How to Properly Clean Your Window Air Conditioner
Following the proper way to clean and maintain your window air conditioner unit achieves better cooling efficiency. A window unit's evaporator coil -- the indoor coil -- can ice up when the coils become dirty, which restricts the airflow. Avoid brushing the evaporator coil, which pushes dirt further into the coil. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Spray bottle
- Evaporater coil cleaner
- Eye goggles
- Rubber gloves
- Garden hose
- Fin comb
Instructions
-
-
1
Unplug the air-conditioner unit. Remove the front cover and slide it through window and inside the house. Carry it outside.
-
2
Place the unit on the ground or a picnic table. Fill a spray bottle halfway with evaporator coil cleaner. Add water until the bottle is full.
-
-
3
Remove the front top panel to expose the evaporator blower wheel or squirrel cage. The fan blades hold dirt and mold, which affects the amount of air the fan can move. Remove the piece of plastic foam if present in the front of unit to expose the blower wheel.
-
4
Put on rubber gloves and goggles. Spray both coils liberally with the mixture in the spray bottle. The cleaner solution may foam and appear to be smoking; this is normal. Avoid spraying the unit’s controls -- try to keep this area dry. Allow the mixture to sit on the coils for 10 minutes, breaking down dirt and algae.
-
5
Wash off the coils and the blower wheel with a garden hose, removing dirt, mold and algae. Drain water from unit's condensate pan and let dry. If the controls have become wet, set the unit in sun for about one hour before reinstalling it.
-
6
Comb out dents on the fins on either coil with a fin comb. Reinstall the unit in your window.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Pour two capfuls of bleach monthly into the condensate pan or into the water pan on the outside of the unit to stop algae growth.
Turn the unit off every year at the start of cooling season to remove the air filter for cleaning so that dust and lint will not be pulled off filter into the coils.
Only use evaporator cleaner, usually green in color. Condenser coil cleaner and other coil cleaners are corrosive and can damage your coils if not properly used, so avoid them.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
More Like This
Comments
View all 9 Comments-
You can use "Simple Green" cleaner and it works great.
-
NO!!
-
yes. Can I clean the a/c without having to remove it from window?
-
We have been given a window unit that works great, but smells terrible. My husband shop vacuumed it before use, but the smell is so bad I cannot be in the room. It's somewhere between wet dog or old horse barn smell. Doesn't seem to be mildew or mold (I'd be in the hospital due to allergies). Anyone ave any idea on how to get rid of the smell? Will the cleaner take care of the smell?
-
LOL! I don't know if it works..... Went to find the air conditioner today and looked everywhere..... Then remembered I donated it last year!!!! Well I'll try it next year on the new one I'll have to buy.
