Central A/C Air Conditioner tuneup???

[redgtxdi]

So, I've noticed that So Cal Edison is offering these rebates for getting your A/C tuned up. Sounds great. But, I know that anybody you *invite* to find something wrong........typically will.

So, my house is about 13 years old (bought new) and the A/C once had a problem where the original duct work had a couple ducts that were not snuggly on the plenum....(couldn't figure out why the flow was great in the bedrooms & horrible in the family room)....original A/C co. came out & reattached the ducts & made sure they were tight-tight!!

I also vaguely recall the builder instructing us to take a garden hose to the inside of the compressor unit and blast from inside out to "clean" it. (???) Should I do this??

Black foam conduit around the skinny & fat line going from the compressor into the house is kinda eroded, should I replace that??

Anything else I can do??
Anything in the attic where the unit is?? (It's 2-speed and always bugged me that it'll jump from speed to speed on a/c)

TIA

 

[spidey07]

I don't know, but I know I need some duct cleaning so I'm tagging along. My guess is they would also check the coolant but I don't know if units are even serviceable in that respect these days.

 

[redgtxdi]

Glad you mentioned duct cleaning 'cuz I've always thought about that one too.

What do you gain?? I can't imagine there's much more than some residual fuzz on the walls. But A/C ducts are so huge, I can't imagine there'd ever be enough to cause any real trouble.

I can see on fuel lines, arteries, small stuff like that, but A/C ducts I can't wrap my head around.

Maybe masses of diametric spider webs in places of the ducts you can't see causing massive restriction???

 

[Q]

Did you have a mouse come out?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

It depends on the company, but offhand it can involve:
* Cleaning the coils out (spraying it with chemicals that remove *all* the dirt and grease that water does not)
* Cleaning the blower wheel (also cleaning with chemicals-increases airflow)
* General cleaning of the inside of the unit including drip trays
* Cleaning of the ducts (REALLY depends on the company)
* Check that it is operating properly (motors working, compressor operating properly, drip tray is able to properly drain and is not rusted, etc)

It should be noted that a cleaning and tune-up often go hand in hand (and may be used interchangeably at times).

 

[eplebnista]

Originally posted by: Quintox
Did you have a mouse come out?

lol

 

[BoomerD]

I hose out the condensor coils that are outside 2x annually. I have my neighbor who is an HVAC guy service the unit every year. He checks freon pressures, inspects the cooling coils on the unit itself, gives the system a thorough going over. Takes him about 2 hours to do everything. One of these days, he's going to remove all the freon from the system, R&R the cooling coils in the attic unit, then recharge it. SHOULD increase cooling by 5-10%. He says they don't need replacing yet, but they will. (apparently the previous owner didn't keep up on his filters very well. Not much can be done to clean the coils in the attic w/o removing them, and once they're out, might as well put new ones back in.


BTw, if you open the condensor unit to hose it out, be careful. Many units have exposed high voltage components once you remove the cover and top louvered unit. I rinse mine from the outside/in, rather than remove the top to clean it.

 

[SoulAssassin]

the biggest part is when you write a check

 

[BillGates]

I'm having a "tune up" done this afternoon. Our 11 year old Carrier Central A/C has been running for a long time when it is hot (having a hard time keeping up, even struggling to maintain 74 degrees), leading me to believe that coolant is low. They will need to locate a leak and repair it, then refill with refrigerant. Hopefully the cost of the service/repair will work out in the long run versus continuing to run the unit for a longer amount of time all summer long, wasting electricity.

 

[alkemyst]

duct cleaning is usually not part of a a/c tune up and usually more problematic than helpful.

The inside unit sometimes cannot be cleaned where it lies. This one is more critical and gets fouled when you don't keep up with filter changes.

The outside unit is easy to clean.

They will usually clean both, check the pan and draining. Check the freon level. As long as everything passes you are still getting the tuneup, as soon as a problem is discovered you get switched over to R&R labor rates and they will usually stop moving forward on the tuneup.

In the end they check for flow and temp drop and rise with cooling and heating.

Now I have heard horror stories and experienced my own. Most of the guys work on commission/service draws. The one that came to my home first had gauges that would not read the same each time and he admitted they were bad yet still tried to charge me for a partial discharge and then a recharge later...

He was there to fix a leak I was having in the ceiling. I was going to be out of town. After $160 he decided I needed a new internal unit (it was 2 years old), my filter size was too small by about 20"x20", and my a/c drain was too long. He left with the thing still leaking and I canceled my trip. They left me with a $6,000 estimate to repair.

The next day after 10 mins in the attic I found that the coil to pan line had what looked like a piece of cellouse insulation stuck in it...I cleared it and water poured out.

The a/c has been running 4 months since fine. The ended up refunding my money after reporting it to the BBB.

 

[BillGates]

HVAC tech came today - unit is pulling 7.8 amps when running, coolant was down 25% from full, so he topped it off (did not charge me for this), confirmed everything else was clean and looked good. Total was $104.xx ($99 plus tax). He suggested having them come again next summer to check on the coolant level. It may have slowly leaked over the past 11-12 years of its life to that point, or it could have all happened within the 2 years we've owned the house. I don't know any history on it beyond that time. Overall, a good experience - he was knowledgeable and honest.

 

[redgtxdi]

Update...

I still haven't scheduled a tuneup, but played a little myself. Went out to the condenser and sprayed water inside & out. (first inside out, then outsid-in).

My unit sits on a concrete patio so not growth or anything, but definitely dirty (dusty) and the clean got stuff cleaner.

One question I had..........

What can be done about the dirt/crap that's sitting "inside" the unit down at the bottom that can't easily flow out from underneath (twigs, leaves, mulch)?????

(FWIW, my unit is square shaped and the actual coils were inside their own fins, just behind the fins you see from the outside, so I just kinda' squirted between the massive fan blades to clean inside-out before outside-in & that's how I could see the mucky mud sitting at the bottom)

 

[alkemyst]

open the top and pull it out. You will definitely want to kill power to the unit...btw most units sit on concrete, they still get growth.

 

[grrl]

I wouldn't worry about the insulation on the suction line (the large pipe) unless the pipe is exposed. Any annual maintenance should include a cleaning of the coils, squirrel cage and any filters along with a check of system pressures. To clean the junk from the bottom of the outside unit just turn off the power and hose it out. However, if you are mechanically inclined you can remove the fan unit from the top and reach down and pull out anything that is too big to wash out. It's a bit of a PITA, but sometimes the only way to get to some stuff.