I will be performing maintenace on my AC's. tomorrow. One question.

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Rene T

Rene T

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Tomorrow I plan on going on the roof, remove to AC covers and washing the condenser fins carefully. If I use a water hose to rinse, is there any way for water to seep into the RV other than by the gasket between the AC and the roof which I will avoid hopefully?
 
Not unless you also remove the inside plenum cover that encloses the evaporator and inside blower.  Then you have a substantial hole directly into the interior.

If the gasket leaks, you want to fix it anyway, or you'll get rainwater inside the RV.
 
Rene, I have found Super Clean works very well for cleaning condensers. I mix it 1/3 to 2/3 water and spray it on with a sprayer, then rinse with water straight from the hose, no nozzle.
 
Charlie 5320 said:
Rene, I have found Super Clean works very well for cleaning condensers. I mix it 1/3 to 2/3 water and spray it on with a sprayer, then rinse with water straight from the hose, no nozzle.
Click to expand...

I was going to use a mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle.

Update: I just went down in my basement to see what else I may have and guess what I found. A spray bottle of Super Clean. Now I'm ready.
 
Well I did it. I surprised to find or what I didn't find. It wasn't that dirty up there. The sheet metal housings, compressors, fans and the motors were covered with a layer of dust but the condenser fins were relatively clean. I did use super Clean and it worked real good. One of the AC's was 6 years old and the other was 4 years old and they've never been cleaned as far as I can remember.
Now, Bring on the heat. I'm ready.
 
Congratulations!  While you were up there, did you notice if any of the cooling fins were flattened out, or are they all straight so air can pass through?  If any were flattened, that will block the airflow through that portion of the condensor just like having it plugged with dirt.

You can get an inexpensive fin straightening tool at most hardware stores, you run it down the fins and the teeth straighten them out like a using a comb.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Congratulations!  While you were up there, did you notice if any of the cooling fins were flattened out, or are they all straight so air can pass through?  If any were flattened, that will block the airflow through that portion of the condensor just like having it plugged with dirt.

You can get an inexpensive fin straightening tool at most hardware stores, you run it down the fins and the teeth straighten them out like a using a comb.
Click to expand...

They looked good.
 
Rene T said:
They looked good.
Click to expand...
When I was in the field cleaning residential condensers, some of them had a lot of mold in them stopping them up. I found Super Clean worked almost as good as the commercial coil cleaner but without the damage to the coil, and a lot cheaper. Dawn liquid does a good job to for just dirt. 
 
Not to say my method is better than any other however, when I clean AC coils, home, boat, or RV, first I spray a coil cleaner and wait 10 minutes then using a water hose on one side and wet vac on the other side. No mess and nice clean results. Using this method I can also clean the return air coils without allowing water to enter the vehicle or house.  (of course the boat has only evap coils but you get the idea)

After cleaning use a coil comb to straighten any bent fins.

Cheers!
 
whiteva said:
Not to say my method is better than any other however, when I clean AC coils, home, boat, or RV, first I spray a coil cleaner and wait 10 minutes then using a water hose on one side and wet vac on the other side. No mess and nice clean results. Using this method I can also clean the return air coils without allowing water to enter the vehicle or house.  (of course the boat has only evap coils but you get the idea)

After cleaning use a coil comb to straighten any bent fins.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I can just see me on my RV roof with a garden hose and my huge Craftsman Shop Vac. It ain't going to happen.  But thanks for the idea. It may work for some people. 
 
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