HVAC - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Part 3

My work continued on our A/C system at the house.  It started with a trip to Home Depot.  Since I needed to replace the insulation on the pipes outside, it was important to pick up some new insulation and zip ties. 

I was so focused on my work I forgot to take pictures, but believe me, the old insulation was falling apart.  It just completely fell apart in my hands.  So I put the new insulation on, and tightened it down with zip ties.  I feel pretty good about it.  Here's the "after" pictures.

The hardest part was just getting around to the back of the units.  The concrete is very hard on the knees.  Luckily, I remembered an old towel I had, so I tucked it underneath my knees. 

I also got back to cleaning the inside coils.  Again, I forgot to take pictures.  But here is what it looked like before.

I talked to my HVAC Instructor Raul yesterday, and he told me to NOT take it out.  Just leave it where it was.  Go ahead and hit it with coil cleaner, and let it sit for five minutes.  Since it sits in a pan, I could use the water hose on low, and the water would drain down the pipes.  I had my shop/vac on standby for any water that made it out of the pan, but not much managed to get out. 

For reference, this is your friend:

So now it's time to let the system run for a bit, and see if everything improves.  It's already gotten colder in the house.  Now it's time to see if the electric bill comes down a bit.  Since this is about the hottest time of year in Florida, the difference should be really noticeable.  Hopefully things will turn out for the best, and I may be able to write part four of this blog.

HVAC - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Part 2

So this is the third day I have worked/ cleaned the A/C system.  Today was the day I worked on inside part of the system.  (Yes, I know I could use technical terms, but no one would know what I was talking about.)  So, let me show you a picture of it.

The unit on the right is pretty new so I didn't have to worry about it.  The one on the left is 22 years old, and the one I needed to work on. 

So the question is, "Did it have some mold?"  Well, just a little bit.

And to answer the question, "Did it have a bit of dust in it?"  Well, yes.  Yes it did.

So I took my shop vacuum and went to town cleaning the vents.  I also knocked some of the mold and dust off the sides.

I also went to town with the Lysol.  I will say this, it couldn't hurt.  I'm not sure how much it helped, but I let loose with the Lysol.

The next part was to take the unit out, and use the coil cleaner on it.  However, it was bolted in there so well, I had no idea how to take it out.  So at this time I left it in.  I figured I would do more damage than good if I tried to take it out.  I'm a bit disappointed in myself, but as I get to know more about HVAC I will feel more confident that I can take the unit apart without damaging it. 

So, I will talk to my instructors about the unit, and hopefully in the future I will be able to take it apart without damaging it. 

HVAC - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Lately my posts have been about how I have been going to school studying HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning.)  Right now, I know enough to seriously screw something up, and not be able to fix it.  But it was time to do something that I can do, and that's cleaning.  By cleaning the outside units and the inside vents I can bring down the costs on the electric bill.

It's funny, but at school we actually cleaned the big dual units in the automotive department.  The units were so plugged up that the pressure on the high side on one of the units was 300 PSI.  That means when it hits 301 PSI it will trip the breaker.  After we cleaned the outside unit, it brought the pressure down to 220 PSI (on the high side.)  That's a huge difference.  And all we did was use coil cleaner on the coils, and take a water hose to it. 

So I figured it was time to do this to our units.  The house is 22 years old, and has two A/C units.  (As pictured.)

 One is a Cumberland and is still running after all these years.  (As pictured.)

The other is a Trane, and is the third unit we've had for that side of the house.  It replaced the old unit just a year ago.  When I looked at it, it was really clean so there was no need to clean it.

So I took apart the Cumberland A/C unit, and gave it a good cleaning.  It's made a little differently than I am used to seeing.  The outside part of the unit is basically grill cloths protecting the inside which houses the coils.  So after removing 20 screws to get the top off, I sprayed it down with coil cleaner.  I then went to town on the grill cloths while the cleaner did it's job. 

I used my shop vacuum to remove some old leaves and grass from the inside of the unit.  I then used the water hose to spray the coils from the inside to outside.  I gave it a good, nay, great cleaning.  I put everything back together, and I put back 19 of the 20 screws.  (I have no idea where that last screw went.) 

So that was more time consuming than it was mentally challenging.  However, I was in the full Florida heat, and it really started to wear me down by the end of it. 

So the next day, Saturday, I decided to clean the inside vents.  Again, after 22 years they can get full of stuff.  I was cleaning one of the vents when I thought, "Why don't I just pull the two screws so I can run it under some water?"

Here's what the outside and around the vent looked like.

So I went to town around the vent and inside the vent.

This lead to a lot of gunk falling down everywhere.  This lead me to get out my shop vacuum.  It's a Rigid wet/dry vacuum, and has served me well for many years.

I then continued to do more of the same around the house.  Namely, take off the vents, and give them a good cleaning, and shoot a bunch of Lysol down the vents.  Then I would break out the shop vacuum, and clean everything up.  Some of the vents weren't too bad, and all I had to do was wipe them down.  While I was at it with my rag and bucket of water, I went ahead and cleaned off the fans.  Those things collect a ton of dust in no time at all. 

So my next step will be to take the inside unit apart and clean the coils in it.  I will also clean out the drain lines.  I'll try to remember to get lots of pictures of it so I can write a second part to this blog.