Low Airflow From Vents

[bill022572]

HI - new to the forum and my First Question. I have a 9 year old 4 ton Payne split system. It worked very well when new and I really have had few minor problems with it : knock on wood. I live in South Florida and am hoping to get a couple of more years from it. The last couple of years I have been noticing decreased airflow from the room vents. And now during last summers' heat - it ran excessively and still did not keep the house cool. I keep the thermostat on 78 degrees and during the day the temp just keeps going up with the A/C running and running. I have about a 20 degree drop from the return to the outflow - but like I said - not much air volume from vents. I figured the problem was a dirty evaporator coil - I had it removed and cleaned chemically and hosed off with water (cleaner was sprayed on coil twice and rinsed down in between and after). Still am not getting much flow from vents. Just for giggles - when the evaporator was out being cleaned - I turned the fan on and air was blasting from the vents. Is it possible that the coil is still dirty even after cleaning ? I have heard of dirt being impacted deep in coils but it seems the cleaning should have taken care of that. If it is still dirty - what or how do I get it clean ? Sorry for the long post - I really will appreciate any ideas. Thanks - BILL

[jtrammel]

the only way to really get it clean is by replacing it. Once it gets dirty you can never get it as clean as it used to be. It also could be something in the return duct because when the coil was out there was a big hole in your return duct that it was sucking air through. I bet there is something fishy going on in your return duct. i would check that before doing anything else