Now that summer's here with a vengence-have you prepared your a/c for the season? The inside coil needs to be clean for it to work properly. Remove the front panel cover and check it out. Grease, smoke, nicotine etc. will cover the coils and attract dirt, lint and all kinds of junk. All that "junk" will decrease the efficiency of your unit. Costs you money! Soak with "fantastic", "409" or equiv. and then rinse. Repeat the process several times if need be. Replace/clean filters. Wash out outside coils also. When working with the unit--TURN OFF YOUR BREAKER! Saftey first! Most outside [ condensing] units are 220 volts. When all is clean and working properly you'll not only save money you'll also be "cool dudes" too! Matt. 24:44

-- hoot gibson (hoot@otbnet.com), June 11, 2000

Answers

Thank You, hoot ! Haven't run my A/C yet, still 60 degrees at night and the house is well shaded but I knew I had forgotten something. Thanks for the reminder, I'm off to change the filters.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), June 11, 2000.

A/C????? Is that one of those new fangled things?

I just use an open window, a box fan, and a 100 year old weeping willow. No filters to clean here.

-- Peggy Adkins (adkinsonthefarm@hotmail.com), June 11, 2000.

Hello again Hoot! I am mechanically impaired. As in I usually have parts left over after I try to work on something. As a direct result, I took one of my window units in to be cleaned. The guy did a good job of cleaning it, but now the thing freezes up all the time. Do you know why? I have been trying to run it on the same settings that I did last year, and it didn't freeze up but about once a day then. Now it freezes up about every three hours. It has also decided to drain itself inside the house instead of out. I have looked for drain holes and can't find any in either of the two air conditiners that are just alike. I thought last year that it just leaked out of the seams in the back of the air conditioner. I have checked and the unit is now slightly off-level, so the outside end is lower than the inside end, but it still leaks out inside when it freezes. Any ideas? Thanks.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.

I just fired up the cool tubes for the summer. So far, so good. Still need to increase the blower size and do a little more work on the water loop that works in conjunction with it. Next week for that.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), June 11, 2000.

Air Conditioning? bwaaahhhaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Never had it. Besides, trying to a/c this house would be like putting A/C in a sieve.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), June 11, 2000.

I undestand Rachels humour but, I got a tin roof on a two story. Only the upstairs is air conditioned. If we didn't have it I think the temps might push 150 degees in July. By morning, the entire family would be "well done". The doctor says because of high pollen and mold levels I should stay inside for my breathing problem. I meet her halfway--I stay inside the fence rows and in the house at night.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), June 11, 2000.

I AGREE!!!! Here is southeast Texas, the summer heat routinely goes up to and over 100F, with humidity at 80 or 90%. I lived without ac for five years once, in a rent house, and NEVER AGAIN. The humidity was so high from having open windows and using fans that a light green powdery mold and black spotty mildew grew on practically everything--furniture, wood surfaces, blinds/curtains, inside every closet and cabinet, in the carpet, on the clothes hanging in the closet. I stayed sick from the constant mold/mildew, which was impossible to eradicate, and from constant exposure to high temperatures. It doesn't cool down at night here--well, maybe down to 75 or so (big whoop), but the humidity is still high. AC is, in my opinion, a God-send. I'd love to be able to live somewhere that I didn't need it!

-- Hannah Maria Holly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), June 11, 2000.

Green, my husband is a heating/air conditioning serviceman, he works for someone else and has a business. I'll ask him about the freezing up as soon as he wakes up from his nap. Anyway, if you don't know what you're doing, be very careful. A spring service call for a big unit shouldn't cost that much. Most serivcemen won't work on window units. Only licensed servicemen can add freon.(legally)

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.

Green, I'd guess you've got a small leak in your a/c. Probably cleaned some corrosion off it or jiggled a loose conection when it went in for cleaning and the thing has since lost more coolant. Can you take it back and have the person test it?

Newer a/c units (window) evaporate the water rather than let it drip away. The water is drawn up the condenser (radiator) as part of the cooling process to increase effiecency. It also might not be hot enough outside to allow the unit to run well. The person who cleaned it may have forgotten to replace a deflector on the evaporator on the interior side of the unit. But since it had been freezing up before, loss of coolant is the most likely reason.

I'd run it back in-I know they're fun to get in and out of windows-and get it checked. In the meantime, try messing with the controls. Change one setting a little bit at a time and see if it helps.

And as for left over parts, aren't you SUPPOSED to have parts left over? I always do. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 11, 2000.

Green, Was the unit only cleaned and not service?- then my husband said probably low on freon-from a leak. It's freezing up then melting and running off the coil into your house(hope I said that right). Anyway, you'll need to take it back to where you had it serviced for the freon. a dirty filter can cause freezing up also.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.

Green! Re: freezing up a/c unit. I'll agree with others about the low freon. Apparently there is a leak somewhere. If no charging ports have been installed then most likely place is the coils. If it has been charged before then check the "add on" charging port. Window units don't come out with them already installed--at least I've never seen one in over 30 years of servicing a/c's. The blasted add on's usually leak. Assuming fan is running at proper speed, no restrictions in air flow, coils clean. Not much you can do yourself except take it back to serviceman. I also assume he has the EPA ticket to work on sealed systems. If not, find one who is. I'd make a service call down there but you wouldn't wanna pay the expense. LOL. If all else fails it would be cheaper to replace with a central unit if you have forced air heat. Good luck!

-- hoot gibson (hoot@otbnet.com), June 11, 2000.

I dont have an answer to your question but I sure am glad to hear that some of you use a/c. I've been feeling a little guilty about turning it on. My husband insisted that we turn it in this year. We didnt the past 2 summers and he was miserable not to mention the problems with allergies. So I guess if Joel can use a/c then I dont need to feel guilty! Sure did enjoy the savings on the electric though. Denise

-- Denise (jphammock@earthlink.net), June 12, 2000.

When in 20 below out there wouldn't it be nice to can some of it to use on the hot summer days? ... Oh yeah, it's called an icehouse.

Having clean the filters and coils is very important at all time. Put in on your calendar to do weekly, monthly on a regular basis. Nothing ruins an A/C compressor faster than poor air circulation, (too much heat) other than a lightning strike.

-- Rich (pntbeldyk@wirefire.com), June 12, 2000.

What A/C? My one modern 'A/C luxury' is a 12v 6" fan. Hard to run A/C or even swamp coolers on a photovoltaics. And yes, it does get hottish here, at or near 100 most of the summer afternoons, with 80 to 90% humidity. If I'm working outside in full overalls, I'm soon completely drenched. If working close to the pond, I take off my boots and billfold, and jump in. Great for washing the salt out.

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), June 13, 2000.

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly IS a "swamp cooler"? I've come across the term several times in my reading, but never a description of what one was.

In one greenhouse that I worked in, we used a sort of an evaporative cooler, where water trickled over a corrugated material between two sceens, and large fans circulated air through it - is this sort of the same thing?

Thanks for any info - never know when I might need it!!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), June 14, 2000.

Yes Polly, that is a swamp cooler. They only work in area's of low humidity. But in area's like SLC, Utah they work better than A/C !

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), June 14, 2000.

Scroungin! When junkin an old central a/c unit--after salvaging all the goodies--fan, switches, capacitors--try removing the contactor. Those dudes come in handy for makin "thingys" that use high voltage and you wanna control it with 24 volts. Come fall, if i'm still alive and kickin, I'll post about a little project using those contactors to control a heat source in a pump house. Using the 220 volt discharge fan on the outside unit, the speed can be slowed by half or more by running it off 120 volts. More of a gentle breeze for a horse stall etc. I'm too cheap to do it any other way. Matt. 24:44

-- hoot gibson (hoot@otbnet.com), June 14, 2000.

Yes Polly, that is a 'swamp cooler', and like Joel said, they are designed for areas of low humidity. But, nevertheless, that's all my grandparents ever had. And even with the humidity up in the 90's, it'd still get pretty dang cool. My grandfather'd work on his farm/ranch early in the morning, and take a siesta during the hottest hours between 2 and 4pm, then work on into the night. After working outside, it seemed downright frigid.

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), June 14, 2000.

Sorry, Phil, my memories of swamp coolers aren't that pleasant. I remember mildew on everything--walls, shoes in the closet, CLOTHES in the closet, etc. But, it was the best we had. Now I have air conditioning and wouldn't trade it for the world. I also live in Northeast Texas.

Well folks, I turned the air conditioner down one setting and it quit freezing up, and as the wolf is spending more and more time waiting beside the door, I guess that is what I will do for a while. It'll help with the electric bill a little anyway. Gerbil, my other air conditioner just like the one I wrote about easily pulls out 3 to 5 gallons of water in a 24 hour period. It just runs out the back of the air conditioner. Maybe it has a broken or inadequate evaporator. It too will just have to muddle along and do the best that it can. At least it leaks outside and I can catch the water in a bucket to pour on the flowers. Thanks everyone.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

Also try to get some shade on your AC units - it can increase the efficiency of the unit by up to 10%.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), June 15, 2000.

Green, I'd love to have a swamp cooler, or even ac. But the connection cost to the grid is more than I can handle (75K). I have mildew right now, I'd rather have mildew and a 'little' coolness. Of course, if I did get grid power, I'd get an a/c system over a swamp cooler. The only thing you can say good about a swamper is that it's all understandable parts, I look at an a/c system and if it's broke, it might as well be some alien thing from roswell...lol...

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), June 16, 2000.

Phil, I understand wishing for a little more coolness. How far are you from the existing power lines? You must live WAY back in the boonies. I didn't know there way anything that "boonie-fied" left in East Texas. It all looks pretty populated to me.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), June 16, 2000.

Green, I'm sorta between Marshall and Carthage, in Panola County. I'm two miles from my nearest neighbor, down a dirt/gravel road. I built my home back in 88, and haven't had anyone want to move close, mainly because of lack of electricity. Now I've got a **** developer building a private 80 acre lake, selling lots for 50K, as a neighbor. My property surrounds his on two sides. My closest potential neighbor on the lake (a doctor, I guess that's good) will be about 4/10's of a mile away. Way too close.

And, to top it off, SRA just reannounced plans to build Lake Carthage on the Sabine River. My house will be half underwater. Of course, I'll have lots of lakefront property. Then folks can boat up to my front door. Arrgghh.

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), June 16, 2000.

Phil!! That's the good news and the bad news. The bad news is you might be flooded, and that you are getting neighbors closer than you (or I) would want. The good news is that if you ARE flooded, you will be able to get a good bit of money for that lake front property. Should be enough to get you into a remote site again, only this time with a power generator of some sort. Maybe not enough for Air Conditioning, but better. The other good news is that maybe if the doctor puts in electricity (which he probably will) you can tap in and get on the line for less money.

I have had several people on Countryside write me about wishing they could get off the grid. I'd like to not pay an electric bill either, but when hot weather comes, that electric meter begins to look a lot more friendly to me. I may have to scrimp to pay the bill, but it is there.

Hang in there, Phil. This may turn out better than you think.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), June 18, 2000.

I know, I know! This is digg'n up old bones but the information is still worthwhile now. Summer seems to be here with temps. in the high 80's today and predicted for the rest of the week. Time to check those a/c's! With energy costs expected to soar even more, it would be prudent to service yours or have it done by somebody that knows how.

If you own an older unit it might be practical to consider replacing it with a new energy-effecient model. As always--BE CAREFUL WHEN WORKIN AROUND VOLTAGE!! ole hoot. Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), May 15, 2001.