DIY chemical clean of aircon

[ConnorMcLeod]

I recall seeing at HomeFix a kit for DIY chemical cleaning of the wall unit.
Did anyone tried it . Any idea how effective it is ?
If its good I'd like to do this on my other units myself and then resume regular servicing.

Why bother? Last week one aircon was leaking condensation coz it was choked by dirt.
My fault coz I did not arrange servicing for the last year and I use this aircon daily.

The technician actually had to disassemble my wall unit. He showed me the dirt accumulated on the fan and the condensor (I presume, at least it looked like one). He emphasized the worst part was the jelly lookalike scum which was on the chassis and various parts of the unit. According to him these jelly clogged the drain pipe and therefore caused the condensation to leak out of the unit. It could be a fluke sometimes the jelly flows down the pipe hence the unit stops leaking / able to drain the condensation after switching off.

 

[ricohflex]

DON'T DIY.
Pay the experts to do it.
Not as easy as you think.

I just paid $200 for overall service + cleaning and gas top up.
Agreed $165. I only get people I trust to do the job. Never mind if a bit more costly.
I tipped them $35 extra after seeing the trouble they went to and how incredibly dirty my aircon AHUs were. They never asked for anything extra.

And don't believe the con-job paper flyers some companies chuck into your letter box advertising very cheap aircon cleaning.
They will rip you off and demand for extra $ here and there AFTER they have dismantled your aircon and know you are in a fix if you don't agree.
Oh, this one must charge extra.
Oh, if do that then must charge extra.
Oh, my flyer say do this only. If you want to clean properly then must pay extra $$$.

 

[fz30_user]

Yup, I DIY using that chemical from Homefix. Use the liquid not the foam type. So far so good.. but take note this takes a lot of patience.. it's not so easy as spraying the thing on the coil and leaving it there.. you need to brush off the dirt one by one (i used a toothbrush) if the coil is too dirty. also the fan blades are quite difficult to reach. but this is a once a year thing so ok for me. just make sure to clean your filter regularly so the dirt does not accumulate on the coil.

 

[ConnorMcLeod]

Yup, I DIY using that chemical from Homefix. Use the liquid not the foam type. So far so good.. but take note this takes a lot of patience.. it's not so easy as spraying the thing on the coil and leaving it there.. you need to brush off the dirt one by one (i used a toothbrush) if the coil is too dirty. also the fan blades are quite difficult to reach. but this is a once a year thing so ok for me. just make sure to clean your filter regularly so the dirt does not accumulate on the coil.

Indeed I clean the filter regularly -as in the LED on the aircon is lit, then I clean the filter.

Any info which brand of filter is good? or again their are more or less the same.

 

[Moonstone]

Agreed with what ricohflex had mentioned. Let the air-con serviceman do the job.
If the jelly clogged the pipe midway, the serviceman will use a power vacuum to suck out the jelly. With DIY, I doubt you have other ways. Unless you own a wet and dry vacuum cleaner. Also to clean the fan-coil, you need to dismantle using an allen wrench before you can properly clean it. The fan-coil is very sharp be careful when handling it with your fingers.

 

[spindoctor]

DON'T DIY.
Pay the experts to do it.
Not as easy as you think.

I just paid $200 for overall service + cleaning and gas top up.
Agreed $165. I only get people I trust to do the job. Never mind if a bit more costly.
I tipped them $35 extra after seeing the trouble they went to and how incredibly dirty my aircon AHUs were. They never asked for anything extra.

And don't believe the con-job paper flyers some companies chuck into your letter box advertising very cheap aircon cleaning.
They will rip you off and demand for extra $ here and there AFTER they have dismantled your aircon and know you are in a fix if you don't agree.
Oh, this one must charge extra.
Oh, if do that then must charge extra.
Oh, my flyer say do this only. If you want to clean properly then must pay extra $$$.

Hi Ricohflex. Can you PM me the contacts of your air-con people? Thanks.

 

[ortega]

from my experience with different air con servicing companies

it is the servicemen that is important, some will totally dismantle the unit and clean it well, even dismantling the blower
while other will reach in with a brush and clean clean a little.

once you find a serviceman with good work, stick with him

 

[ConnorMcLeod]

from my experience with different air con servicing companies

it is the servicemen that is important, some will totally dismantle the unit and clean it well, even dismantling the blower
while other will reach in with a brush and clean clean a little.

once you find a serviceman with good work, stick with him

This guy dismantled the unit to do a thorough cleaning.
I know he did a good job and charged me reasonably.
But I parted with $250 for this 3 hrs job he did which I could have avoided to certain degree if I had arranged regular servicing on the wall units plus the compressors.

I wonder if he can vacuum the other units sufficiently to avoid chem flush in the near future.