a different brand coil? One of the types that I used to see leaks in were what They called 'all in one' coils, a coil in a box that is put inline with the air handler and then the ducts are connected right to that box. There are a few different brands and I cant remember which one tended to have more leak problems. Still, might be worth xhecking to see if there is something else going on with the system to cause this problem. Not something that can be done unless youre there really. :/
I don't not know what type of coil it is, as I did not install the second coil back in 2011 , I only got someone to do it for me, they apparently ordered a Goodman evaporator coil as it was still unwarrantably from the manufacture, the whole system is a goodman system , possibly a way to find out if its a goodman evaporator coil that was put in , in 2011 or like you said a all in one? a waytofindout?
+Sonic Seven Hahaha. Oh wait. You're serious.
Goodman coils are the worst leakers in the industry. Sorry for your bad luck.
That thing is gonna look like a sieve you can’t spray all that rust off of there
Nah, it's fine :) the only rust you typically get on a coil is on the sheet metal end caps and triangle covers, even that takes forever and doesn't affect anything unless the triangle plate rusts out. I've never seen one that bad though, even on 50 year old units. The coil itself is all aluminum fins, occasionally I've seen some corrosion on those on units, I'm guessing from particulate buildup mixed with air contaminates.
I've seen the outside condenser coil rotted out on a number of units, I asked my boss about those and he told me it was because their dogs were hiking their leg and peeing on the coil!! Lol! Makes you wonder about their diet, haha!
Is your coil still going
Yup, it's still ticking along without any problems, thankfully!
guys dont use pressure washers to clean coils please!
How long did ur coils last after you clean it
I'm still using the same coil :). It could use a light brushing again, and it isn't a pretty coil, hehe, but it still works fine just the same!
Here’s my before and after. Black mold stuff in it as it’s ran 11 years
Send me ur address. I’m curious if u know what in the first filter
@@inky2034 i wish they hadn't removed messaging from TH-cam a while back:/ you can just reach me at my name on Gmail.
I had a guy out looking at mine and he said 20 years of smoking has harmed my a coil with second hand smoke
Now that's funny :) is it wheezing or coughing up stuff? Hehe.
Just thought I would update everyone who pops in to watch the video and is reading the comments! :)
First I want to address some comments, all in one shot! I've had a lot of health issues over the last half dozen years so haven't been very active here, apologies!
The pressure washer:
As a few people have said, and I agree, As a rule of thumb, do NOT use a pressure washer! It is WAY too easy to bend the fins, then you're spending a lot of time with a fin comb straightening them back out! This was my own unit and I didn't have any coil cleaner on hand and chose not to make a two hour round trip to go to town and pick some up at the supply house. I would NEVER do this to a customer's coil. If you're cleaning a coil you already know in advance and come prepared with everything you need to do the job.
The 'old coil':
One or two people commented that the coil was shot and that they would never have cleaned it if it was a customer's coil and would have replaced it.
Well, in a perfect world, and with a customer's unlimited spending budget, that would be ideal! The reality is a lot of customers couldn't, or wouldn't pay for a new coil, willing to 'risk'' it and have the old one cleaned.
Someone commented about it leaking afterwards. Well if the coil had never leaked before, as long as you aren't dropping it, banging it or twisting it, then there is no reason for the u-tube fittings at the sheet metal plates to start leaking. If you're paranoid you can always braze a cap on the liquid line and maybe have a length of pipe for the suction line that's flared at one end and capped at the other end with a Schrader valve installed in it, braze the flared end on, pull a quick vacuum, pressurize with nitrogen then get the spray bubbles out to check both sides of the coil. Probably best to do this anyway, no matter the age of the coil, since you can't usually easily locate a leak, once it's installed, around the back plate!
'That coil is shot''. Heh, sorry, but I just laughed at that one. Yeah, it did have a bit of aluminum corrosion, and I probably would have recommended replacing if it had been a customer's coil, but there wasn't enough damage to impact the coils efficiency at all. ...and I hate to have to say it, but some of you techs are probably thinking it anyway, lol, ...but some techs/companies will always prioritize what makes them the most money over anything else. Back when I could remember all of the different company names out here, I could have probably immediately counted off four or five companies in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that would have seen my coil and tried to convince me that my entire system was shot and needed to be replaced! Seriously.
The coil and unit have been running well here in the Texas heat for the past 18 years now, and its been 7 years, as of this post at the end of 2020, with no leaks and out works well. We keep the house between 67 and 68 degrees during the summer and don't turn the heat on till it gets down to 64 in here. With all the medications they have me on, I'm not as heart tolerant as I used to be, so can't sleep unless it's cold! I've gotten away from some of the meds that had the worst side effects... a number of years ago I could be outside with my wife in nice 80 degree weather with a light breeze, she would be fine and I would be sweating like it was 100 outside!! Ugh!
Those days are gone, but we've come to like it being cold in here, and the house has really great insulation, all things considered!
Last year, after doing a bit here and there when I felt up to it over about two summers, I got down a first coat of reflective white elastomer sealant on the roof. Yay! Well until we had a really nasty high wind storm that ripped the roof off of our covered porch. 2/3 of it just disappears, hopefully somewhere in the hundreds of acres of pasture behind my property, never be seen again. The last third flipped up and punched a hole through my roof and did other damage. Insurance its replacing the roof so we'll go with an off white shingle, or maybe upgrade a white metal roof of it's not too much more out of pocket! Ugh, just thinking of all the hours putting that stuff on my roof. An hour or two doing it usually messed up my already bad back enough to keep me mostly in bed for the next two or three days till the pain went from crazy high, back down to just normal high. Rofl. :(
The white roof did reduce the heat load on the house though... I just wish I could have gotten a second coat on the whole thing and about two more summers out of our so I could get some good electricity cost analysis metrics :) There is a guy on the web that actually white-washed his roof and had temps vs electricity cost/usage before and after. It was pretty impressive!!
Ah, I got side tracted, lol! So the coil has been back in for 7 years now, working great and no freon leaks anywhere, yay!! It could use a light brush cleaning. That's all my fault though:/ i built a ductboard plenum around the coil and bought one of those sizeable, washable filters to go in the top. In retrospect I wasn't thinking, I should have just bought a large pleated filter and built it around that! Some dust still gets through the filter and builds up on the cold, damp coil surface. Getting motivated to fix it when I'm actually feeling good enough to do a project don't necessarily coincide. Lol, mix that with the other million projects around here that have piled up.,. Sigh!
Well that's the excitement here! Oh, fyi. The only things that I've ever had to replace on my system.
After the first couple of years living here the blower motor went out. This was before I started working in HVAC. Its one of those stupid custom fit oem motors that have the mounting bracket welded to the motor. The guy was great. Left for a few hours, went to ft worth and back and got it up and running. I should prolly order a backup motor and keep it on the shelf.
Other than that, just replacing the hard start kit every few years. It originally didn't have one, but watching the lights dim a bit when the condenser kicked in got old, lol.
I recently replaced the dual run cap. It was still good, bit a bit low. Just bought a small box of them to have on hand :)
The conserved fan is ticking along fine, but I should order a backup to have on hand too. Been meaning to do that stuff for ages, Damn I procrastinate with my own stuff!!
Oh! I don't recall how it's wired, but half of the fan relay burned out! If I recall the heat/medium speed side of the relay works fine, but the high speed side melted!! I didn't have the right relay handy. So I grinned mischievously and installed a big two pole contactor. You know, one that would normally handle the compressor outside! Hehe, it gives a satisfying CLACK! When the blower kicks in :)
...some winters when the heat comes on for the first time...it doesnt! I just get cold air! Take the unit cover off, take the sheet metal cover of the control box. Turn nut driver upside down and rap the contactor for the heat strips. It comes unstuck, heat comes on! Walk over the t-stat and cycle the heat off and on two or three times to make sure it keeps working before I put all the covers back on, hehe!
So that's basically it for 18 years running. Clean coil, one bad relay, one bad blower motor and replacing the hard start kits,
Other than pumping the unit down and using them when I pulled the coil to clean, I've never put the gauges on the system the entire time we've been here. That I recall. I figure if its not broke, don't fix it. :)
Hope everyone is doing well out there, and thanks for listening to me ramble on!!
Mike :)
NEVER, use a pressure washer on a coil.
Noperz, sorry. You have to be licensed and just getting the equipment and recovery drum you would be better off hiring someone to do it. some units have a slant coil instead of an A or W coil and a homeowner can get *some* of the gunk off to make it more usable but eventually it just needs to be cleaned. Using a decent, cheap pleated filter instead of those fiberglass things will improve the problem greatly unless there are airleaks somewhere else. Take care and thanks for the post! M@
not worth the time to clean this old coil . just replace that coil , i would never spent this much time on customers house cleaning that old crap and then charge people for it
that coils is shot also you failed to mention its a downflow coil its rusty will have Freon leaks soon to much pressure with the power wash
I was wondering about the leaks too....My evap coil has been in the furnace for 31 years and i have no intention of it coming out until the damn unit finally needs replacing (dont think it's ever needed a repair either.)..of course our climate here in canada isnt as demanding for as long as it is in some parts of the usa, but when we need air conditioning in the summer, we really need it some times...especially lately..Most AC units here aren't as lucky as mine...i think what makes it tough for them too, is the short cooling season we do have... mine hasnt run since september and it is mid may and probably won't be on for another month or more at the rate this spring is going..Thankfully my unit outside sits in the shade
No,the coil is still good. I agree with you though that the pressure washer was way too much pressure and I would have never done that eith a customer's coil. My brother did hit a spot and I had to get the rake out and straighten a bit! The coil had no freon leaks before I pulled it, its a bit over 11 years old now I think, and to date after re-installing it I haven't had any leaking. Only leak was me missing a spot while brazing a coupling back in. (Grr). ...it's not the prettiest of coils and I was always curious as to how they managed to take something out of a box on a supposedly new install and bang it around when they weren't even in an attic! Well it cools nicely and has good airflow and respectable blower/compressor amp draw so I guess I'll ride along for a few more years! Thanks for watching and for posting!
Ahh. i see...Can't blame you there, then. I'd have done the same thing...I'm currently trying to band aid my Maytag a806 washer that i've dated to about 1970-75. I think the timer is messing up. it's causing a buzzing sound when it goes into the rinse cycle...the guys at the store said it'd shorten the life of the motor.They gave me the number of a place that rebuilds stuff like that. They used to call those things Sherman Tanks...I must ad mit along with the AC in this h ouse, the washer has been here longer and gave us no ttroubles all those years we rented the place out...I'm all about riding things like this along too...The guys at the appliance shop said for me to keep the Maytag as long as possible since today's stuff is, well, crap. That A coil of yours.gets installed upside down>? I'm no expert, but ive not seen many of those....
If an Air Conditioning Company can make it designed as is, NOT SO HEAVY TO GET TO, THIS IDEA OF DAMAGE/RUST WOULD NOT BE SUCH A "CRUD. So start making an Evaporator to the extent where a person can DIY! Make aware of your designing not to hurt any coils when cleaning. These are Not suppose to bend. Metal stays as is, unless defected. This should Never Rust! It was made cheaply from start. This is very costly. It should be easy to take care of. However not. I don't feel the urge to pay thousands. There should be a totally complete Job done without those extras within passed on to Home Owner's. Now you'll understand why we should DIY. Wear gloves. I take care of my Auto. Why not An A/C Unit?