You know this is a good point to discuss. First I can't get my shop vac into my airhandler, well not easily cause the damned box is to tight and the A coil is limited with respect to access to both sides. So, is their a cleaner I can spray to help loosen any dirt or do they make one of those coil cleaner brushes for a shop vac? Also, what is the most effective means for cleaning the coil on the outdoor unit? I know some who just turn everything off and hose it down. Is this really the best way? Furthermore, how does one clean the scroll fan in an airhandler without having to pull the entire fan out? I doubt you can other than removing it, but oh what a job. Amazingly enough, despite the filter, these fans get really dirty.
tnx Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Sep 4, 2007, at 10:47 PM, Max Robinson wrote: > Our central air conditioner is 20 or 25 years old. I can't remember > for > certain. about 5 years ago I had to replace the condenser cooling > fan motor > but other than that it has been quite trouble free. Friday before > last the > house seemed to be getting warm in the afternoon so I went out to > check it. > The circuit breaker was off so I reset it. The compressor took right > off > but the fan did not. I shut it down, removed the grill, and gave the > fan a > spin. It turned freely. I turned the power back on and gave the fan > another shove. It didn't start but still spun freely. Power off again. > The fan motor was too hot to touch so I feared the worst. I opened > up the > dog house and found capacitor oil all over everything. The fan motor > capacitor had tossed its cookies. Luckily I had a match for it so I > installed and turned on the breaker. Back in business. > > When we woke up Monday morning the house seemed a little warm and > muggy. > Back outside I found the breaker was off and when I reset it the > compressor > just hummed instead of starting. The compressor capacitor had a > bulge in > its header so off to the supply house. New capacitor installed and > AC back > on. > > But something wasn't right. It just wasn't cooling. It had gotten > pretty > far behind on Monday so I didn't know until Tuesday. It went on that > way > slowly deteriorating. On Friday we called a repairman. Between > placing the > call and his arrival I found that turning off the thermostat didn't > stop the > unit outside. The capacitor oil had run down onto the contactor, > which is > located below both of them, and effectively glued it in the on > position. My > guess is the evaporator had iced up and couldn't clear even when the > forced > air blower was running. I had to pay the guy for replacing the > contactor > which I could have easily done myself but he was there by the time I > figured > out what was going on. > > That did a lot but the daytime temperatures were getting up higher > than > normal and the heat wave had broken, at least temporarily, so > something > still wasn't right. Deciding to do all of the easy things first I > change > the air filter. That did it. The filter was really plugged up and I > guess > it was just a coincidence that it got bad at that particular time. > Anyway > things are essentially back to normal. > > If changing the filter hadn't worked I was planning to open up the > sheet > metal and clean the evaporator fins. It has been 35 years since that > was > last done. To do that requires cutting through and removing some of > the > insulation, drilling out several pop rivets and removing the metal > cover. > Then the shop vac will be applied to the fins which probably need it. > After cleaning the fins new pop rivets will have to be installed and > the > insulation put back and held in place with our old friend, duck > tape. I'm > going to put that off until the weather cools down some. The heat > wave came > back today, high of 98. I will have to do it before winter because > the same > air handler serves for heating and cooling. > > Regards. > > Max. K 4 O D S. > > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net > Vacuum tube site: http://www.funwithtubes.net > Music site: http://www.maxsmusicplace.com > > To subscribe to the fun with tubes group send an email to, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ If you would like to join the Blind Computing list, then visit the following address for more information: http://jaws-users.com/mailman/listinfo/blind-computing_jaws-users.com For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
