Maintenance Aircon How And When

[rgrdns]

Hi guys,

I liked to know the following processes:

_When should men clean the aircon and how often?

_When should men maintain/clean the compressor and how often?

_Any idea how to maintain the compressor?

_What are the costs/prices to maintain/clean aircon and compressor in Bangkok?

Which company in Bangkok is reliable and gives a good service.

THX

[slorson]

In answer to your questions below;

1] When should men clean the aircon and how often?

Clean the air filters once a year. Do this yourself. Also, consider this - the dirtier a filter is, the better it filters. Unfortunately, the dirtier it is, the less air it allows through.

2] When should men maintain/clean the compressor and how often?

It sounds like you are talking about a "split system", in which there are 2 parts - an "inside the house" part (evaporator) & an "outside the house" part (condensor). The outside part contains the compressor. An annual visual inspection is all that is required for this part of the a/c. Vegetation, rubbish (like plastic bags) or vermin (birds nests etc) should be removed if found in the unit.

3] Any idea how to maintain the compressor?

Maintenance is not required for the compressor.

3] What are the costs/prices to maintain/clean aircon and compressor in Bangkok?

Can't help you on this.

4] Which company in Bangkok is reliable and gives a good service?

Don't know.

Generally speaking, DX units (Direct Expansion) are sealed & do not require any maintenance, not withstanding the cleaning of air filters & keeping the condensor coil free from debris that could inhibit air flow.

It's been my experience that Thai a/c installers do a poor job (bad solder joints, sharp pipe bends) & as a result, the a/c units are prone to gas leakages.

[rgs2001uk]

1. The wife usually washes the filters every 3-4 months.

3. Anywhere from 5-700 baht if gas has to be topped up.

4. Take your pick from the hundreds of adverts all over the place, my best advice, get someone local.

[kyrre]

There are 2 types of cleaning that has to be done. The Filters talked above here is the dust filters in the inside unit. These should be clean as often as necessary and depends of the environment the unit is placed in.

The fan coil should also be cleaned to get the max temp different to the surrounding so that you get best temp transfer. You can use different cleaning here, but aluminium cleaner, special solution from your local air-con shop, and some use the solution for cleaning coffee machine.

Put on spray bottle, turn off air-con and take off front cover. Then spray the fan coil and let it stay for a while before you rinse good with water.

If the installation is done properly general inspection and cleaning is all that you need to do. If you have leak then this should be fixed, and not refilled at regular basis. In most European country's this is in fact illegal not to do, due to the KFC gas inside and the environment effect.

[kerfuffle]

i think a gecko died in on of my units. It stinks to high heaven for about 5 minutes once turned on.

unpleasant to say the least.

I just isolated the smell so having someone clean it out on Monday

[lopburi3]

1. You should clean the filters at least once a month or more if they show much dirt - this slows the air flow greatly making you increase the fan speed pulling in more dirt through the filter that lodges in the fan coils to stay. Filters need to be clean. Unfiltered air goes around a dirty filter.

2. Profession cleaning would be recommended every six months for most people here - but will depend on usage and amount of dirt - service and you can see the amount of dirt removed and base later visits on what you learn. This is for both inside and outside fan coils and general cleaning. The compressor is a sealed unit in oil and never internally cleaned.

3. Nothing required if you actually mean the compressor. Just keep voltage high enough when running and when you have failure it will likely only be the starter cap. Normally they are so reliable guaranteed 5 years.

4. I pay 500 baht each - this is cleaning of both inside and outside units with high pressure water/cleaner and checking operation.

5. I would ask around your area - although many users may never call except to repair. I use an independent provider.

[rgrdns]

Thank you so much for your time and info.

Regards,

rgrdns

[bankruatsteve]

1. You should clean the filters at least once a month or more if they show much dirt - this slows the air flow greatly making you increase the fan speed pulling in more dirt through the filter that lodges in the fan coils to stay. Filters need to be clean. Unfiltered air goes around a dirty filter.

2. Profession cleaning would be recommended every six months for most people here - but will depend on usage and amount of dirt - service and you can see the amount of dirt removed and base later visits on what you learn. This is for both inside and outside fan coils and general cleaning. The compressor is a sealed unit in oil and never internally cleaned.

3. Nothing required if you actually mean the compressor. Just keep voltage high enough when running and when you have failure it will likely only be the starter cap. Normally they are so reliable guaranteed 5 years.

4. I pay 500 baht each - this is cleaning of both inside and outside units with high pressure water/cleaner and checking operation.

5. I would ask around your area - although many users may never call except to repair. I use an independent provider.

I wonder if there is difference between what we had as "central air" compressors in the states vs. the single room common here? ie: in the states, I would clean the compressor heat sink fins once a year and always had a LOT of dirt come off. With the Mitsubishi units I have here, I clean the inside filters even though they never seem to need it and have been advised that I don't need to do anything with the compressor. ??

[lopburi3]

You were likely drawing more air through the cooling coil with the central air system so had a much larger and thicker filter material and much greater airflow as had to divert to many rooms. But you do need to clean both inside cooling coil fins and outside heat exchange fins on a regular basis here as they do get very dirty - as does you air filter if you do not clean every few weeks. But yes some people never clean more than the removable filters - but they are paying a price.