Chances are that if youve neglected a spring checkup, your air conditioner isnt cooling nearly as well as it could.A years worth of dirt and debris clogging the cooling fins, a low coolant level, a dirty blower fan filter and a number of other simple problems can significantly reduce the efficiency of your air conditioner and wear it out faster. You cant do everything; only a pro can check the coolant level. But you can easily handle most of the routine cleaning chores and save the extra $120 that it would cost to have a pro do them. In this article, well show you how to clean the outdoor unit (called the condenser) and the accessible parts of the indoor unit (called the evaporator). All the steps are simple and straightforward and will take you only a few hours total. You dont need any special skills, tools or experience. If you arent familiar with air conditioners and furnaces/blowers, dont worry. Well walk you through the basics. See Parts of a Central Air Conditioner, p. 107, to become familiar with how an air conditioner works and the parts of the system. You may have a different type of central air conditioner than we show herea heat pump system, for example, or a unit mounted horizontally in the attic. However, you can still carry out most maintenance procedures we show here, because each system will have a condenser outside and an evaporator inside. Use the owners manual for your particular model to help navigate around any differences from the one we show in our photos. And call in a pro every two or three years to check electrical parts and the coolant level ($150). TIP Call for service before the first heat wave, when the pros become swamped with repair calls! Cleaning the condenser Clean your outdoor unit on a day thats at least 60 degrees F. Thats about the minimum temperature at which you can test your air conditioner to make sure its working. The condenser usually sits in an inconspicuous spot next to your house. Youll see two copper tubes running to it, one bare and the other encased in a foam sleeve. If you have a heat pump, both tubes will be covered by foam sleeves. Your primary job here is to clean the condenser fins, which are fine metallic blades that surround the unit. They get dirty because a central fan sucks air through them, pulling in dust, dead leaves, dead grass and the worst culpritfloating cotton from cottonwood trees and dandelions. The debris blocks the airflow and reduces the units cooling ability. A typical central air conditioning system Figure A Parts of a central air conditioner Click Image to enlarge. The outside unit, called the condenser, contains a compressor, cooling fins and tubes and a fan. The fan sucks air through the fins and cools a special coolant, which the compressor then pumps into the house to the evaporator through a copper tube. The coolant chills the fins and tubes of the evaporator. Warm air drawn from the house by the blower passes through the evaporator and is cooled and blown through ducts to the rooms in the house. The evaporator dehumidifies the air as it cools it, and the resulting condensation drains off to a floor drain through a tube. The blower unit and ducting system vary considerably depending on whether you have a furnace (shown), a heat pump or some other arrangement. It may be located in the basement, garage, furnace room or attic. Always begin by shutting off the electrical power to the unit. Normally youll find a shutoff nearby. It may be a switch in a box, a pull lever or a fuse block that you pull out (Photo 1). Look for the on-off markings. Vacuum the fins clean with a soft brush (Photo 2); theyre fragile and easily bent or crushed. On many units youll have to unscrew and lift off a metal box to get at them. Check your owners manual for directions and lift off the box carefully to avoid bumping the fins. Occasionally youll find fins that have been bent. You can buy a special set of fin combs ($10 at an appliance parts store) to straighten them. Minor straightening can be done with a blunt dinner knife (Photo 3). If large areas of fins are crushed, have a pro straighten them during a routine service call. Then unscrew the fan to gain access to the interior of the condenser. You cant completely remove it because its wiring is connected to the unit. Depending on how much play the wires give you, you might need a helper to hold it while you vacuum debris from the inside. (Sometimes mice like to over-winter there!) After you hose off the fins (Photo 5), check the fan motor for lubrication ports. Most newer motors have sealed bearings (ours did) and cant be lubricated. Check your owners manual to be sure. If you find ports, add five drops of electric motor oil ($5 at hardware stores or appliance parts stores). Dont use penetrating oil or all-purpose oil. Theyre not designed for long-term lubrication and can actually harm the bearings. If you have an old air conditioner, you might have a beltdriven compressor in the bottom of the unit. Look for lubrication ports on this as well. The compressors on newer air conditioners are completely enclosed and wont need lubrication (Figure A). Restarting procedure In most cases, you can simply restore power to the outside unit and move inside to finish the maintenance. However, the compressors are surprisingly fragile and some require special start-up procedures under two conditions. (Others have built-in electronic controls that handle the start-up, but unless you know that yours has these controls, follow these procedures.) 1.. If the power to your unit has been off for more than four hours: a.. Move the switch from cool to off at your inside thermostat. b.. Turn the power back on and let the unit sit for 24 hours. (The compressor has a heating element that warms the internal lubricant.) c.. Switch the thermostat back to cool. 2.. If you switched the unit off while the compressor was running: a.. Wait at least five minutes before switching it back on. (The compressor needs to decompress before restarting.) With the air conditioner running, make sure its actually working by touching the coolant tubes (Photo 6). This is a crude test. Only a pro with proper instruments can tell if the coolant is at the level for peak efficiency. But keep a sharp eye out for dark drip marks on the bottom of the case and beneath the tube joints. This indicates an oil leak and a potential coolant leak as well. Call in a pro if you spot this problem. Dont tighten a joint to try to stop a leak yourself. Overtightening can make the problem worse. Clean the indoor unit The evaporator usually sits in an inaccessible spot inside a metal duct downstream from the blower (Figure A). If you can get to it, gently vacuum its fins (from the blower side) with a soft brush as you did with the condenser. However, the best way to keep it clean is to keep the air-stream from the blower clean. This means annually vacuuming out the blower compartment and changing the filter whenever its dirty (Photos 7 and 8). Begin by turning off the power to the furnace or blower. Usually youll find a simple toggle switch nearby in a metal box (Photo 7); otherwise turn the power off at the main panel. If you have trouble opening the blower unit or finding the filter, check your owners manual for help. The manual will also list the filter type, but if its your first time, take the old one with you when buying a new one to make sure you get the right size. Be sure to keep the power to the blower off whenever you remove the filter. Otherwise youll blow dust into the evaporator fins. The manual will also tell you where to find the oil ports on the blower, if it has any. The blower compartments on newer furnaces and heat pumps are so tight that you often cant lubricate the blower without removing it. If thats the case, have a pro do it during a routine maintenance checkup. The evaporator fins dehumidify the air as they cool it, so youll find a tube to drain the condensation. The water collects in a pan and drains out the side (Figure A). Most tubes are flexible plastic and are easy to pull off and clean (Photos 9 and 10). But if theyre rigid plastic, youll probably have to unscrew or cut off with a saw to check. Reglue rigid tubes using a coupling, or replace them with flexible plastic tubes. 1. Turn off the electrical power to the condenser unit at the outdoor shutoff. Either pull out a block or move a switch to the off position. If uncertain, turn off the power to the AC at the main electrical panel. 2. Vacuum grass clippings, leaves and other debris from the exterior fins with a soft brush attachment. Clear away all bushes, weeds and grass within 2 ft. of the condenser. Click Image to enlarge. 3. Realign bent or crushed fins with gentle pressure from a dinner knife. Dont insert the knife more than 1/2 in. 4. Unscrew the top grille. Lift out the fan and carefully set it aside without stressing the electrical wires. Pull out any leaves and wipe the interior surfaces clean with a damp cloth. 5. Spray the fins using moderate water pressure from a hose nozzle. Direct the spray from the inside out. Reinstall the fan. 6. Turn the power back on, then set the house thermostat to cool so the compressor comes on. After 10 minutes, feel the insulated tube. It should feel cool. The uninsulated tube should feel warm. 7. Turn off the power to the furnace at a nearby switch or at the main panel. Then pull out the furnace filter and check it for dirt buildup. Change it if necessary. 8. Open the blower compartment and vacuum up the dust. Check the motor for lubrication ports. If it has them, squeeze five drops of electric motor oil into each. 9. Pull off the plastic condensation drain tube and check it for algae growth. Clean it by pouring a bleach/ water solution (1:16 ratio) through the tube to flush the line. Or simply replace the tube. 10. Poke a pipe cleaner into the drain port and clean out any debris. Reinstall the drain tube and turn the power back on. >From The Family Handyman - April 2005 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Send any questions regarding list management to: blindhandyman-ow...@yahoogroups.com To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 Or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: blindhandyman-h...@yahoogroups.comyahoo! 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