As long as the home comfort appliances are kept with care and regular maintenance, not only do they complete their life expectancy but often times exceed it. Contrary to that, lack of maintenance and following wrong HVAC practices lead an appliance to costly repairs and early replacements. Talking in particular about Air Conditioners, it has been observed that a common reason of Air Conditioner break down or early replacement has a root in systems' evaporator and condenser coils. The coils need to be cleaned properly for the system to function properly but since most people choose to perform DIY cleaning, loopholes are left and the dirt and debris that penetrates even more into the system (due to wrong cleaning) begins to hinder the system's efficiency. Many times when people think their system needs replacement all it needs is a comprehensive cleaning. Today, let's help you explore some myths about compressor and evaporator coil cleaning and teach you the right cleaning methodology.
Here's how homeowners clean Evaporator and Condenser coils:
Before we explain ''HOW TO DO'', let's explore, ''HOW YOU DO'' the cleaning. A majority of homeowners use a high-pressure water and rinse the coils only briefly. The coils from the outside are rinsed and an all clean appearance make homeowners believe they're done with cleaning. The truth, however, is; the pressure of water does rinse some of the outside dust but pushes the rest of the dirt, sludge and the build ups of moulds etc towards inside. The dirt and debris that is inside the coils never find a chance to get rinsed with pressured water. As a result, the coils might appear clean, they are not. All these sludge then hinder the efficiency of the system. Now you know why your cleaning never improved your system's efficiency?
The right way to clean Evaporator and Condenser Coils:
So we've just discovered why is using a high water pressure, not a good choice. What then is a good combination for cleaning the delicate and hard to reach parts of Air Conditioner's evaporator and condenser coils? The right formula is;
Low Pressure
and
High Volume
Unlike the high-pressure water, the low-pressure high volume water reaches the coil bed and the consistently pouring water loosen the build ups which then, along with the water flow move easily from the other side. The high-pressure water has low volume and even the high pressure after passing through the upper layers of coils lowers. So there neither remains a high pressure nor a high volume and this is why this commonly followed formula never cleans the coils properly. Also, if some cleaner is used and a high-pressure water fails to clean the cleaners effects, the residue will only contribute to causing rust and dints.
High Pressure might damage the coils
There are numerous instances when homeowners use an excessively high pressure which results in damaging the coil bed's fins badly that are extremely delicate. There are high chances that in an effort to clean the coils, you could totally damage them and would have to replace the coils or the system altogether. And this is particularly true for thin evaporator coils. The recommended way for both thick and thin evaporator coils is by using the same formulae as mentioned above. If you've a hard time choosing what pressure and volume range should you be using exactly, consider consulting an HVAC professional.
