5 signs that your air conditioner needs maintenance

There are no household appliances that can run forever. The air conditioner, as one of them, also needs regular maintenance, cleaning and replacement of filters. Otherwise, it goes from being a good thing to quickly becoming a source of harm and disease.

The following signs indicate that it is time to look inside the split system:

1. When working, the air conditioner makes strange noises.
2. The unit does not turn on at all, it vibrates or runs too loudly.
3. The indoor unit gets very hot.
4. When you turn on the system, an unpleasant smell appears.
5. Water drips from the indoor unit.

If you do not react to these signs, then after some time, you will need not cleaning, but qualified repair. And the latter service is much higher.

What you can do yourself

You can help the air conditioner yourself, for example, by cleaning the filters. This procedure is simple and consists of the following steps:

1. Open the front panel and take out the filters.
2. Clean contaminated nets well under running water.
3. To clear dust from the rotary shutters.
4. To disinfect the unit, use antibacterial agents. To do this, turn on the ventilation mode and spray a special compound in the place of air intake.
5. Replace the dry clean filter.

Self-cleaning should be carried out 2 times a year.

If the periodic cleaning of filters has not been carried out for a long time, the heat exchange process is disrupted, since it requires a free, unobstructed blowing of the elements, while contamination concerns the evaporator and radiator. To clean these elements, use a long-pile brush, steam generator or vacuum cleaner. The best solution to this problem is a steam generator. It manages to cope even with mud films. To clean the external unit, you can use a vacuum cleaner or water from a hose.

Professional service

If the air conditioner does not work properly, then the contamination has reached a critical level. In such cases, liquid may appear. This is freon that does not shrink. An attempt by the air conditioner to compress the liquid can cause a water hammer and the compressor to fail.

To avoid such a development, contact SENSEI’s specialists, who will identify the most clogged areas and quickly clean them.

A master with special equipment:

1. Connect the pressure gauge manifold and check the pressure level in the circuit.
2. It will examine the elements of circuit boards and automation, as well as the fan for mechanical damage.
3. It checks whether the compressor is switched off when it overheats.
4. It cleans the evaporator of the external unit.
5. It will examine the wiring contacts and terminals.
6. Refuel the system with freon.

Disassembling the air conditioner yourself is not safe, and can end up, at best, breaking plastic parts, at worst, electric shock.

Without additional refueling, the refrigerant level may drop to a critical level (normally its amount decreases by 6-8% / year). This leads to overheating of the compressor of the external unit, the cost of which is almost 50% of the amount paid for the air conditioner.

The leak of freon is indicated by frost or ice formed at the junction of the tubes and slowing down the cooling of the air. In such situations, the device should be turned off and contact the service that provides service for climate technology.

Frequency of maintenance of air conditioners

Of course, a lot depends on where the air conditioner is located. A warehouse, a commercial facility, and a doctor’s office are very different in terms of the conditions and intensity of equipment use:

• Home split systems are serviced depending on their actual condition, on average once a year.
• Office equipment at least twice a year.
• Air conditioning in the server room, working all year round and around the clock, and even with nearby busy highways, unfinished construction sites and flowering poplars, requires quarterly maintenance.

And if the system is switched on for 2 hours a day and only in hot weather, for example, in a clean rural area, then there is no need to frequently check all units and nodes, clean and disinfect it.

In any case, it is better to maintain climate technology in early spring or autumn.

An air conditioner, like a car, requires regular maintenance. So that it does not fail at the most inopportune moment, it is necessary to remember this. And if you didn’t know this, take up arms and follow these rules! This is the only way to extend the life of your air conditioner and protect the health of those who are in the room.