June 27, 2021

How to keep your airconditioner running in peak condition … a Do It Yourself (DIY) job ???

People across social media are now asking what they can do to keep their air conditioners running fine during these hot hot times. Generally, most homeowners can either clean the small air filters up in the evaporator head of a mini-split unit … or replace the filters in their whole house air conditioner units & vent, but there’s much much more involved in doing the whole job, properly.

Before going further-deeper into the cleaning process, maybe it’s time to realize some of what’s involved in doing just the simplest basic parts of the job properly:

~ Remember there’s a bunch of different sized screws in the plastic clamshell cover of the evaporators of mini-split units – and many of those screws can be hidden behind little plugs or behind covers.

~ We know almost no ordinary homeowner who can dissassemble the plastic clamshell tight covers of the evaporator to get at the “turbina” – 3 ft long squirrel-cage fan to clean it properly

… and even fewer ordinary homeowners who can safely clean the accumulated dust & mold & fungus out of the evaporator coils, without damaging the fragile coils …
plus once you get that tricky clamshell plastic cover off the evaporator, it’s a bunch of work to wipe out all the accumulated dust, mold and fungus.

~ and then you have to clean & disinfect the drip tray in evaporator – to eliminate mold, fungus & dust…

~ and …. you have to clean and inspect the drain hose that drains out the condensate water from the drip tray … because the hoses are generally buried deep behind other parts of the evaporator.

~ and then … you have to pull out all the mini-split’s circuit boards, and get all the accumulated dust off them – to stop electronic component overheating… requiring even unplugging some of the cables & connectors from up to 4 different circuit boards … and then successfully reassemble & reinstall all boards without damaging either the boards, cables & connectors.

~Finally, you have to get the mini-split’s clamshell plastic cover back onto the evaporator, because you have to flex, bend, contort & twist most of the covers to get them back on .. – then matching all the different sizes of screws to all their specific holes.


~ AND THEN… especially if at the beach, you have to go up on the roof and safely clean accumulated dust, salt, salitre etc from the compressor’s fragile coils fins – without damaging any of the little fins … and then using a specialized matching fin-comb to straighten out any bent fins – to maintain good air flow. … Completing this operation properly can require some special detergents & a even a gentle pressure washer if you have a accumulated dust, or “cotton” from cottonwood trees or “cotton” from ceiba – k-pock trees

There are reasons that the best techs charge $1500 pesos to do it well, here in Mexico … and still … many of them strip out the screw mounts. 😉

~ Stay well, stay informed, stay safe. ~


The Good Doctor Fry
aka Steve

Read On … MacDuff !