How are you a tech? The way he placed the fan could cause the blades to bend and lead to excessive vibration. It's usually best to disconnect the fan or if it the older rheem/rudd units you can flip the fan to where the blades are facing upwards when you remove the top plate.
@@jesussavesanus9790 your name suggests you are a troll. also where the person placed the fan has no connection to the cleaning process, and you can easily just place the fan in a position that would prevent it from becoming damaged.
On my Carrier unit the whole top is on a hinge and I just loosen it up an flip it into the upright position and out of the way. The outer frame moves up with the fan cage!
Thanks for this great video. My A/C company last year came out to do an annual service. They said I needed a Deep Clean of the condenser. It looked more like your unit, not your friends. But I said ok. They charged me $235. I watched him do it. He sprayed on the chemical on the Outside, waited 10 minutes then sprayed it down with the hose. I said to myself "I got ripped off, never again". I got that same cleaner from Home Depot and I am going to clean it myself, but the right way from the inside out. I even use my shop vac to clean out the pipe that the water drips out of. The only thing I can't do is go up in my attic to clean the coils. Thanks for the great video. I am a 73 young woman and I can do it!
This is a great tutorial. I'm a brand new homeowner and I don't know if our A/C had ever been cleaned. Looked 5x worse than the example shown at 1:44, and was barely blowing any air inside our house. Used a combo of scrubbing bubbles and dish soap, and seems to be working a lot better now! Also want to note, there were about 100 spiders in our unit so I'm feeling very courageous after accomplishing that.
Um,, the outside condensing unit doesn't effect CFM on the inside. That sounds more like your evaporator coil. Be very careful when cleaning the evaporator coil, DO NOT USE CONDENSING COIL CLEANER on an evaporator coil, and that cleaner can eat up the evaporator material. They have a spray on no spray off required cleaner for the evaporator that works great on the inside on the furnace. One thing you always want to do to save time, product/materials which = $$, is take a brush and CAREFULLY remove the heavy sweater off the front of the coil. They make special brushes for this, but it's basically just a small, hand held nylon bristled brush. Just use very light pressure and watch to make sure you're not damaging the fins! Once you have the heavy stuff off, your time and materials will be much more efficiently utilized.
Be sure to also change your indoor filter as well, you do not want to use one that is really dense as it restricts the amount of air flow which is not good...
The only Issue I have is by the end your not sweating profusely and bleeding from a couple places you never realized got scraped. :) Excellent Video, thanks.
Oh that’s definitely me too, always come out with some body part bleeding, lol. It’s like impossible to avoid, especially the sweating part, that usually starts before the actual cleaning of the coils 🤣 now I know what I have to look forward to today. Ohhh, and the mosquitos too, uugghh.
I did this back in the Spring of this year and was amazed at the debris that I washed out of my condenser's coils. It made about a $30 a month difference in my cooling bill. Amazing! Thanks for the info and tutorial.
I just cleaned my air conditioner evaporator coils as in your helpful video on RUclips. My home is staying cooler during the hot summer. This has saved my family $24-$30 per month, with keeping my dryer vent/dryer clean, refrigerator condenser coils clean and changing my furnace air filter. Thanks for teaching me these important home maintenance tasks to show friends, neighbors, and coworkers my natural abilities of dryer vent cleaning and appliance repair knowledge. Some neighbors, and friends have said, you really know your stuff about dryer fires/prevention and appliance repair knowledge. Thanks for all your helpful videos on RUclips.
This video is so great! The editing and pacing is perfect. I did not have to skip around or change the playback speed to get through unimportant info. I usually don't leave comments, but I wanted to let you know that I am about this video.
HVAC in Alabama here. Good video. We use a stronger foaming cleaner but the mere spraying through the coil fins with water will help a lot. I would add that when there is a lot of debris on the outside, brush or blow off as much of that as possible before applying the coil cleaner. As stated in the video, be sure to spray straight through the fins because even water can bend them. I've spent MANY hours straightening coil fins. The flashlight test is a great idea.
thanks for the extra tips. I am about to tackle an old unit that is caked in dirt. I appreciate this video and your extra information. I wonder if I should brush/blow off the dirt, then run water from the inside then do the spray foam?
@@hildyr1052 get multiple quotes and compare, most companies do free quotes for system installs. Stay away from Lennox they have been having issues with their coils.
Just did mine today. There was a thick layer of dirt on it, and I figured, why not try my utility brush first to get rid of as much of that as possible. It was gentle enough to remove 98% of the layer without damaging the coils. I got the A/C Saver foam from Home Depot. I was disappointed-it barely foamed and just did a stream, so I put it on about 3 times. What foaming cleanser do you use, or is it something only available to HVAC workers?
Thank you so much for this. I was able to confidently clean mine today when a company previously tried not only to tell me they would do it for 2k, but encouraged me to REPLACE MY ENTIRE SYSTEM over it being dirty for a lovely 20k. This is not a joke. I'm glad I had a feeling something was off and remembered I'm a capable badass and could probably do it on my own, then went to youtube and found this. I was FLABBERGASTED to see what was VERY poorly explained to me was so simple to do on my own. Certainly doesn't require an entire system replacement. Yepp, I'm a young woman if you were wondering. 🙃
Thank you for this video! My AC quit yesterday, so I let it cool down and it started back up again. Today, I cleaned the coils and put a new filter in. It seems to be running better. Thanks again, excellent video!
I really appreciate this video. Good man!! My system was failing every five minutes until I followed these instructions. I'm back at 65 degrees inside with 98 outside. Thank you, Blessings!!
Thank you for your helpful video about how to clean your air conditioner condenser. I use this technique to help keep my home cooler. My next door neighbor was saying,”his house wasn’t cool,” yesterday afternoon. I suggested the furnace air filter is dirty. He pulled the furnace air filter out of his furnace. The filter was dirty. He learned something from me that a dirty air filter creates a warm home versus cool home. Thanks for teaching me how to clean air conditioner condenser. I have shown my next door neighbor this same technique as in this video. Thanks for teaching me this, to share with others.
AC tech was here working while I watched this video...tech gave me estimate on doing this same thing for $349 dollars...OMG! I am so thankful for your video, as a DIY person I can now confidently do this myself...THANK YOU!!!!
I’m a retired single woman into diy. This year I spent over 400 for service to 2 Trane units. The tech recommended I clean the units more often. So here I am. I really like the power tools. Sometimes they get away from me 😖. I already learned how to flush my water heater. That was a big mess but done. 🤪
Watch Video with my twin sister and we cleaned her unit. Was dirty no doubt. Hopefully it solves her AC issues - at least if she has to call AC repair her unit will be C L E A N!! Easy to understand Video put her mind at ease and gave us confidence and got it ✔ done so Thank You for your video...
My next door neighbor just experienced a furnace breakdown. He did not know that a dirty furnace air filter could cause his air conditioning unit to not work properly in keeping his home cool. I showed him how to clean his air conditioning condenser the same method as featured in your video about how to clean air conditioner condenser coils. He learned something from me in how a dirty furnace air filter needs to be changed to prevent a furnace breakdown. The whole furnace and air conditioning condenser had to be replaced. Thank you for your helpful video How to clean air conditioner condenser coils. Some friends and others have said,”You really know your stuff.” A friend was impressed last weekend of me showing her how to clean a dryer vent duct with the Gardus LintEater Pro dryer vent cleaning system. She was surprised I knew why her clothes dryer was not drying clothes, as her 16 foot dryer vent duct was clogged with lint from the basement to outside. She learned something from me that lint build-up can cause a house fire. She commented,”You really know your stuff,” about dryer fires and prevention. The dryer vent cleaning system kit featured on your dryer vent cleaning video had helped me show my neighbors, friends, family and others an awareness of dryer fires and how to prevent dryer fires inside homes.
I watched your Water Heater video first (because the HOA advised everyone to flush the tanks, which I had never done before) and learned a lot from that. Many videos later, here I am, cleaning out my AC unit's coils! Haha, I think I may have missed the day of school that they gave the manual on how to do preventative maintenance on all of these appliances. Thank you again for making such concise, easy-to-follow videos. Your manner of speaking makes me feel like a friend is next to me giving me pointers on what to do. I'll keep an eye on your channel for more things I should be doing around the house.
RUclips is great. Here I thought "the coils" were some mystical entity inside that box that required professional (expensive) care. A hose and a can of cleaner? Yes, please!
There are 2 sets of coils. The coils being cleaned in this video are the condenser coils and is relatively easy to DIY. The “mystical” coils you’ve heard about are the evaporator coils located above the blower and requires more intricate details to clean. The evaporator coils usually stay cleaner if you regularly change your filter. It’s still a good idea to get them cleaned every so often though.
My 88 year-old Mom was being charged $245 by her HVAC company to do this! In addition to her summer/winter maintenance that she has. So glad we can DIY this!!!
This is good advice. I would get slack on cleaning mine, ---I would often skip years when I was working and too busy making a living. Now that I'm retired, I plan to clean it every year . AC units are too expensive to neglect.
Very helpful. I wasn’t aware this needed to be done annually. I’ve been in my house for four years and it’s never been done. So, I will be doing that this week!
@@AmplifyDIY I just purchased my house and the line comming off the unit is freezing/Frosting over I've got a new filter in my furnace could lack of air flow due to dirty fins cause that?
Great video! I moved into a new home and the AC clearly hadn’t been maintained. After following this procedure, I’m happy to report the AC is beating the Nest thermostat estimates for time to cool by more than 25%!!! Note: if your ac hasn’t been cleaned ages, you may need multiple cans of cleaner. Proud to report I did this all on my own as a petite woman.
You inspired me. I did this last week, and the A/C air has felt much cooler since then. I can only imagine this means I'll use less energy, as the A/C will hopefully need to run for shorter durations to cool the house equally. Incidentally, I believe it had been 15 years since my A/C was cleaned. Wasn't too terribly dirty, surprisingly.
Nice work! Yes, your system will most definitely use less energy now that it has been cleaned. How carefully do you track your energy use? Do you happen to have a thermostat that can show you historical runtimes for your system? I'd love to see a before and after with actual numbers.
@@AmplifyDIY I have a Nest, so it should be there. But I'm reluctant to put too much stock in the numbers given daily temperature variance has been pretty high of late. But heck, I'll look at the data and make insane conclusions anyway!
I have a honeywell, and it emails me monthly reports each month that compare that month's usage (i.e., actual A/C runtime per day) to the prior year's... complete with average daily temperatures etc. Armed with a bit of data, it should be relatively easy to determine if your system is running any more efficiently after the cleaning. Still, any conclusions will mostly be for the "gee-whiz" file, I suspect.
@@AmplifyDIY Welp, as expected. I cleaned it on August 17. Temps were slightly lower the following week, but usage remained the same (or increased): thesmithfam.org/temp/ac_usage.png (left axis is usage in seconds, right access is high outside air temp for the day in F)
@@HeyItsMeDave Really interesting data! As I look at the graph, it looks like the week previous to when you cleaned your condenser the AC ran more at lower temperatures. For instance, look at Aug 8 - the high for the day was around 80F, but the AC ran as long as it did on Aug 24, when the high was over 90F. Similar result for Aug 11. Out of curiosity: What year was your house built? Do you happen to know how well your attic is insulated?
Actually the video is a big help for I just bought this house last year 2021 and this is the first time I’ve ever had a AC unit that wasn’t a window ac thanks
Thanks! Another great video! This was easier than I thought. I had the exact same fuse box to remove power. I had quite a bit of water pool in the unit so vacuumed it out with a shop vac and let everything dry an hour or so before replacing the fuse. AC working like a champ!
Thank you! Finally a fellow tech that shows the proper way to clean the condenser! One guy used fire and almost everybody else sprays from the outside in! Thank you for not being ignorant and posting a great video.
Great video, thanks you! And may I also add that the levels on your background music are PERFECT. A really nice touch that I've seen a lot of other video makers get wrong.
i really like your style! Easy for anyone to follow, short and to the point, comparisons and ways to check things through the process- and your helpful demeanor. Thank you!
Your video and a couple more helped save me $380 from two HVAC contractors who were willing to charge that much to clean my condenser. What a bunch if slithering snakes they can be! WOW...they won't make any money from me, but, they will make money from other people. Videos like yours and various other videos here on RUclips are a Godsend. Thank you!
Love the tutorial. Im not sure why it has any thumbs down? Everything was easily explained and did not have to replay any part to try to understand the process. Thank you so much for making sense of everything.
He did a VERY GOOD JOB of explaining the cleaning process step by step. I'm a new homeowner and just be looking at this, I can do myself......thanks...
Thank you so much for this! This was a great tutorial! Thoroughly explained each step, gave us the proper warnings, and showed each step in the process. You got yourself a new subscriber!
I currently live in the first house I've ever bought. I've been here for 7 years. I didn't know this was a thing. I am going to clean mine out this week. The AZ heat causes the AC unit to run just about 24/7
The other things to be maintained are the Filters inside the home, if theyre dirty/old then air flow will be restricted. And also the condensate lines/pipes which can also cause issues if they get blocked over time, but thats something that should be researched or left to an HVAC Tech to handle.
Great video! I work in HVAC/R distribution, Johnstone Supply, and this was a very easy to learn video, think I’ll clean my Trane this Saturday, thanks for the reminder! LOL
Great video ! I had a lot of debris in the inside bottom. Thinking about putting a piece of window screen over the top during the Winter so all those leaves don't get in there.
I have seen so many of these videos on-line saying to spray it from the outside at an angel. In all my years I have only cleaned the condenser coils from the inside out. Thanks for being real:-) It is not hard to do and if you do it in the beginning of the cooling season and about half way through the season, your a/c unit should be good to go. Good video and information.
@@AmplifyDIY Your welcome. I will be cleaning my condenser tomorrow. I have my little power screw driver ready, Hose w/sprayer and Cleanser. It should be ready to start the cooling season. Whenever that happens in Chicago:-) Take Care.
Great video. I did mine today. Mine was a disaster. Had a blanket of filth wrapped around it. I hadn't cleaned it ever; doubt the previous owners did either. They planted ivy around it, which had grown into the unit. I had many areas where the ivy had grown into the fins, deforming them. I didn't have the fin tool so I used an old hard bristle tooth brush and then a stiff bristle brush. It worked great. Possibly better than the fin tool and because the bristle are soft it did no damage.
Thanks for the vid. Some of the others are spraying the Cleaner from the outside, and one even dirtier than this one did not even mention the cleaner step.
Nice video, the dryer duct work cleaning video brought me here. Going to be looking for larger attachment pieces for air duct work, not just dryer ducts too. Great videos. To the point, no silly nonsense, calm, helpful, and carefully informative
I just watched three videos on this right before yours. Your video is by far the best! I think I can actually do this! I never would have considered this before....THANK YOU. Now I need to find a video on how to clean the inside fins. I'm pretty there are some on the unit up in my closet...
Thank you for the easy tutorial I have to get myself up on my roof and I was pretty worried about how I would clean that thing out but it looks to be a lot easier than I thought it would be so thank you for the good tutorial
My AC unit was WAY beyond needing a cleaning. Excellent video. I wish I knew that was a thing (and was as easy as it was) before I wasted energy over the last couple summers! 🤦♂️
With my AC unit, it had not been cleaned for years by the prior owners. The leaves and debris had broken down into a a few inches of soil. It is difficult to be too critical with it being a 1979 Lennox that had been running whisper quiet for the last 12 years. At some point, I have to believe the compressor was replaced at some point. It is a Copeland scroll, I believe.
Great video. Thanks! looking forward to following your steps and getting my HVAC in tiptop shape. Just had a technician from an HVAC company come out and told me I needed to clean it and the cost is $425. So happy to buy the coil cleaner linked in your comments for 14 bucks and save myself some cash. :-)
That price is insane. We have a local company that does the flush as part of their yearly "tune-up" for $90. Yeah, it's still cheaper to do it yourself, but nowhere near the price you were quoted.
Holy smokes, thanks for this video. I've watched others but this one helped me understand the why and not just the how. Excellent pacing and info. I'm going to try this tomorrow or next weekend. Cheers!
Quick tip: I use a an old credit card to straighten out A/C fins. Run it up and down gently to realign. Also I use "Greased Lighting" multipurpose cleaner which I find works great. Check and replace any insulation on the pipes going to the air handler too.
Thanks for posting this :) weve been renting our house for 4 years now neither us or our landlord has cleaned out the central air. Will have hubby do this tomorrow:)
Thanks for the video! Reaching the 100 degree+ mark here so LONG past due project. My unit sounds like a jet when it first starts up. That will have to wait, perhaps for a pro. It does work anyway.
Keeping the area around the condenser clean cuts down on the debris that re-enters the coil. After washing go back a few days later and remove the debris on the ground that came out of the condenser coil during the cleaning.
I am an HVAC technician and I approve of this cleaning process.
How are you a tech? The way he placed the fan could cause the blades to bend and lead to excessive vibration. It's usually best to disconnect the fan or if it the older rheem/rudd units you can flip the fan to where the blades are facing upwards when you remove the top plate.
@@jesussavesanus9790 your name suggests you are a troll. also where the person placed the fan has no connection to the cleaning process, and you can easily just place the fan in a position that would prevent it from becoming damaged.
On my Carrier unit the whole top is on a hinge and I just loosen it up an flip it into the upright position and out of the way. The outer frame moves up with the fan cage!
What is purple and what pink coil cleaner ?Please explain reason why to use them,how to use them and when!?
same; this was the first time i've seen the light trick
Thanks for this great video. My A/C company last year came out to do an annual service. They said I needed a Deep Clean of the condenser. It looked more like your unit, not your friends. But I said ok. They charged me $235. I watched him do it. He sprayed on the chemical on the Outside, waited 10 minutes then sprayed it down with the hose. I said to myself "I got ripped off, never again". I got that same cleaner from Home Depot and I am going to clean it myself, but the right way from the inside out. I even use my shop vac to clean out the pipe that the water drips out of. The only thing I can't do is go up in my attic to clean the coils. Thanks for the great video. I am a 73 young woman and I can do it!
I was just quoted $200 to have cleaned
It's impossible to clean the coil on the furnace too though 😮
I wouldn't call it "ripped off"
Experience is the greatest teacher but the tuition bill is high
I am a 74 year old woman and I will do it now!!❤
I was just quoted $409 🤯
This is a great tutorial. I'm a brand new homeowner and I don't know if our A/C had ever been cleaned. Looked 5x worse than the example shown at 1:44, and was barely blowing any air inside our house. Used a combo of scrubbing bubbles and dish soap, and seems to be working a lot better now! Also want to note, there were about 100 spiders in our unit so I'm feeling very courageous after accomplishing that.
Awesome!
Um,, the outside condensing unit doesn't effect CFM on the inside. That sounds more like your evaporator coil. Be very careful when cleaning the evaporator coil, DO NOT USE CONDENSING COIL CLEANER on an evaporator coil, and that cleaner can eat up the evaporator material. They have a spray on no spray off required cleaner for the evaporator that works great on the inside on the furnace.
One thing you always want to do to save time, product/materials which = $$, is take a brush and CAREFULLY remove the heavy sweater off the front of the coil. They make special brushes for this, but it's basically just a small, hand held nylon bristled brush. Just use very light pressure and watch to make sure you're not damaging the fins! Once you have the heavy stuff off, your time and materials will be much more efficiently utilized.
🤣
Be sure to also change your indoor filter as well, you do not want to use one that is really dense as it restricts the amount of air flow which is not good...
Got your spidey senses tingling now? LOL
The only Issue I have is by the end your not sweating profusely and bleeding from a couple places you never realized got scraped. :) Excellent Video, thanks.
Agreed, if you're not bleeding you didn't give it your all.
Oh that’s definitely me too, always come out with some body part bleeding, lol. It’s like impossible to avoid, especially the sweating part, that usually starts before the actual cleaning of the coils 🤣 now I know what I have to look forward to today. Ohhh, and the mosquitos too, uugghh.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@freedomhigh2160 Another surprise I encountered as a now retired HVAC tech is yellow jacket nests.
You forgot the multiple mosquito bites, they love it when ever I pull a hose out.,.
I did this back in the Spring of this year and was amazed at the debris that I washed out of my condenser's coils. It made about a $30 a month difference in my cooling bill. Amazing! Thanks for the info and tutorial.
I just cleaned my air conditioner evaporator coils as in your helpful video on
RUclips. My home is staying cooler during the hot summer. This has saved my family $24-$30 per month, with keeping my dryer vent/dryer clean, refrigerator condenser coils clean and changing my furnace air filter. Thanks for teaching me these important home maintenance tasks to show friends, neighbors, and coworkers my natural abilities of dryer vent cleaning and appliance repair
knowledge. Some neighbors, and friends have said, you really know your stuff about dryer fires/prevention and appliance repair
knowledge. Thanks for all your helpful videos on RUclips.
This video is so great! The editing and pacing is perfect. I did not have to skip around or change the playback speed to get through unimportant info. I usually don't leave comments, but I wanted to let you know that I am about this video.
Thank you very much for the feedback!
2nd-ed if it weren't a 95F heat index right now, I'd be cleaning mine!
Agreed! ^ 👌🏼
Totally agree. Very well done.
I’m learning this stuff way late as a homeowner. Great video that I wish I had seen years ago. Thanks for posting.
HVAC in Alabama here. Good video. We use a stronger foaming cleaner but the mere spraying through the coil fins with water will help a lot. I would add that when there is a lot of debris on the outside, brush or blow off as much of that as possible before applying the coil cleaner. As stated in the video, be sure to spray straight through the fins because even water can bend them. I've spent MANY hours straightening coil fins. The flashlight test is a great idea.
thanks for the extra tips. I am about to tackle an old unit that is caked in dirt. I appreciate this video and your extra information. I wonder if I should brush/blow off the dirt, then run water from the inside then do the spray foam?
Can anyone suggest what is the best AC unit out there?? is Rudd a good brand? I was given a quote of 7,500 is this ok? Please advice
@@hildyr1052 get multiple quotes and compare, most companies do free quotes for system installs. Stay away from Lennox they have been having issues with their coils.
@@cclopez3697 Thank you so much for the advise, i will do that tomorrow monday,, thanks again,,
Just did mine today. There was a thick layer of dirt on it, and I figured, why not try my utility brush first to get rid of as much of that as possible. It was gentle enough to remove 98% of the layer without damaging the coils. I got the A/C Saver foam from Home Depot. I was disappointed-it barely foamed and just did a stream, so I put it on about 3 times. What foaming cleanser do you use, or is it something only available to HVAC workers?
Thank you so much for this. I was able to confidently clean mine today when a company previously tried not only to tell me they would do it for 2k, but encouraged me to REPLACE MY ENTIRE SYSTEM over it being dirty for a lovely 20k. This is not a joke.
I'm glad I had a feeling something was off and remembered I'm a capable badass and could probably do it on my own, then went to youtube and found this. I was FLABBERGASTED to see what was VERY poorly explained to me was so simple to do on my own. Certainly doesn't require an entire system replacement.
Yepp, I'm a young woman if you were wondering. 🙃
I'm so glad you were able to find this video helpful! Great job being a capable badass!
Wasn't wondering...gender is not a factor to being able to clean your AC and use a screw driver....but as we all learned...knowledge is power...
@Sanfc2ir I like the capable badass attitude, good for you. Hope you when on Yelp and told the whole world how his company was trying to rip you off.
Thank you for this video! My AC quit yesterday, so I let it cool down and it started back up again. Today, I cleaned the coils and put a new filter in. It seems to be running better. Thanks again, excellent video!
I really appreciate this video. Good man!! My system was failing every five minutes until I followed these instructions. I'm back at 65 degrees inside with 98 outside. Thank you, Blessings!!
Glad it helped!
Thank you for your helpful video about how to clean your air conditioner condenser. I use this technique to help keep my home
cooler. My next door neighbor was saying,”his house wasn’t cool,” yesterday
afternoon. I suggested the furnace air filter is dirty. He pulled the furnace air filter out of his furnace. The filter was dirty. He learned something from me that a dirty air filter creates a warm home versus cool home. Thanks for teaching me how to clean air conditioner
condenser. I have shown my next door neighbor this same technique as in this video. Thanks for teaching me this, to share with others.
My A/C is 15 years already, still running smooth. Very important to do this!! Great video
AC tech was here working while I watched this video...tech gave me estimate on doing this same thing for $349 dollars...OMG! I am so thankful for your video, as a DIY person I can now confidently do this myself...THANK YOU!!!!
I’m a retired single woman into diy. This year I spent over 400 for service to 2 Trane units. The tech recommended I clean the units more often. So here I am. I really like the power tools. Sometimes they get away from me 😖. I already learned how to flush my water heater. That was a big mess but done. 🤪
Watch Video with my twin sister and we cleaned her unit. Was dirty no doubt. Hopefully it solves her AC issues - at least if she has to call AC repair her unit will be C L E A N!! Easy to understand Video put her mind at ease and gave us confidence and got it ✔ done so Thank You for your video...
Nice job! Never thought to do this myself, only hired people to "tune up" my AC every few years. Looking forward to doing this process now. Thanks!
You can do it!
0:25 Great video! Just FYI for those who don't know, that is an electrical disconnect - not a breaker.
Thanks for the correction!
Good video.
I also use the “flat” option on the hose nozzle for a more even spray.
My next door neighbor just experienced a furnace breakdown. He did not know that a dirty furnace air filter could cause his air conditioning unit to not work
properly in keeping his home cool. I showed him how to clean his air conditioning condenser the same method as featured in your video about how to clean air conditioner condenser coils. He learned something from me in how a dirty furnace air filter needs to be changed to prevent a furnace breakdown. The whole furnace and air conditioning condenser had to be replaced. Thank you for your helpful video How to clean air conditioner condenser coils. Some friends and others have said,”You really know your stuff.” A friend was impressed last weekend of me showing her how to clean a dryer vent duct with the Gardus LintEater Pro dryer vent cleaning system. She was surprised I knew why her clothes dryer was not drying clothes, as her 16 foot dryer vent duct was clogged with lint from the basement to
outside. She learned something from me that lint build-up can cause a house fire. She commented,”You really know your stuff,” about dryer fires and prevention. The dryer vent cleaning system kit featured on your dryer vent cleaning video had helped me show my neighbors, friends, family and others an awareness of dryer fires and how to prevent dryer fires inside homes.
I watched your Water Heater video first (because the HOA advised everyone to flush the tanks, which I had never done before) and learned a lot from that. Many videos later, here I am, cleaning out my AC unit's coils! Haha, I think I may have missed the day of school that they gave the manual on how to do preventative maintenance on all of these appliances. Thank you again for making such concise, easy-to-follow videos. Your manner of speaking makes me feel like a friend is next to me giving me pointers on what to do. I'll keep an eye on your channel for more things I should be doing around the house.
Thank you for this video. My central air was not blowing cool air. I followed the steps in your video, and it worked like a charm.
In a word: skills! Thank you. Practical, succinct and to the point. Well informed and well edited. Continued success.
Wow, thank you 22 Morse!
RUclips is great. Here I thought "the coils" were some mystical entity inside that box that required professional (expensive) care. A hose and a can of cleaner? Yes, please!
There are 2 sets of coils. The coils being cleaned in this video are the condenser coils and is relatively easy to DIY. The “mystical” coils you’ve heard about are the evaporator coils located above the blower and requires more intricate details to clean. The evaporator coils usually stay cleaner if you regularly change your filter. It’s still a good idea to get them cleaned every so often though.
Same!
Don't forget to use power washer 🤣
Beautiful detailed instructions with no verbal diarrhea what so ever!
Totally agree. Verbal diarrhea makes me feel sick and I have to leave.
My 88 year-old Mom was being charged $245 by her HVAC company to do this! In addition to her summer/winter maintenance that she has. So glad we can DIY this!!!
Oof! Glad to help her save some money!
Thank you for being so pleasant to listen to.
This is good advice. I would get slack on cleaning mine, ---I would often skip years when I was working and too busy making a living. Now that I'm retired, I plan to clean it every year . AC units are too expensive to neglect.
Your style and pace of speaking suits my elderly mid-West American ears very well.
Thanks for watching!
Your videos are some of the best RUclips content I have run across in months. Thank you.
Wow, thanks!
Watching from Australia. I had never seen anything like this. Interesting and helpful.
Very helpful. I wasn’t aware this needed to be done annually. I’ve been in my house for four years and it’s never been done. So, I will be doing that this week!
Good luck!
@@AmplifyDIY I just purchased my house and the line comming off the unit is freezing/Frosting over I've got a new filter in my furnace could lack of air flow due to dirty fins cause that?
@@tylerh1930 I would have someone look at it. When this happened to us it was because of a coolant leak.
Great video! I moved into a new home and the AC clearly hadn’t been maintained. After following this procedure, I’m happy to report the AC is beating the Nest thermostat estimates for time to cool by more than 25%!!! Note: if your ac hasn’t been cleaned ages, you may need multiple cans of cleaner. Proud to report I did this all on my own as a petite woman.
Great job, Meg!
You inspired me. I did this last week, and the A/C air has felt much cooler since then. I can only imagine this means I'll use less energy, as the A/C will hopefully need to run for shorter durations to cool the house equally.
Incidentally, I believe it had been 15 years since my A/C was cleaned. Wasn't too terribly dirty, surprisingly.
Nice work! Yes, your system will most definitely use less energy now that it has been cleaned. How carefully do you track your energy use? Do you happen to have a thermostat that can show you historical runtimes for your system? I'd love to see a before and after with actual numbers.
@@AmplifyDIY I have a Nest, so it should be there. But I'm reluctant to put too much stock in the numbers given daily temperature variance has been pretty high of late.
But heck, I'll look at the data and make insane conclusions anyway!
I have a honeywell, and it emails me monthly reports each month that compare that month's usage (i.e., actual A/C runtime per day) to the prior year's... complete with average daily temperatures etc. Armed with a bit of data, it should be relatively easy to determine if your system is running any more efficiently after the cleaning. Still, any conclusions will mostly be for the "gee-whiz" file, I suspect.
@@AmplifyDIY Welp, as expected. I cleaned it on August 17. Temps were slightly lower the following week, but usage remained the same (or increased): thesmithfam.org/temp/ac_usage.png (left axis is usage in seconds, right access is high outside air temp for the day in F)
@@HeyItsMeDave Really interesting data! As I look at the graph, it looks like the week previous to when you cleaned your condenser the AC ran more at lower temperatures. For instance, look at Aug 8 - the high for the day was around 80F, but the AC ran as long as it did on Aug 24, when the high was over 90F. Similar result for Aug 11. Out of curiosity: What year was your house built? Do you happen to know how well your attic is insulated?
My OCD was very satisfied during this video thank you for the info!
Actually the video is a big help for I just bought this house last year 2021 and this is the first time I’ve ever had a AC unit that wasn’t a window ac thanks
Thanks! Another great video! This was easier than I thought. I had the exact same fuse box to remove power. I had quite a bit of water pool in the unit so vacuumed it out with a shop vac and let everything dry an hour or so before replacing the fuse. AC working like a champ!
Awesome job, Christine!
Thank you! Finally a fellow tech that shows the proper way to clean the condenser! One guy used fire and almost everybody else sprays from the outside in! Thank you for not being ignorant and posting a great video.
You are welcome!
Great video, thanks you! And may I also add that the levels on your background music are PERFECT. A really nice touch that I've seen a lot of other video makers get wrong.
i really like your style! Easy for anyone to follow, short and to the point, comparisons and ways to check things through the process- and your helpful demeanor. Thank you!
Thank you so much for the kind words!
I just cleaned my 2 AC units using this method thanks to this video. Thanks for the easy to follow instructions!
Your video and a couple more helped save me $380 from two HVAC contractors who were willing to charge that much to clean my condenser. What a bunch if slithering snakes they can be! WOW...they won't make any money from me, but, they will make money from other people. Videos like yours and various other videos here on RUclips are a Godsend. Thank you!
Love the tutorial. Im not sure why it has any thumbs down? Everything was easily explained and did not have to replay any part to try to understand the process. Thank you so much for making sense of everything.
I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks!
because it's taking money out of the pockets of the over priced AC company's LOL
He did a VERY GOOD JOB of explaining the cleaning process step by step. I'm a new homeowner and just be looking at this, I can do myself......thanks...
Thank you so much for this! This was a great tutorial! Thoroughly explained each step, gave us the proper warnings, and showed each step in the process. You got yourself a new subscriber!
I currently live in the first house I've ever bought. I've been here for 7 years. I didn't know this was a thing. I am going to clean mine out this week. The AZ heat causes the AC unit to run just about 24/7
I'm in the same boat.. Own mine for 6 and I didn't know anything about this. Doing mind tomorrow using this vid.
The other things to be maintained are the Filters inside the home, if theyre dirty/old then air flow will be restricted. And also the condensate lines/pipes which can also cause issues if they get blocked over time, but thats something that should be researched or left to an HVAC Tech to handle.
Great video! I work in HVAC/R distribution, Johnstone Supply, and this was a very easy to learn video, think I’ll clean my Trane this Saturday, thanks for the reminder! LOL
clean 1 a year .my 15 years not clean it yet :)after watch your video I "ll clean it this summer .Thanks for your video ,
Great video ! I had a lot of debris in the inside bottom. Thinking about putting a piece of window screen over the top during the Winter so all those leaves don't get in there.
I have seen so many of these videos on-line saying to spray it from the outside at an angel. In all my years I have only cleaned the condenser coils from the inside out. Thanks for being real:-) It is not hard to do and if you do it in the beginning of the cooling season and about half way through the season, your a/c unit should be good to go. Good video and information.
Thanks roy!
@@AmplifyDIY Your welcome. I will be cleaning my condenser tomorrow. I have my little power screw driver ready, Hose w/sprayer and Cleanser. It should be ready to start the cooling season. Whenever that happens in Chicago:-) Take Care.
Great video! Never crossed my mind that this was even needed but now that I know I will be cleaning my condenser ASAP
Thanks for this! 112 degrees in CA today and my AC was popping the circuit breaker yesterday. So for so good. AC is still going.
Right on!
Can relate, I did mine at the start of the heatwave and despite it being 116 outside yesterday, it didn't exceed 74 inside.
Disconnect the power, very important That advice by it's self, makes this a great video.
This is the best video by far I have seen on how to clean your sir conditioner.
Wow, thank you!
I already know about this I just find videos like this very entertaining and satisfying.
I don't even own a home and this is the second video I've watched on cleaning coils...
Great video. I did mine today. Mine was a disaster. Had a blanket of filth wrapped around it. I hadn't cleaned it ever; doubt the previous owners did either. They planted ivy around it, which had grown into the unit. I had many areas where the ivy had grown into the fins, deforming them.
I didn't have the fin tool so I used an old hard bristle tooth brush and then a stiff bristle brush. It worked great. Possibly better than the fin tool and because the bristle are soft it did no damage.
Nice job!
My dad doesn’t know how to do anything so I have to do everything by myself.
thank you for showing me how to do this!
ha ha get married husband will do it
Thanks for the vid. Some of the others are spraying the Cleaner from the outside, and one even dirtier than this one did not even mention the cleaner step.
Thanks for watching, Mike!
Nice video, the dryer duct work cleaning video brought me here. Going to be looking for larger attachment pieces for air duct work, not just dryer ducts too. Great videos. To the point, no silly nonsense, calm, helpful, and carefully informative
Best and most thorough video I’ve seen of cleaning this thanks buddy
Nice and simple. Straight to the point. Thank you
Thanks RUclips, I had planned to do nothing this weekend. Not a huge project but still something. Thanks for the vid.
Thanks for the education on prolonging my system.
Thank you for educating in a simple way.
Why 430 dislikes??? This video was very informative. People Are Haters
I just watched three videos on this right before yours. Your video is by far the best! I think I can actually do this! I never would have considered this before....THANK YOU. Now I need to find a video on how to clean the inside fins. I'm pretty there are some on the unit up in my closet...
Glad I could help, Marci!
Thank you for the easy tutorial I have to get myself up on my roof and I was pretty worried about how I would clean that thing out but it looks to be a lot easier than I thought it would be so thank you for the good tutorial
New home owner here my a/c is about 13 years old so come summer I’ll give this a shot
My AC unit was WAY beyond needing a cleaning. Excellent video. I wish I knew that was a thing (and was as easy as it was) before I wasted energy over the last couple summers! 🤦♂️
Glad it helped!
Best video on cleaning an a/c condensing unit
Nice tutorial will save me money
Thank you for posting it, should help me cleaning my too, your video is pretty good and good job to make it flow better air.
Excellent training video. Thank you for sound advice! I am very experienced handyman and know when recommendations on youtube are sound or not.
Awesome, thank you!
Thanks for sharing the process and making it simple. I feel confident I can clean my unit now!
Your channel is excellent. Adding this to my list of jobs for spring when we bring the AC back on. And planning refrigerator coil clean this weekend.
Awesome! Thank you!
With my AC unit, it had not been cleaned for years by the prior owners. The leaves and debris had broken down into a a few inches of soil. It is difficult to be too critical with it being a 1979 Lennox that had been running whisper quiet for the last 12 years. At some point, I have to believe the compressor was replaced at some point. It is a Copeland scroll, I believe.
I think this old lady could do that! Great video, I will now, go out and examine my coils in the AC unit.
You can do it!
Thanks! Clear and simple explanation, excellent imaging. Good thing i watched this before doing what i had originally thought to do!
Same here!
I just bought my 1st home near Phoenix (with two AC units). Good to know - thank you for sharing your knowledge!!
Glad to help, and good luck with the new home, Jim!
Great video. Thanks! looking forward to following your steps and getting my HVAC in tiptop shape. Just had a technician from an HVAC company come out and told me I needed to clean it and the cost is $425. So happy to buy the coil cleaner linked in your comments for 14 bucks and save myself some cash. :-)
You can do it!
That price is insane. We have a local company that does the flush as part of their yearly "tune-up" for $90. Yeah, it's still cheaper to do it yourself, but nowhere near the price you were quoted.
im new at this. The other videos I have seen all start with the cover already off. this is very helpful Thank you
I'm glad this was helpful for you, Happy!
I don’t know what you do for a living but I honestly can say, you should be an instructor/ teacher 👨🏫
Thank you much for all DIY video, now I realized I have a lot of work to do.
Very helpful , I do really appreciate what you are doing.
Thanks for your video. I just ordered a bottle of cleaner and ready to clean the unit.
Thank you. You have the best DIY video for this type of maintenance. Simple, easy to understand and excellent content. Much appreciated!
Wow, thanks Enrique!
Hey I am a first time home buyer and I just wanted to say thank you for this informative video.
Very easy to understand video! 👍All home owners should watch it to save some money on their AC maintenance
Thanks 👍
Truly a well done video and exactly what I needed. Thank you.
Thanks dude!
You are awesome! Wow - thank you!
Awesome video brotha! I'm cleaning some coils at my school tomorrow, now I can walk in with some confidence
Holy smokes, thanks for this video. I've watched others but this one helped me understand the why and not just the how. Excellent pacing and info. I'm going to try this tomorrow or next weekend. Cheers!
Glad you liked it!
Thanks Immensely for this Video. I never thought it would be so easy to clean the outdoor unit!
Roland Singh, Canada 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Quick tip: I use a an old credit card to straighten out A/C fins. Run it up and down gently to realign. Also I use "Greased Lighting" multipurpose cleaner which I find works great. Check and replace any insulation on the pipes going to the air handler too.
That's a great tip about using a credit card - I'll have to give it a try next time I have some bent fins. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for posting this :) weve been renting our house for 4 years now neither us or our landlord has cleaned out the central air. Will have hubby do this tomorrow:)
Its 2020 do-it-yourself
...sounds like a "honey-do" to me.
Thanks for the video! Reaching the 100 degree+ mark here so LONG past due project. My unit sounds like a jet when it first starts up. That will have to wait, perhaps for a pro. It does work anyway.
Great video! It's winter now, but definitely going to do this in the spring! You make it look so easy!
This one really is pretty easy. Good luck with yours in the spring!
Very nice with all clear details, I will apply your instruction to clean my one this summer . Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome!
Great example of a clear, concise, well illustrated how-to video. Well done!
Many thanks!
Very well done, instructions clear and complete, and most importantly, understandable
Thank you for watching, Horace!
Keeping the area around the condenser clean cuts down on the debris that re-enters the coil. After washing go back a few days later and remove the debris on the ground that came out of the condenser coil during the cleaning.
Great tip, thanks!
Thanks for the tip!