Saturday, October 24, 2009

Air Conditioning Tricks

By Jason Myers

Air Conditioning functions by replacing heat from inside a building to the outside air. To do this a number of some basic refrigeration standards need to take place. One of the most vital pieces that allow this happen is the condenser coil. This is usually the aluminum coil the environs the air conditioning compressor.

What occurs inside this outdoor unit is a very fundamental state alteration of the refrigerant inside the air conditioning unit. The refrigerant that changes from a liquid to a gas inside the indoor coil moves to the outside where the compressor compresses the gas under high pressure. When this occurs the gas also turns out to be extremely hot. The hot air then departs the compressor to begin moving through the long tubing in the condenser coil. While the gas cools it transforms back to a liquid state going back indoors to begin the cycle all over again.

Huge problems begin if the condenser coil turns out to be so blocked up with dirt that the heated air in the condenser coil does not cool enough to change the hot air back to a liquid state. When this occurs the cooling method does not take place and then air conditioner runs but is not cooling.

The compressor starts to get very hot and the final result will be the end of a compressor. For these reasons the condenser coil must be maintained clean and free of debris everytime when the air conditioner is turned on. Cleaning the coil is a fairly basic process, Here are a few guidelines to follow when doing this. To wash the coil a number of simple tools are required. A garden hose with a nozzle, wrenches to take out the condenser fan, a garden sprayer for applying the cleaning solution. The first thing is to remove the power to the outdoor unit.

There must be a disconnect switch of some type close to the condenser. After that take out the fan from the condenser unit. Normally this will be the top of the unit. The fan can usually be laid aside cautiously without cutting off the wires to the motor.

Carefully wet down the coil using the garden hose. If you have very elevated pressure water where you reside be careful that the water pressure does not bend above the fins on the coil. These are so slim and delicate.

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