Central Air needs to be cleaned every other year?
 

Hi,

We have a central air unit, and I was wondering if it is excessive to have
the condensor taken out and cleaned once every other year.

It's a Payne natural gas unit, (GB1AAV036065) with a blue plastic? cleanable
filter. They replaced the blue plastic filter with a fiberglass blue filter.
It fits poorly.

The two air vents do not have filters. I was thinking that air is getting
sucked in and clogging the condenser unit? Is this excessive?

Also, sometimes when the is igniting, it sounds like the gas is on, but it
fails to ignite? Or it sounds like it does ignite but the unit fails to
notice it's ignited? It happens about once in every 4 cycles.

It has been cleaned before because it would not heat. It would try to ignite
3 times and then just stop.

Just wondering if changing the vent opening and putting in a filtering vent
would help it out.

Thansk guys. I appreciate it :).

"NJ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We have a central air unit, and I was wondering if it is excessive to have
the condensor taken out and cleaned once every other year.

It's a Payne natural gas unit, (GB1AAV036065) with a blue plastic?
cleanable
filter. They replaced the blue plastic filter with a fiberglass blue
filter.
It fits poorly.

The two air vents do not have filters. I was thinking that air is getting
sucked in and clogging the condenser unit? Is this excessive?

Also, sometimes when the is igniting, it sounds like the gas is on, but it
fails to ignite? Or it sounds like it does ignite but the unit fails to
notice it's ignited? It happens about once in every 4 cycles.

It has been cleaned before because it would not heat. It would try to
ignite
3 times and then just stop.

Just wondering if changing the vent opening and putting in a filtering
vent
would help it out.

Thansk guys. I appreciate it :).

The coil in the furnace is the evaporator, is that what you are wanting to
clean? I have seen evaps so filthy that no air could get thru, but this was
in a case where the furnace was run for many months without a filter, and
the folks had multiple cats, dogs etc. that will plug one up pretty fast.
You can remove the blower on most furnaces and look up thru the heat
exchanger slots and see the evap. If it looks crudded up, can't see the
fins, etc. then a cleaning is in order. I have used a CO2 fire extingusher
on the output side to blow debris backwards thru the evap, but I can't vouch
for how well this will work for you. Actually pulling the evap and cleaning
it is a very expensive proposition, as you would have to cut lines, pull out
the freon, then pump back down, recharge etc etc.
Good luck,
Tom

"NJ" wrote in message
...
| Hi,
|
| We have a central air unit, and I was wondering if it is excessive to have
| the condensor taken out and cleaned once every other year.

That's like removing your auto engine to change the oil - insane.

| It's a Payne natural gas unit, (GB1AAV036065) with a blue plastic?
cleanable
| filter. They replaced the blue plastic filter with a fiberglass blue
filter.
| It fits poorly.

Get a better filter.

| The two air vents do not have filters. I was thinking that air is getting
| sucked in and clogging the condenser unit? Is this excessive?

Find an A/C serviceperson with a functioning brain and some experience.

| Also, sometimes when the is igniting, it sounds like the gas is on, but it
| fails to ignite? Or it sounds like it does ignite but the unit fails to
| notice it's ignited? It happens about once in every 4 cycles.

Misaligned ignitor system.

| It has been cleaned before because it would not heat. It would try to
ignite
| 3 times and then just stop.
|
| Just wondering if changing the vent opening and putting in a filtering
vent
| would help it out.

Amateur repairs can lead to death or other negative consequences. Read a
book, and find a skilled repairman.

N

"NJ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We have a central air unit, and I was wondering if it is excessive to have the
condensor taken out and cleaned once every other year.

It's a Payne natural gas unit, (GB1AAV036065) with a blue plastic? cleanable
filter. They replaced the blue plastic filter with a fiberglass blue filter.
It fits poorly.

The two air vents do not have filters. I was thinking that air is getting
sucked in and clogging the condenser unit? Is this excessive?

Also, sometimes when the is igniting, it sounds like the gas is on, but it
fails to ignite? Or it sounds like it does ignite but the unit fails to notice
it's ignited? It happens about once in every 4 cycles.

It has been cleaned before because it would not heat. It would try to ignite 3
times and then just stop.

Just wondering if changing the vent opening and putting in a filtering vent
would help it out.

Thansk guys. I appreciate it :).

This is Turtle.

Condenser coil is the coil on the outside of the house and can be washed out
every year with a water hose and does not need removing at all to clean.

The evaperator coil should not have to be removed and cleaned unless you are a
very poor filter keeper upper . If you keep a good clean filter in it you
should never have to pull it and clean it , but after about 20 to 25 year of use
i might say pull it to clean it.

Whay you have decribed on the furnace is a False start and you might have
furnace service come check it out for it should not False start at all.

TURTLE

i meant the evaporator coil has been cleaned because the water wasnt
draining?

wasnt going to touch it just wanted to know if it needed a filter where the
incoming air vent is (there are two) and it has a filter where the blower is
but i was thinking it wasnt good enough. the filter gets changed every 3
months

thanks

"NJ" wrote in message
...
i meant the evaporator coil has been cleaned because the water wasnt draining?

wasnt going to touch it just wanted to know if it needed a filter where the
incoming air vent is (there are two) and it has a filter where the blower is
but i was thinking it wasnt good enough. the filter gets changed every 3
months

thanks

This is Turtle.

Any Cheap filter will keep the coil clean enough to not have to clean it. The
Drain stopping up is caused by Fungues and not dirt. It is the same type fungues
that grows in a swimming pool to clog it up. The stuff in the evaperator coil is
white due to no sun lite and the swimming pool stuff will be green because of
having sun lite to make it green.

TURTLE

The condensor is t hat which condenses (liquifies) something. The condensor
is already "out", it should be outside the house.

The part th at gets cold is the evaporator. Now, I've known central AC that
ru n for 10 plus years with the evaporator still in place. If it has to be
cleaned that often, you have major problems with your air filtration.

As for the ignition problems, it's time to call a heating repair co to fix
that for you.

--

Christopher A. Young
Keep Jesus Christ in CHRISTmas
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"NJ" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We have a central air unit, and I was wondering if it is excessive to have
the condensor taken out and cleaned once every other year.

It's a Payne natural gas unit, (GB1AAV036065) with a blue plastic? cleanable
filter. They replaced the blue plastic filter with a fiberglass blue filter.
It fits poorly.

The two air vents do not have filters. I was thinking that air is getting
sucked in and clogging the condenser unit? Is this excessive?

Also, sometimes when the is igniting, it sounds like the gas is on, but it
fails to ignite? Or it sounds like it does ignite but the unit fails to
notice it's ignited? It happens about once in every 4 cycles.

It has been cleaned before because it would not heat. It would try to ignite
3 times and then just stop.

Just wondering if changing the vent opening and putting in a filtering vent
would help it out.

Thansk guys. I appreciate it :).