/ News & Press / Video / 23 Year Old A_C Evaporator Coils - Cleaned For 1st Time
23 Year Old A_C Evaporator Coils - Cleaned For 1st Time
WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en
00:00:00.319 well if you've ever wondered what 00:00:03.57900:00:03.589 twenty-three-year-old 00:00:05.88900:00:05.899 interior evaporator coils look like that 00:00:09.79900:00:09.809 have never been cleaned there's your 00:00:12.47000:00:12.480 answer it's 2016 now this unit was put 00:00:16.27900:00:16.289 in my house in 1993 and I like an idiot 00:00:21.47000:00:21.480 I knew they needed to be cleaned 00:00:23.99000:00:24.000 periodically but you know my a/c just 00:00:26.72000:00:26.730 seemed to do okay so I didn't worry 00:00:30.23000:00:30.240 about it until this year it started to 00:00:32.74900:00:32.759 seem to me like it had to run longer and 00:00:34.81900:00:34.829 longer and longer to cool the house so 00:00:37.15000:00:37.160 I'm finally doing it I had to take off a 00:00:42.17000:00:42.180 little access panel on the side of my 00:00:45.74000:00:45.750 HVAC system to get to where the coils 00:00:48.52900:00:48.539 are and I watched a couple of YouTube 00:00:51.68000:00:51.690 videos on how to do it and everything on 00:00:58.81900:00:58.829 there is dry now so I'm going to I don't 00:01:01.36900:01:01.379 have a thin comb I have a hard plastic 00:01:05.17900:01:05.189 bristle brush and I'm going to gently 00:01:07.91000:01:07.920 try to clean away all this stuff and 00:01:09.64900:01:09.659 then I have a shot back that I'm going 00:01:11.87000:01:11.880 to vacuum up with the loose stuff and 00:01:13.60900:01:13.619 then spray some coil cleaner on it I'm 00:01:16.82000:01:16.830 not going to take everything out like 00:01:19.34000:01:19.350 several people suggested was the only 00:01:21.80000:01:21.810 way to really clean them I'm going to 00:01:24.02000:01:24.030 take it apart in the front and clean the 00:01:25.91000:01:25.920 other side as well but I just wanted you 00:01:28.07000:01:28.080 to see what 23 year old coils look like 00:01:31.52000:01:31.530 that have never been cleaned and I 00:01:32.74900:01:32.759 change the filter religiously culture 00:01:35.89900:01:35.909 does not get very dirty before I'm 00:01:37.31000:01:37.320 cleaning it and replacing it so that's 00:01:42.67900:01:42.689 23 years worth of buildup right there so 00:01:45.49900:01:45.509 I'm going to switch to this old digital 00:01:48.13900:01:48.149 camera that I have a tripod for so it 00:01:50.14900:01:50.159 will free up both hands and so the 00:01:51.74000:01:51.750 quality of the video won't be as good as 00:01:53.84000:01:53.850 this iPhone but stand by and I'll start 00:01:56.83000:01:56.840 gingerly trying to scrape this dress 00:01:59.60000:01:59.610 stuff off 00:02:03.10900:02:03.119 all right here we go 00:02:05.13000:02:05.140 whoops I want to brush straight down 00:02:13.22000:02:13.230 with the fins you don't want to brush 00:02:17.22000:02:17.230 across because the fins run vertically 00:02:19.86000:02:19.870 up and down and the air passes through 00:02:22.50000:02:22.510 the fins so if you come this way and 00:02:25.32000:02:25.330 you're going to bend the fins over so 00:02:27.86900:02:27.879 you want to go straight up and down and 00:02:33.96000:02:33.970 you can see that this hard bristle 00:02:39.42000:02:39.430 plastic brush cleaning this dressed-up 00:02:42.42000:02:42.430 off let's make it kind of nasty to 00:02:45.33000:02:45.340 breathe in here but I'll get as much 00:02:53.05900:02:53.069 cleaned up this brush and then I'll 00:03:00.66000:03:00.670 vacuum it out with this shop that 00:03:09.36000:03:09.370 and spray the core later on like I said 00:03:12.13000:03:12.140 and then when you cut the unit on the 00:03:13.78000:03:13.790 condensation of water it runs down fins 00:03:17.71000:03:17.720 should wash the coil cleaner off you can 00:03:23.80000:03:23.810 see right there 00:03:24.81000:03:24.820 this should make a huge difference once 00:03:28.78000:03:28.790 I finish this off in a minute 20-30 00:03:36.79000:03:36.800 years 00:03:40.59000:03:40.600 all right Oh come back when I got all 00:03:43.75000:03:43.760 this kind off back all right I've got 00:03:50.35000:03:50.360 about as much as I could get off with uh 00:03:52.06000:03:52.070 with the brush again brushing down with 00:03:57.88000:03:57.890 the fins not across the fence because 00:04:00.10000:04:00.110 you don't want to bend them over so now 00:04:02.68000:04:02.690 I'm ready with a shot back and I'm going 00:04:06.64000:04:06.650 to do the same thing when I vacuumed I'm 00:04:08.23000:04:08.240 gonna go down I'm not going to go across 00:04:09.85000:04:09.860 the fence because I don't want to take a 00:04:11.11000:04:11.120 chance on bending them so I'm just gonna 00:04:13.15000:04:13.160 pull the shot back straight down and to 00:04:16.78000:04:16.790 get to the bottom I'll put it down there 00:04:19.93000:04:19.940 you know and pull it up so don't go 00:04:21.78900:04:21.799 across go with the fence all right so go 00:04:27.07000:04:27.080 be some noise I'm gonna shut the camera 00:04:28.63000:04:28.640 off all right the front side of the fins 00:04:34.98000:04:34.990 the side opposite of this I took the 00:04:40.36000:04:40.370 sheet metal screws off down the side 00:04:42.31000:04:42.320 here and I was able to pry this out 00:04:44.92000:04:44.930 enough to see that the fins on this side 00:04:49.00000:04:49.010 were not dirty I tried getting a picture 00:04:51.43000:04:51.440 of it you know with the camera but I 00:04:53.68000:04:53.690 could see in there well enough to know 00:04:55.12000:04:55.130 that they were not dirty and I held this 00:04:56.86000:04:56.870 light in on this side and I could see 00:05:00.22000:05:00.230 light coming through the fins on this 00:05:03.25000:05:03.260 side so I didn't take this apart any 00:05:05.77000:05:05.780 farther because I would have had to take 00:05:08.50000:05:08.510 sheet metal screws off all the way 00:05:10.03000:05:10.040 around the top and then have to bend it 00:05:11.89000:05:11.900 all the way down that would have been a 00:05:12.91000:05:12.920 hassle I could see well enough to know 00:05:14.83000:05:14.840 that this side of the fins decide on the 00:05:17.92000:05:17.930 discharge side going out the vents was 00:05:20.80000:05:20.810 not dirty 00:05:21.58000:05:21.590 so cleaning this side I think was enough 00:05:26.55000:05:26.560 so I'm going to let it ride with that 00:05:29.73000:05:29.740 I'm going to spray this web coil cleaner 00:05:36.82000:05:36.830 on it then I'm going to close it back up 00:05:40.00000:05:40.010 and cut the unit on in the condensation 00:05:43.75000:05:43.760 the water condensation running down 00:05:45.82000:05:45.830 these fins should rinse it off should 00:05:49.65900:05:49.669 rinse off the coils so that'll be it if 00:05:53.83000:05:53.840 you have an older AC unit take it apart 00:05:58.53000:05:58.540 get to your evaporator coils see how 00:06:02.05000:06:02.060 dirty they are save you some money and 00:06:04.69000:06:04.700 if you would if you're trying to locate 00:06:06.28000:06:06.290 where the coils are wherever you're 00:06:08.89000:06:08.900 there's a drain hold on let me get 00:06:12.01000:06:12.020 around the other side I'll show you all 00:06:15.28000:06:15.290 right this is a side directly opposite 00:06:17.17000:06:17.180 where I was working I was working right 00:06:19.81000:06:19.820 over there and right on the other side 00:06:21.96900:06:21.979 of this same housing you can see the 00:06:25.45000:06:25.460 other side of the coils so I pried apart 00:06:28.24000:06:28.250 I took that panel off on the other side 00:06:31.27000:06:31.280 to get to the front of these coils but 00:06:34.36000:06:34.370 there should be a PVC drain line or 00:06:38.44000:06:38.450 maybe it's a galvanized metal drain line 00:06:40.69000:06:40.700 and that will be right below where your 00:06:42.90900:06:42.919 coils are if you're trying to locate 00:06:44.92000:06:44.930 your coils that's where your 00:06:46.57000:06:46.580 condensation line is where water runs to 00:06:51.43000:06:51.440 the outside of your house here's the 00:06:53.23000:06:53.240 clean-out where every so often every few 00:06:57.94000:06:57.950 months I'll pour bleach down in that 00:07:00.31000:07:00.320 hole to keep mildew from forming inside 00:07:04.15000:07:04.160 the pipe which can block it up a little 00:07:08.40900:07:08.419 cap right there but piece it fits back 00:07:10.60000:07:10.610 in there but I'll pour about a quart of 00:07:15.85000:07:15.860 bleach down that line every couple of 00:07:20.62000:07:20.630 months turn to summer just to make sure 00:07:23.20000:07:23.210 it's clean but anyway that may help you 00:07:26.32000:07:26.330 find your vaporators coals look for your 00:07:29.74000:07:29.750 drain line and right above it should be 00:07:32.02000:07:32.030 your coils and your drain pan 00:07:35.50000:07:35.510 also we'll be right below the coils and 00:07:37.44000:07:37.450 again I have to replace this because 00:07:39.61000:07:39.620 mine's rusted through 17 about 38 inches 00:07:43.78000:07:43.790 so I got a fun one somewhere all right 00:07:46.90000:07:46.910 so next up we'll be spraying the coil 00:07:49.45000:07:49.460 cleaner all right here again is a coil 00:07:52.06000:07:52.070 cleaner I'm going to use web coil 00:07:54.04000:07:54.050 cleaner bought it at Home Depot and it 00:07:58.21000:07:58.220 says to apply liberally shake the can 00:08:00.04000:08:00.050 well let it sit on there for a few 00:08:02.56000:08:02.570 minutes and then rinse it with water if 00:08:04.21000:08:04.220 you're using using it to clean the 00:08:06.61000:08:06.620 outside unit the fins on your outside 00:08:08.62000:08:08.630 unit but for units for interior units 00:08:11.80000:08:11.810 that create condensation you don't have 00:08:14.17000:08:14.180 to rinse it but I am a little bit using 00:08:16.62000:08:16.630 just just plain water clean water in a 00:08:20.14000:08:20.150 spray bottle so I'm going to spray that 00:08:21.46000:08:21.470 on let it sit for a few minutes and then 00:08:24.97000:08:24.980 rinse it off with this spray bottle 00:08:29.50000:08:29.510 water from spray bottle 00:08:30.94000:08:30.950 so I've already shaken it up pretty good 00:08:35.55000:08:35.560 and now here we go 00:08:46.63900:08:46.649 foaming cleaner alright that's what I'm 00:08:57.78000:08:57.790 going to do it's hard to do this in home 00:08:59.00900:08:59.019 to canvass it let's pray that on the 00:09:00.81000:09:00.820 whole on all the fins and then let it 00:09:04.13900:09:04.149 sit for a few minutes alright this is my 00:09:08.12900:09:08.139 second coat of cleaner as I figured with 00:09:13.10000:09:13.110 going through all the hassle of taking 00:09:16.05000:09:16.060 this apart to clean it I may as well use 00:09:18.94900:09:18.959 two applications to get it as clean as 00:09:21.24000:09:21.250 possible seven bucks a can or so so look 00:09:27.38900:09:27.399 it goes fire dept 25 shifts and I will 00:09:32.91000:09:32.920 be retired from that fire department you 00:09:35.91000:09:35.920 hear after thirty two and a half years 00:09:38.34000:09:38.350 woohoo get it boys 00:09:42.86000:09:42.870 alright there you have the clean coils 00:09:45.68900:09:45.699 we still see a little bit of dirt on 00:09:48.03000:09:48.040 some of the fins and I applied cleaner 00:09:50.85000:09:50.860 several times to a couple of spots and 00:09:53.06900:09:53.079 scrubbed it as hard as I could but some 00:09:55.07900:09:55.089 of that stuff's just not coming off so 00:09:56.31000:09:56.320 after 23 years of not being cleaned I 00:09:58.80000:09:58.810 guess it's just it's on there but this 00:10:03.15000:10:03.160 is way better than what it was if you 00:10:04.92000:10:04.930 remember back to the beginning of the 00:10:06.21000:10:06.220 video so this this is going to have to 00:10:10.23000:10:10.240 help our system cool the house better 00:10:12.21000:10:12.220 no have to be a difference because I 00:10:15.21000:10:15.220 don't even I don't see how air was 00:10:16.38000:10:16.390 getting through all that that mess it 00:10:18.36000:10:18.370 was on it when I started so anyway 00:10:21.38900:10:21.399 that's it let me put this aside cover 00:10:22.68000:10:22.690 back on 00:10:25.22000:10:25.230 all right the cover that I had to take 00:10:27.30000:10:27.310 off to get the coils back on I've got it 00:10:29.34000:10:29.350 sealed up with tape around the edges AC 00:10:32.40000:10:32.410 tape that aluminum shiny silver tape um 00:10:36.76900:10:36.779 so that's that's about it and again to 00:10:40.29000:10:40.300 find your coils look right above your 00:10:42.66000:10:42.670 drain pan look for your drain line also 00:10:46.19900:10:46.209 the drain line will come out of right 00:10:49.59000:10:49.600 where your coils or because the 00:10:51.38900:10:51.399 condensation that drips down from the 00:10:52.88900:10:52.899 coils runs out your drain line and the 00:10:55.35000:10:55.360 drain pan is underneath your coils just 00:10:57.12000:10:57.130 in case the drain line doesn't work or 00:10:58.86000:10:58.870 something doesn't work 00:10:59.82000:10:59.830 believe the pan catches it so it doesn't 00:11:01.89000:11:01.900 drip down into your insulation and into 00:11:04.59000:11:04.600 your ceiling down below if you don't 00:11:07.41000:11:07.420 feel comfortable doing this getting up 00:11:10.47000:11:10.480 in your attic 00:11:11.33000:11:11.340 don't try it I've got a board you know 00:11:14.82000:11:14.830 across the rafters across the joists 00:11:17.06000:11:17.070 don't step on the insulation don't step 00:11:20.28000:11:20.290 through the ceiling be careful that's 00:11:23.16000:11:23.170 about it but you did see 23 years worth 00:11:25.83000:11:25.840 of buildup on my coils and the unit 00:11:29.19000:11:29.200 there's a lot more air coming through my 00:11:30.60000:11:30.610 AC ducts and it is cooling better you 00:11:34.26000:11:34.270 know it's visible it's not visible but 00:11:37.11000:11:37.120 it's a it's a difference you can feel 00:11:38.49000:11:38.500 alright so anyway hope this helps you 00:11:42.03000:11:42.040 out peace out from Georgia
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