Central air conditioner maintenance is so important to keep the system work properly and efficient. We have to do it at least two times a year, particularly in the early of on-season (spring) and in the end of off-season (autumn). Both periods are the best time for the maintenance in order to ensure your unit is ready to work and through the extreme hot day of summer. And if you have a plan to hire a service company, make ensure you get the deal with a credible company at the best price. There are many ads that offer unreasonable cheap costs in order to lure consumers such as the maintenance cost only $39.00 (it is so different if we compare to the normal cost). Be careful, sometimes there are available hidden costs for you!

Well, like other regular home appliances, once again central air conditioners also require periodically maintenance. There are two popular options for it; DIY maintenance and by choosing to hire a professional man. DIY option is recommended if your unit only need simple maintenance procedures. It is free cost but so helpful to ensure the unit keep working properly. On the other hand, if your unit gets complicated problems or requires difficult maintenance procedures then by choosing to use a service company (although you have to pay extra cost) is not too bad idea in order to ensure your unit get the best service and back to its optimal performance. Some parts of the unit that usually must be checked or cleaned periodically are compressor, condenser, condensate drain, drain-ways, air filter, etc.

The first thing that you should understand clearly for central air conditioner maintenance is the composition of your central AC system. It is divided into two main categories; indoor unit (motor, thermostat, and evaporator) and outdoor unit (condenser & compressor). What the functions of those parts?

The component that has function to push the air from inside to outside (outdoor unit) is motor. Evaporator usually has function to remove and control the moisture, it is important to make unit can cool the air easier and quickly. Then condenser and compressor have crucial function to release the amount heat to outside of the room from the house. Both are also important to control the cycle mechanism of the fresh air from outside into the room. And the following are pieces of helpful information to check and maintain your central air conditioning before calling a professional service!

#The inside-maintenance procedures:

The evaporator coil and drain line of condensate are usually the focus attention of these procedures. The drain usually becomes the favorite place for the moistures. Therefore make sure it is clean and there are no leaks!

The evaporator coils are also should be kept clean, why? Because dirty coils due to debris will cause the airflow mechanism process that across over the coils run hardly. This situation could cause the inefficiency performance of the system to cool the air that eventually will result high energy bill in the end of the month and you will lose a lot of money to pay it.

Occasionally, the evaporator coils cleaning maintenance is not easy, depends on the condition of the coil itself. Therefore if you feel not-expert about it, better you discuss to a local professional first.

There are some methods to clean evaporator coils:

1. By using fin cleaners and foam HVAC coil. Some experts’ say that this option requires the low costs and also not too bad choice to be used also to remove disappear odors.
2. By using compressed air mechanism! It is simpler and quickly method.
3. The third option is condenser coil removal. It is not too popular than the previous methods.

#The outside maintenance procedures:

You can use light a brush and a hose to remove the dirt from compressor and condenser.

How to clean the compressor? Below is simple guide for you:

1. First, ensure the compressor unit is not in use! Next, any noticeable debris must be cleaned from the exterior of the unit.
2. The screws usually are used to bind the grill cover with the external compressor. Open the grill by unscrewing the bolts carefully and make sure there are no any wires-disconnect.
3. Next, try to clean manually any leaves and debris. Don’t forget to use wear-gloves.
4. If there are remaining debris that difficult to be removed then by using spray nozzle on the hose is not too bad idea. Don’t forget to ensure there is no water that accumulating in the vent by attaching the spray nozzle on the top of pipe.
5. The last, ensure the unit is dry completely before screwing the grill back on.
6. And don’t forget also to read the owner’s manual guidelines, especially any guidelines on how to clean the compressor of your air conditioning.

Next… How about with ‘air conditioner condenser coils cleaning’:

1. The first step, you have to remove the unwanted dirt around of the exterior of condenser.
2. Then in order to make the cleaning process will be easier, you can buy and use a commercial coil cleaner product in home improvement stores in your local area.
3. Soft brush is so recommended to clean the fins! Please be careful when removing the protective grille. There are available some tools to straight the fins, such as “Fin Comb”.
4. As possible, keep the level of condenser not-vertical or horizontal during cleaning process. It is helpful to minimize the risk of unwanted incidents that could damage the other condenser’s components.
5. For more detailed information, you can also read the manufacturer’s guidelines of your air conditioning.

In addition, the following are 3 simple steps to check and troubleshoot your central air conditioning if it does not work properly before calling a service company:

1. You might be familiar with the vent of your unit. It has significant contribution to decide your unit work well or not. But unfortunately there are still many homeowners ignore it. It is usually placed inside of the house. Open and check the return vent, particularly the air conditioner filter.
2. Make sure the air filter is still feasible to use (not dirty). Bad performance of dirty filter will cause the system to freeze up. This situation eventually will make the system works hardly and consume higher energy.
3. The next frequently factor to make your unit fail to work is the bad performance of condenser coil. Therefore better you clean it regularly? Like mentioned before!
4. If those indications cannot solve the problem, try to shut down the system for several hours. It is so helpful if your AC is being froze-up. But if all those recommendation still cannot solve the problem, you may need to call a professional to service your unit!

Read also how to troubleshoot your portable AC?

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Tags: central air conditioner maintenance, condenser coils cleaning, how to clean the compressor