Home AC question

[stinkbelly]

One of my home AC units need a little freon every summer to keep up. Well with all this recent heat I called the AC guy out to top it off. He hooked up the gauges and said it was good pressure. I think he said something about 80. He looked at the unit and saw a layer of hair on the condenser. He said that was causing it to not keep up. He sprayed it for 5 seconds with the hose and said it was good. After he left I decided to take the cover off and completely clean it out. My son raises show rabbits for 4H and there was a 1/4" layer of hair covering the entire condenser blades. I removed the hair and sprayed water from the inside to the outside to try to wash out anything stuck between the fins. Now it is back together and still not keeping up. Before I set it at 77 and it would get to 84 during the day. Now it gets to about 80.

Could the hair have damaged anything or caused anything to overheat? Could it have been too hot when he checked the pressure and gave the AC guy a false correct pressure?

I have not checked the temperature of the air coming out of the vent yet.

[hogslayer78]

I just had freon put in mine this past Friday. I have a slow leak somewhere but it last 3 summers when they have to put it in. Mine was 2 1/2lbs low.

[LonestarGent]

You can't properly diagnose a unit if the condenser coil is clogged. If you have a known leak, he should see the low charge after the coil was cleaned. Overheating can/ will damage a compressor but you would have to gauge up and check amp draws to determine that. Your unit may still be trying to recover.

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[thegrouse]

Hard to say, some of those condensers are sandwiched and it is tough to clean in between them. Will the water pass from the inside to the outside freely? If so it is probably getting the needed air through the fins. If the condenser is plugged you will run higher pressures and generate more heat on the compressor. Now that your condenser is completely clean you may find your gauges show low on freon. Check your temperature split between the supply and return air.

[bbqfan5909]

Also have them or yourself clean the inside coils.

[brokeno]

Find a new ac guy

[Smith]

It doesn’t sound like he was very thorough in his checks. I bet your system is low on refrigerant but the dirty condenser was raising pressure and making it look like it was close to where it was supposed to be.

[stinkbelly]

Water does run through the fins when I spray it from the inside to the outside.

[muzzlebrake]

Dirty condenser and restricted air flow equals incorrect readings every time. Condenser is definitely not rejecting heat as it should.

[rebelbow]

Find a new ac guy

this

[stinkbelly]

They came back out and said it was low on freon. He said he had to add 1 pound of R22 freon. I haven't received the bill yet, but how much is 1 pound of R22 freon?

[txhunter90]

They came back out and said it was low on freon. He said he had to add 1 pound of R22 freon. I haven't received the bill yet, but how much is 1 pound of R22 freon?

Depends on the company, I have $50/lb or upwards of $110/lb.

[PYBUCK]

That is a closed system. You should not have to add a pound of freon unless you have
a leak. Get another AC guy and have them check for a leak. Wet rabbit hair may not wash out with water. Get an air compressor and blow the fins out after the hair dries.

[MLAH]

It is not my intention to recommend this particular brand over another self foaming brand. It’s just an example. Basically they all will work ok. It's the self foaming feature that works to remove generally all of the crud found in the coil. This being an Alkaline base product one must use the appropriate PPE. They make a self foaming cleaner used on the evaporator that is not an acid or alkaline base product. I find for my own applications I generally use it on every coil I need to clean. The foaming action does the work just my $.02.

DiversiTech
DiversiTech - PRO-BLUE - Pro-Blue Foaming Concentrate (Non-Acid) Coil Cleaner - 1 Gallon Container

The Pro-Blue Is a Heavy-Foaming, Alkaline-Based Coil Cleaner Which Will Assist In Removing the Build-Up On Your Air-Cooled Condenser. Buy the Pro-Blue and Help Your Condenser Look As Good As New.

[Sasqy]

Get some coil cleaner at Morrison supply right there on 730 and Dicey rd !