Professional Condenser Cleaning in New Braunfels

How does your air conditioning company clean your condenser unit during a spring tuneup or checkup? Do they wash the unit from the outside in? Do they always use coil cleaners on the aluminum fins and copper tubing?

When Clear Springs Air Conditioning and Electric cleans a condenser, we start by removing the top grill the fan motor is attached to off of the condenser unit. We do this for several reasons:

• Some condenser motors are oil-able. The only way to check to see if they are and to oil these motors is to pull the top.
  
• Another reason we do so is that when the system is running, dirt is drawn into the condenser coil through the coil guard from the outside in. A much better cleaning is completed by washing the coil from inside out with the top off. This allows for a very thorough cleaning with much more dirt removed from the coil.
  
• The top off also allows any trash and leaves that have accumulated to be removed from inside the unit at the same time.
  

While the top is off, we check compressor wires and connections, reversing valve wires and connections, and fan motor wires for cuts, nicks, abraded areas, and burns. We check the fan motor bearings for slop while the top is off the unit.

As far as my question about coil cleaner use, I believe coil cleaners are a tool that can be over used. Most air conditioners in a residential setting, as well as most in commercial settings (restaurants and factory settings excluded) get lots of dust and dirt, leaves and grass, but little grease or other sticky pollutants embedded annually on the coil. If it is necessary and used sparingly, coil cleaner is great. If over used or improperly used in too strong a solution; it can remove paint, etch the aluminum and copper ultimately creating non repairable leaks. It can also kill your grass and plants. It gets very expensive to replace a leaky condenser coil! To extend the life of a unit, I usually try to wash it with coil cleaner only every 3 years unless there is a reason to do so more often.

If you have any questions about maintaining your air conditioning system or the electrical systems in your home or business, we will be happy to discuss them with you.
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Clear Springs Air Conditioning and Electric is available week days as well as weekends by appointment.