AC Condenser Cleaner Spray?

[D45]

Just uncovered the ac unit for my house

I usually just clean and hose the unit off with water

I see they sell a foaming cleaner. Is it worth it for $18 a can?

 

[PoorUB]

No. Just use what ever general purpose degreaser you have handy.

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

If I remember correctly Scrubbing bubbles has the same cleaning agent in as the more expensive stuff.

 

[rlitman]

The foaming cleaner is meant to be used on the indoor coil, because the foam reaches deep into the coil and condensate rinses it clean. A few years back I bought a gallon of cleaning concentrate and spray the diluted mixture it using a foaming tip from my pump sprayer. It's much cheaper this way than using aerosol cans.

No, I wouldn't just go using any chemicals you have at hand, because lots of options can be pretty corrosive. The indoor spray cleaner is actually a sodium metasilicate solution. Strong stuff that efficiently dissolves the organic contamination that clogs coils, but also causes problems if allowed to dry without fully rinsing off.

 

[karoc]

Back in my younger days when I ran roads doing ac service calls, we use yellow coil cleaner for outside and blue coil cleaner for inside coils. Pour coil cleaner about 1 part cleaner to 3 part water in 1 gal pump up sprayer. Spray coil down and let it work its magic then thoroughly rinse off. That coil cleaner was not for sale to public but only to trade. I’m sure if look around you could find it. But if you condenser coil is dusty then water hose with spray nozzle will be best thing, but just good mist sprayed straight into coils fins. Not at any kind angle or you will bend fins over. Inside coils that is vertical, that’s different story.

 

[MattGarage]

No joke it’s basically upholstery cleaner

 

[jjrbus]

I posted a similar question years back and was told to use Simple Green. There is Simple Green household cleaner and Simple Green coil cleaner, no one mentioned which to use and I did not know there was a simple Green coil cleaner! Now I doubt that many of the posters knew the difference either!!!! My Daikin instructions say to only use plain water on the evaporator coil, no cleaners.

 

[pcmeiners]

Just looked up Lysol Tub and Tile and Scrubing bubbles, both are mildly acid, not great for aluminum. Either high ph or acid is not good for aluminum, and I love Lysol Tub and Tile foam. Simple green has a very high PH, not good on aluminum. The floor floor cleaners I saw were mostly neutral, Zep makes one.

 

[whateg01]

So now, do you mean the condenser? Or do you actually mean the evaporator?

 

[jhelrey]

Water.

 

[bonneyman]

For years I used CalClean coil cleaner. Sodium metasilicate, IIRC. Don't remember the PH, but never had any issues with coil damage - and it did clean well.

CalClean Nu-Calgon

www.nucalgon.com

For really bad evap coils in like bars and casinos I started using CalClean HD. It was potassium hydroxide based. Very high PH. You spray that stuff on, tars and nicotine run off the coil in a brown river! You wanted to wear gloves and not breathe any vapors as much as possible. Looking back I probably could have done better, but at the time I just wanted to get the job done.

The newest coils are the Microchannel variety, which originally we were told water only for cleaning. Perhaps that ahs changed, but better check your literature to see if your unit is so equipped.

 

[acmikee]

i prefer to use simple green. remove the fan from the top of the unit and wash it, the spray with water from the inside out until clean then hose off the outside

 

[kaymccampbell]

I spray Dawn with the foam cannon, wait a few seconds and rinse off with low pressure. Put a ton of towels underneath, and same deal for the evaporator coils.

 

[fitter30]

Don't recommend coil cleaner unless there is oil or grease on the coils. Don't care how much you rinse the cleaner off don't think all of it comes off and still works degrading the alaumum. Use cleaner a few times take any strength out of the fins. Have a porcupine coil low pressure water no nozzle. For units over 16 seer coil might be doubled and has to be split to clean each one. Need to either pull the top or with a mirror look at end opposite piping end. Will not be anle to split coils 100% about 85%.

 

[rkevins]

If you have a microchannel coil do not use anything but water, if it is really bad you can use a very mild simple green but lots of cleaners can ruin the coil.

 

[nadogail]

If you can improve heat transfer, you will reduce operating costs and increase equipment life.