"Ignoramus16661" wrote in message
...
Our A/C guy mentioned that it would be helpful f they cleaned the
outside AC unit (compressor/condensor).

It is, since after they do that, they recheck superheat readings and can
tell if the units working as it should.


My questionis, is it necessary (I assume so),

When was the last time you did it? Never? Then, yes...its needed.


and second, can I do it
myself with a big wet or dry vacuum or something.


Nope...and yup...and still yet..nope.

You can do a quicky. Use a 50-50 soulution of Purple Stuff, or Simple Green
non diluted (Simple Green is about worthless for anything..concentrated or
not)
Pull power to the unit at the service disconnect, and using a sprayer, cost
the coil. IF you have a stacked coil, you can stop and let your AC guy do
it. You wont do much but pack dirt. Let it sit for about 5 min, and hose it
out, prefer that you di it from the backside of the coil, and clean the
coil. You wont remove any organic material thats packed in, and no legit
supply house will sell you the good stuff that breaks it down due to
liability issues..(its acid, and if put on wrong, will eat the hell out of
your coil in about 5 minutes....)
AFter you do this, you might want to check your head pressures to make sure
they dropped and then check your superheat, and make sure you didnt
drastically change it. If you did, then you created another issue that your
tech needs to handle.
For the price, I would let the tech do it. You SHOULD get more than just a
coil cleaning...you should get a superheat check, blower motor oil and
clean, fan blade inspection, contactor inspection, possibly new schrader
cores...depends on how bad the unit it.



Thanks

i