How to Clean AC Condennser Coils

All commercial AC units demand regular upkeep regardless of quality or price tag. Skimping on proper care and maintenance of your HVAC unit can lead to inefficiencies, costly failures, and reduced lifespan. This goes a long way in making sure you increase operating costs and reducing equipment lifespans.

Of course, many components in a commercial AC require care and maintenance, but technicians tend to overlook the system’s evaporator and condenser coils. What they fail to realize is that this is a big mistake. Skimping on the cleanliness of an HVAC unit’s coil will impair functioning and drive-up energy costs.

It is worth noting that dirty coils can increase energy consumption by 37%. Inspecting and cleaning the entire commercial AC and its evaporator and condenser coils annually, at a minimum, will certainly increase system efficiency and undoubtedly helps ensure the system lasts longer.

But how does the commercial AC condenser coil become dirty.  The commercial AC system compressor pulls refrigerant through the evaporator coil to absorb heat and cool incoming air before transferring it throughout the building. The condenser coils release absorbed heat outdoors.

A scheduled maintenance plan is the ideal way to ensure condenser and evaporator coils stay clean. As a rule of thumb, commercial AC coil cleaning should happen annually. But there are instances where cleaning should occur more frequently.

Make it the norm to clean condenser coils operating in extreme conditions, quarterly; units within a mile of salt water, monthly; and AC evaporator coils operating in corrosive environments, quarterly.

To clean commercial AC condenser coils, you will first have to disconnect and lock out the electrical power to the air conditioning system to prevent it from turning on during cleaning. You need to protect motors and electrical components from oversaturation that can cause motor and electrical failure.

You need to remove large debris from air conditioner coils and straighten fins. Back flush condenser coils with water using a medium water pressure and water flow over 2.5 GPM. Specialty cleaning systems designed to clean condenser coils work best to help ensure your commercial AC is fully operational.