Clean those ACs!
Woman in the Middle | August 16, 2012I am happy to report that the air conditioner was fixed by 6:30 p.m. on Monday. We were able to sleep in cool comfort that night (and every night since). Hubby and I also learned a lesson in air conditioner construction and maintenance. I am hoping all of you out there can learn from our expensive mistake!
Lesson 1 (Hubby apparently knew this but I didn’t) Air conditioners need to be cleaned. Surprise! Apparently the coils get dirty and have to be hosed off. Yep. I saw it for myself: the AC repairman just grabbed the hose and washed that puppy down all to heck. I asked how often that should be done. He said at least once a year. I asked i we could do it ourselves and he said yes, but we need to be careful not to accidentally puncture the copper tubing because that would ruin our condenser. Humm…might be worth the $60 to have someone else do it. Just a little insurance!
Lesson 2 (A lesson for both Hubby and I) We have a double coil AC. With these double coil types they can look pretty clean from the outside but be VERY dirty on the inside. Hubby had kept an eye on our unit and thought it was clean. Not so much. It got so dirty on the inside that it overheated and blew the capacitors. Better than losing the compressor but still much more expensive than regular maintenance.
It just goes to show that you can teach two old dogs some new tricks! Believe me, we have learned our lessons when it comes to AC maintenance!
I also found out that you need to change the filter at least once a year.