7 common questions relating to general aircon service
Question 1:
What is normally done in a general aircon cleaning service of a fan coil?
Answer:
Performing a thorough general aircon cleaning requires cleaning of the fan coil cover or panel, air filter, evaporator coil, drainage tray, condensation tray, blower fan and blower wheels. Normally, the vendor will also help to lubricate motor parts and tighten electrical contact if required. To finish up the job, the air con technician will also check serviceability of moving parts, the electrical components and the refrigerant level and test blower air flow level. Usually, an experience air con technician will be able to check the adequacy of the refrigerant level just by using their hand to feel the airflow. The final step is to test and commission the fan coil. The following page provides a detail breakdown of all the preventive measures taken in a general aircon service of fan coil.
Question 2:
I seldom use my air conditioner. Do I need to perform regular aircon service?
Answer:
Air conditioner that are used less often will still accumulate dust. You will still need to service it although you may not need to service it as often compared to one that is used regularly.
Question 3:
I perform general aircon service on my air conditioner regularly. Does it mean I don’t need to do any chemical wash?
Answer:
Most of us sweep or vacuum our house frequently but will perform a thorough spring cleaning annually. A preventive maintenance for the air con is very similar. We need to perform general service for the air con regularly and perform a spring cleaning for the air con at least once a year through a chemical cleaning.
In a general aircon service, cleaning of key components such as the evaporator coil and air blower is done onsite where the fan coil is mounted . Cleaning are generally performed on those surfaces where your brush or vacuum can reach. However, the brush and vacuum are unable to reach out to certain deep areas and inner parts of the fan coil or condenser, for example the deeper fins of the evaporator coil.
Overtime, more and more dust and grime will accumulate on those areas where the brush and vacuum is unable to reach and the air con will be polluted with debris. These unwanted contaminants will affect air transfer within the air con system and contribute to many different types of common air con problems such as water leaking, air con not cold, air con smelly etc. If you read through our article on air con repair in http://citicoolaircon.com/aircon-repair, you will notice that chemical cleaning is the solution to many common air con problems.
To reach out to those areas not included in a general aircon service , you will need to remove the entire fan coil from the wall and dismantle all the parts piece by piece for thorough cleaning with chemical solution. Chemical solution can easily penetrates and reach out to deeper areas and help remove stubborn dust and grime easily within minutes or seconds. After treating each washable parts with chemical, you will also need to spray running water on the parts to rinse away all the chemical and debris. This process of performing chemical wash on your air con is very tedious and is definitely much more costly compared to a general aircon service. However, it is a required preventive maintenance for your air con to operate efficiently.
As chemical wash is a very important preventive maintenance for your air con system, our web site has provided many useful educational video and articles to help customers gain a better understanding on the importance and best practice procedure relating to chemical wash service. Please click on the following link for more information relating to chemical wash.
http://citicoolaircon.com/chemical-wash
Question 4:
How often should I perform a general aircon service for my fan coil?
Answer:
The answer to this questions depends on many factors including but not limited to:
• sensitivity of the air con users
• number of users
• how frequent do you use the air con
• the environment where the air con is installed etc
It is recommended that homeowners perform a normal or general service for their air conditioners at least every 3 to 4 months as a preventive maintenance for their air conditioners to keep the air conditioners efficient and effective in delivering clean and cool air.
For the commercial users, the frequency of servicing really varies and very much depends on the environment and the extent of usage. Take for example, most restaurants would need to service their aircon monthly to prevent it from breaking down due to dust and grime clogging the indoor fan coil, especially if the aircon is in the kitchen. Clinics and hospital will normally service their fan coil monthly as they need to maintain clean air quality for their patients. Basically, those air conditioners that are serviced more regularly tend to be more efficient in producing clean and cool air and consume lesser energy and have a longer life span.
Question 5:
Is it ok to use some chemical solution to clean the fan coil during a general aircon service?
Answer:
If you are cleaning the fan coil yourself and wants to use chemical solution on the parts. You should do the chemical cleaning of the dismantled parts offsite. Instead of using chemical solution, you can use normal detergents or just water to rinse the parts which is what the vendors will do in an a general aircon service.
You should avoid applying chemical solution on the fan coil onsite because it is difficult to remove the chemical thoroughly unless you remove and dismantle the whole fan coil for rinsing with water. Note that most chemical solution are either acidic or akaline based and chemical residue left on your fan coil can damage or even corrode the metals of the key components of your fan coil.
Question 6
What is the difference between general aircon service and chemical cleaning service?
Answer:
In general aircon servicing, only certain parts are dismantled for cleaning and rinsing with water. However in chemical wash service, all the parts in the fan coil should be dismantled for chemical cleaning. More details on this topic can be found on the following page:
General Aircon Servicing vs Chemical Wash Servicing
Question 7:
What are some price considerations and precaution to take when sourcing for a vendor to perform general aircon service?
Answer:
Do some manual calculation on what is a reasonable price to pay for a general service. Vendors’ key costing include vehicle, petrol or diesel and labour cost. One should beware of pricing that are unreasonably too low. All vendors are out there to make a profit. If the pricing is way below a reasonable market price, beware of such vendors. Check whether they cover all the important steps mentioned in Question 1. Vendors may eliminate some of the steps in order to charge a lower price to attract customers. Others may start recommending additional unnecessary services during their visit.
If you are not sure whether the vendor’s recommendation is genuine, you should pick up the phone and call a few other vendors to get a second opinion. Otherwise do some research and read up more to understand how air conditioner works. If your air conditioner has some problems, we highly recommend that you browse throw the following pages to check for possible causes and solutions and to clear any doubts that you may have. The following post are some highly recommended articles for your reading:
what-you-need-to-know-about-aircon-gas-top-up
tips on aircon problems and solution
Aircon Service Specialist/Technician dismantling aircon parts for cleaning
Regular aircon service is important for the efficiency of your air conditioner
