Clean Split Air Conditioners
These days almost every household needs some form of air conditioning, often the split ductless air conditioner. This system is so compact, so energy efficient, and so low cost that most new homes are now pre-installed with it. However, these devices are small, so cleaning them can be a daunting task. What's more, having them cleaning professionally can be ridiculously costly, costing as much annually as 25%~35% of the cost of a new system. Hence, here is a set of DIY instructions for anyone who wants to clean their air conditioning units and get back the strong cool airflow of a brand new air conditioner. Be sure to read the warnings at the bottom first to avoid electrocution, and in my opinion it is essential to remove the front cover and clean inside it to avoid mould reinfecting what you have cleaned!
Contents
[hide]Steps
- Buy an aircon wash bag. These are available online and are custom bags designed to catch the waste water that accumulates when you clean your air conditioner.
- Buy a good coil cleaner. Avoid the foam type coil cleaners because they can be messy and spread foam everywhere. Foam sprays also may not penetrate the coils or rotor fan blades properly. So stick to liquid solution sprays.
- Beware of buying harsh chemical cleaners that are designed to attack organics, as they may damage newer air conditioners. Newer split air conditioners often come with their cooling coils coated with a blue-colored hydrophilic layer (which keeps the condensation flowing over the coils easily to improve airflow strength).
- Install the aircon wash bag around the split a/c unit (called an FCU-Fan Coil Unit) on the wall. This way you do not need to tear the system down like professionals do.
- Start spraying the chemical solution over the coils. Try to spray at an angle onto the cooling fins' surface as well as directly into the coils. Make sure the solution can reach as far into the coils as possible. One good suggestion is to put the nozzle as close to the fins as possible.
- Spray the rotary blades hidden in the outlet of the airflow. To get good results, you will need to use a far-reaching spray nozzle much like those of the pressure garden sprayer. Make sure to coat all the blades with the cleaning solution.
- Wait for 10 to 20 minutes for the cleaning solution to work. Then flush the coil and rotary blades with a water sprayer and see all the dirt and grime flow into the aircon wash bag. Note: some of the water from the coils will flow via the air conditioner's drainpipe.
- Wipe down the fan coil unit. Turn on the air conditioner and lift up the front of the bag to allow all the rinse water to spray into the bag. Now remove the wash bag by the ends carefully and dump the waste water. Get the satisfaction of seeing all the filth and dirt that comes out of your air conditioner!
Tips
- Be gentle and try not to exert too much pressure when brushing the cooling fins. They do bend and collapse easily under too much force.
- To avoid or clear a drainpipe clog, spray some coil cleaning solution into the drainpipe. Then flush water down the drainpipe. If you can reach the other end, use a wet shop vac to suck out and clear the drainpipe. This should be done especially if you have a leaking air conditioner.
- Use the long reach nozzle or a toothbrush to push the rotary blades round to get at all the blades.
- If you know how to remove the front casing of the air conditioner, you can clean the coils more thoroughly.
- If your sprayer is strong enough, the pressure alone will cause the blades to rotate, as long as you focus the spray on the lower third of the rotor facing you.
- Before you begin, you can remove the drain plug from the drip tray in your aircon unit to allow all the dirt to drain into the wash bag instead. This can avoid letting too much dirt flow into the drainpipe.
- A used toothbrush can be very useful in dislodging and scrubbing some of the stubborn spots on the coils and everywhere else, especially areas near the airflow outlet.
Warnings
- Avoid spraying any solution on the right side near the electronics.
- Lots of coil cleaners recommend leaving their chemical solution on the coils and letting the condensation clean and flush it away. However, rinsing it yourself is preferable, because the flushing action allows you to remove the tons of trapped dirt. Also, leaving cleaning chemicals on the coils gives rise to VOCs (Volatile Organic Chemicals), which are usually not healthy for our respiratory system even if they are organically natural products. Long term exposure to such concentrations of cleaning chemicals is not advisable.
- Turn off the mains power supply breakers that control the air conditioner unit, including the compressor, before you start this cleaning process.
Things You'll Need
- Aircon wash bag
- Aircon care & cleaning solution
- Garden pressure sprayer
- Toothbrush (used will do)
- Wrist guards (Optional, for comfort and protection)
