If you wish to scrub, polish and pamper your unit--exhaust yourself. But remember, that will be for looks and not for function of the air conditioner. I am concerned here with function.

Damage the unit while gardening or circuit breaker resetting:

• Constantly I encounter control wires to the outside unit cut in two with weed eaters and trimmers. Often times the transformer for the controls is burned because the wires were also shorted together. These control wires are usually just 24 VAC (voltage alternating current) and are relatively harmless. Because of that, often they are not shielded near the unit and are easily cut by careless weed removal and a lack of knowledge by your gardener or grandson as they clear the undergrowth. Dogs love to chew and pull them loose. They really need to be shielded from this abuse.

• Another major damage that occurs is to the fins of the condenser coil. Weed eaters will cut grass well, but can also cut the bark off small trees and just as quickly flatten huge areas of the coils on the outside condensing unit. It's a big problem because air can no longer go through and do its work and the efficiency of the unit is decreased again. If this persists each mowing, irreparable damage will result and the coil or the unit will need replacement. Big Bucks!

• Another very common error that may greatly damage this unit is continual resetting of the circuit breaker. If the breaker trips, something caused it. I suggest you reset it once and if it trips again, find and fix the problem or call someone who will. If you continually reset the breaker and make whatever is the cause keep happening, it may very likely cost you a lot of money. Many times a wire connection on a compressor will be faulty and the homeowner resets the breaker several times that night and during the next day or even longer and sooner or later the compressor "gives up the ghost". You buy a new one or replace the outside unit unnecessarily. A proper repair could have saved you hundreds of dollars.
  

Dogs allowed near the condensing unit:

Since I mentioned animals above, let me share a little-known fact about dogs and the condenser coil fins.

• These fins are made of aluminum and the urine of male dogs will react as a strong alkali on that area of the fins and they will powder-up, crumble and fall off the unit. You end up with a huge hole in the condenser coils or an area of dead aluminum mass that will either pass unused air or will be too dense a mass of gunk to pass any air through that area of damaged fins. Needless to say, this is bad.

• Animals should not be allowed within ten feet of the condensers. Dogs love to lay in the moving air of the intake of the unit and the fins of the coil fill solid with their hair and cost you money. It is nearly impossible to get out of the coil.

Dogs fill the coils with their hair, dig and throw dirt into the coils, and destroy the fins with their urine. It seems like good advise to keep them away.

I recommend, when the decor permits, that the condenser be fenced from animals. In mobile home conditions, where there may be exposed duct, this is even more important. One hole in a Return Air Duct can cost you hundreds of dollars in a single season if it is not repaired immediately.

• If you surround just the unit with fencing, then remember to:

  • Allow at least three feet of clearance all around it for servicing of the unit.

  • Please install a gate in the fence. The gate of any fence to the condenser should be large enough to carry a complete unit through it. You may need a new one some day.

    If you must place a lock on the gate, then please know where the key is located and make sure other family members know where it is located as well. Usually, what I encounter is that this key is so seldom used that when it is really needed it can't be found at all and the lock won't work well if it is found.

  • Don't expect the service technician to climb over the fence with his forty pounds of tools and his six trips back and forth to the vehicle.

    And please turn OFF THE AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM. Don't even run it the night or morning before you expect the service man to show up to walk in your grass and through the shrubs and into your living room.

• Don't let your fencing contractor place that privacy fence directly against the condensing unit either. He probably doesn't know not to do this, but you must or you will be asked to move it some day soon. Many have been placed right up against the control panel and service is all (or almost) impossible and the safety of the repairman is really jeopardized.

If your service person has to lean over the unit and thus placing himself in danger from electrical hazards, then he or she may or may not be able to service your unit well. Would you, if you knew your life were "on the line" with every move you make?

Blowing grass mower debris into the unit:

Probably the most common thing that fills the fins of the condenser coils is the fragments of the scattered remains of the grass thrown into the air toward a RUNNING condensing unit. A three ton condenser "sucks-in" about 2,500 cubic feet of air per minute as it runs. Even if the unit is not running, the wet remains of the grass and dirt will stick to the unit like mild glue and then be sucked in the first time it comes on next cycle.

All you have to do to completely eliminate this problem is to turn off the air conditioner while you mow on that side of the house and simply direct the mower to blow the rubble the other direction. After it settles and the air is again clear, then turn it back on. That's not a lot of trouble, but it sure does a very good thing to help keep the unit clean and efficiently operating and lasting as long as possible.

Stacking things on top of the condensing unit:

It doesn't sound like much to lay a coiled garden hose, two spray nozzles and a remote sprinkler on the top of an upflow condenser, but the restriction of air is a big deal. Simply avoid this practice if you like to save money.

Planting prickly or wild-growing things near the unit:

If your yearly (or sooner) service visit from the professional finds an overgrown thorny rose bush engulfing the unit, how well do you think he or she is going to service it? Have mercy on them and also get your moneys worth--just don't do it.

I actually had one customer allow a twenty feet diameter Pampas Grass to totally encompass the unit. He simply said, "You can get in there." I wouldn't! I asked him, in the most polite tone I could muster, to remove it or have it removed and call me when it was cleared. He never called and I didn't either.

Remember, as you plant a beautiful garden of flowers or vegetables covering the ground around the unit, that it will need to be serviced and tool boxes, footsteps and garden hoses will have to get in there on the next visit from the service technician.

It is really a good idea to partition-off a nice area around the unit and fill it with a decorative layer of rocks. This will not only help to keep the feet of the repairperson clean (they will surely have to go inside your home before they are finished), but it will greatly reduce the amount of dust and splashed dirt, etc. that gets into the coils of the condenser. Again saving you money!

Great fear that the lines' insulation is missing:

The refrigerant lines are the copper tubes that come from within the house that are attached to the cooling coils and make their way under the slab, through the attic or under the house to connect to the compressor and condenser coils in the outside unit. One of these tubes, the larger of the two, is always insulated with tubing insulation--usually black and spongy. The purpose of this insulation is mostly to prevent the moisture that will form on this cold tube from dripping onto the interior of the house. Near the outside unit it makes little difference if it is insulated because you could care less if it drips on the grass.

So if the dogs chew it off or it deteriorates and falls off or is knocked off by the weed cutting, etc. it is of no importance.

This bit of insulation outside in the weather near the condenser is usually one of the homeowners biggest concerns and in truth it is one of the very least important things you have to worry about. The loss of energy in this small section of tubing is, to say the least, minimal.

But, inside the house or in the attic it is VERY important and should be inspected if you have any moisture on surfaces below the tubing set. This can be a starting point for termites and wood rot, etc. The tubing insulation needs to be in perfect condition and sealed from the air at every joint. Over the years, it will harden and contract some and the joints will draw apart. This needs to be repaired. It is amazing how much water can form on this cold suction line.

If you have comments, suggestions or you solved a problem with the aid of this free site, please email me at jamesnix@longviewweb.com