How to clean outdoor A/C condenser (heat fins)?

[JEDI]

my house has central air.
the a/c condenser is about 20yrs old.
a/c doesn't feel as cold but it's not cost effective to replace it.

electric bill is ~$80/month in the summer.
a new condenser cost thousands.

I bought one of those commercial detergent sprays from home depot to try to clean the heat fins.
don't notice a difference in inside air temp.
I thought of trying a weak Hydrochloric acid solution.

Other suggestions to clean my heat fins?

 

[NoTine42]

You might notice more if you clean the indoors condenser coil fins inside your "furnace". When they accumulate dust, it insulates the fins from transferring cold to the air passing through. A basic pump sprayer from a garden section can be used to spray clean the fins.

You could also add foam pipe insulation around the cold coolant pipe leaving the outside unit.

 

[NutBucket]

If it's a significant difference you may want to have a pro check it out. You may have lost some refrigerant.

 

[JEDI]

You might notice more if you clean the indoors condenser coil fins inside your "furnace". When they accumulate dust, it insulates the fins from transferring cold to the air passing through. A basic pump sprayer from a garden section can be used to spray clean the fins.

You could also add foam pipe insulation around the cold coolant pipe leaving the outside unit.

condenser coil fins inside your "furnace"?
didn't know my indoor furnace has coil fins. thought it was just heat + blower?

got a pic of what/where I should be looking at?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

condenser coil fins inside your "furnace"?
didn't know my indoor furnace has coil fins. thought it was just heat + blower?

got a pic of what/where I should be looking at?

google ac coil. all the pics and info you will ever need

 

[JEDI]

google ac coil. all the pics and info you will ever need

thx!

u talking about the evap coil?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

yep, that's the one. It's basically a radiator that can get all gunked/crufted up and needs to be cleaned out periodically.

 

[Slacker]

There is a specific spray chemical for ac coils, I believe it is caustic but designed not to damage the metals used, it will eat crud and make them like new

https://www.handymanhowto.com/how-to-clean-air-conditioner-evaporator-coils-part-2/

 

[bamx2]

Cleaning the evaporator coil can be easy of diffiuct depending on access. Some have ccess panel nut in some case the evarporator as the be removed for cleaning and reinstalled (Not DIY on thoseinvolves EPA608 license tech to deal with the refrigerant) . If you have one of the easy ones and DIY go slow and wear gloves to protect your your hands from the sharp metal.

Some helpful HVAC links below-

DIY friendly - http://www.diychatroom.com/f17/

and

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/air-conditioning-cooling-systems-126/

some youtube videos


Not so DIY friendly but great resource-

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?1-AOP-Residential-HVAC

and

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?1122-Tech-to-Tech-Chat-Residential

 

[Subyman]

Depending on your area, you can get a service man to clean it for under $200. Just do that. No need to mess with it if you have zero experience.

 

[Blain]

I use a BunnyK foam gun with ZEP citrus degreaser to clean my engine compartments and outdoor AC coil.
The BunnyK gun also makes a good amount of foam when car washing with Chemical Guys Grape Rush.

 

[who?]

A guy was cleaning the condenser coils on an outside unit and couldn't believe how much squeaking he was hearing from a 2 year old unit. Then he realized that there was a hollow under the concrete pad and he had drowned three baby skunks.

 

[Mandres]

There is a specific spray chemical for ac coils, I believe it is caustic but designed not to damage the metals used, it will eat crud and make them like new

https://www.handymanhowto.com/how-to-clean-air-conditioner-evaporator-coils-part-2/

That's a good link, thanks. I've been noticing a lack of performance from our upstairs A/C over the past few weeks. I'm going to get up in the attic tonight and try cleaning out the evap coil. I'm sure it'll be a huge mess.

 

[bamx2]

I have encountered a very clogged cased A-coil on an upflow furnace at a rental house due to years of incorrectly installed filters by tenants . Due to access issues, it may have to lifted up from the furnace about 6"-8" to fully access supply side of the A-coil. Would moving it cause too much stress on the refigerant lines /evaporator? If that is not possible (or too risky) . I will just do what I can from the top side .

 

[shortylickens]

Fun Fact:

Cats like to pee on ground-placed A/C's. Rinse off the pee as soon as possible or they will keep coming back.
Also consider elevating the unit.

http://www.joehurleyinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/AC-Platform-design-768x1024.jpg

 

[bamx2]

Here's a condensor unit at a rental house where dogs marked their spot - the urine destoyed lot of the fins. The coil did not leak but it was not working efficiently. The liquid line was quite hot (vs slightly warm). The replacement unit got a (removable for sevicing ) lattice fence enclosure around it .

http://s33.photobucket.com/user/rkpatt/library/wimbledon1

Fun Fact:

Cats like to pee on ground-placed A/C's. Rinse off the pee as soon as possible or they will keep coming back.
Also consider elevating the unit.

 

[Mandres]

That's a good link, thanks. I've been noticing a lack of performance from our upstairs A/C over the past few weeks. I'm going to get up in the attic tonight and try cleaning out the evap coil. I'm sure it'll be a huge mess.

To update: I was able to clean out the evaporator coil in the attic and it made an immediate and dramatic difference. I used a shop-vac with a soft brush attachment and a can of the coil cleaner from Lowe's. We have cats, and I've been lax in changing the filter, so it was a real mess. The air velocity at the ducts was way down and the coil completely iced over a couple times. Long overdue, I'll be doing the same every year from now on.

 

[master_shake_]

coil icing over is usually a sign of low refrigerant.

 

[drnickriviera]

coil icing over is usually a sign of low refrigerant.

Or a clogged evap coil like in this situation.

A small warning to those that use actual condenser coil cleaner available from hvac suppliers. It is a very strong base. My brother was cleaning a unit and got some in his eye. He washed it out, but apparently not good enough. The base keeps doing damage. 3 days later his face looked like he went 5 rounds with Mike Tyson. Luckily he had no permanent damage.