What do you use to clean AC Coils?

[tm37]

I need to buy something (soap) to clean the cois on my AC unit.

What do people here use to do that.

 

[Howard]

Coils are copper, right? Is it just the oxidation you're worried about?

 

[djheater]

If you're trying to get rid of the felt (dirt buildup) use a stiff brush and then a vaccum with a brush attachment.

 

[Yzzim]

Are you talking about the coils in the unit that sits outside of the house, or the coils that are in the furnace?

 

[tm37]

Originally posted by: Yzzim
Are you talking about the coils in the unit that sits outside of the house, or the coils that are in the furnace?

Def the ones outside perhaps the ones insdie as well.

 

[Yzzim]

The ones outside are rather easy to clean. Pop off the fan/cover of the unit and vaccum out anything that is inside. Once the side is clean, you can buy a special AC coil cleaner at almost any hardware store. It's rather expensive IIRC but it does the job well. You can use Simple Green as a cheap alternative if your coils aren't that dirty.

Anyway, spray the AC coil cleaner (or Simple Green) on the coils and let it sit for a while. Then take a hose and spray the coils off. Make sure NOT to damage the coils (spraying the coils at an odd angle will damage them) when you do this. You should be able to see the dirt and debris that is in them. You can spray the coils from both sides, and again make sure not to damage the coils.

Oh, and make sure the juice to the AC unit is off

The coils inside the furnace shouldn't be that dirty if you keep your house clean...considering they're on the warm air side of the furnace. If you do want to check you'll need to cut a hole in your duct work (on the warm air side) right above the furnace unit itself. You should be able to look or reach into the hole and see if the coils inside are dirty. If they are, just vaccum them out. Maybe take some compressed air and blow on them to loosen up any dirt, then vaccum the area again.

Once you're done doing the work inside the duct work, you'll need to take a piece of sheet metal and cover up the hole you cut out. Use some metal screws to attach the sheet metal peice to the duct work.

Again, make sure the furance is turned OFF

That's practically a step by step way of cleaning your AC unit both inside the house and out. Hope it helps!

 

[Ornery]

The ones outside are rather easy to clean."

Not if they're the dreaded Spine Fin, used by Trane and many others. God knows how you clean those things!