Air Conditioning Maintenance - Funny Thing

A funny thing happened while I was typing away at this Internet Cafe in Mae Sai, Thailand.  A couple of Thai men came in and started moving things around.  The owner of the Internet told me that yesterday, which was a hot day over 100F, the air conditioning would not keep it cool.  

The type of systems that are used mostly in Thailand are what is called "Ductless" systems.  What that means is on the inside is a unit that has a coil that is cold and the fan blows air through it to cool the air.  On the outside there is another part of the unit that air blows through that coil and

 cools the refrigerant that is circulated thought the piping system.

One of the reasons that these system are economical is each room that you what cooled has it's own system.  If you do not want that room cool right now you shut it off.  You only cool the room that you are in.  Pretty simple and saves a lot of money!  You don't cool the whole house, just the room you are using.

Now, after putting a ladder up and taking off the outside case, the air conditioning man showed the owner how dirty the system was because the air filter had not been cleaned regular.

He said the WHOLE inside coil had to be cleaned.  This is an Internet Cafe with a dozen computers, a few printers, terminals and lots of wires hooking them all up.  Also, don't forget that things run on 230 volts here. 

I thought to myself, how will he clean that evaporator coil that is eight (8) feet in the air over all this equipment?

To my amazement, they brought in this special plastic shield that looks like a funnel.  They set it up and power washed this coil on the wall without getting a drop on any equipment.  

Even at my old age I learned something about my trade today.

For you home owners remember KEEP YOUR AIR FILTERS IN YOUR SYSTEMS CLEAN!