Coil Cleaners

[DethWshBkr]

What is everyone's favorite pick for coil cleaners?

Concentrate? Foamy no rinse? Evaporator specific? Condenser specific?


I purchased some of the green concentrated Kleen Coil from United when I did an evaporator cleaning (evap completely blocked with a blanket of drywall dust).
I recently had a call where the condenser was a little dirty, but I was hesitant to use it on the outdoor coil - as it does say 'evaporator' on the bottle. How critical is that? Could I have used my Kleen Coil mixed 3:1 water:concentrate or do I need to make sure I get other stuff for the outdoor units?

How critical IS this stuff? It's not outrageously expensive, and it sure seems to work, so, do you even use it yourselves, or need it?

[truck12]

I never found the need for a condenser coil cleaner.

[DethWshBkr]

Probably not even necessary, but I know we can get a lot of mud and junk buildup on the coil if the homeowner is careless (which some are more of rather than less) combine that with spider webs, deteriorating leaves and other junk....
Plus it really looks good when you spray on something, and see a nice stream of brown sudsy water come running off the unit. Makes the homeowner happy.

[truck12]

Makes the homeowner happy.

Not when it takes all the paint or coating off.
Have you ever taken a pressure reading before and after (letting it dry of course). Cleaner doesn't help at all.
Plain water works fine. It makes customers happy when I tell them they can do this on their own.

But this will be another 2 page opinion post where we'll hear it all and everyone just can't wait to explain to me why I'm wrong.

[johnsonha]

Foaming cleaners help when you got cottonwood trees all around

[mrbenz7]

Foaminator! I do not just recommend my customers use water to wash their condensor coils off. Our water here in Arizona is so hard that you can actually replace the dirt with a layer of Calcium and lime transferring one kind of problem to another. I notice a pressure drop when cleaning dirty coils as well as a power consumption drop. My customers also notice the unit gets quieter afterwards.

[Shamoke]

I too use Foaminator, nothing better at pushing out all that impacted grime and pet hair thats been building up for the first ten years of the condensers life. Only problem with it is painted coils, it tends to remove some of the pain with the dirt and makes a black coil look splotchy. Long as I explain that to the customer beforehand along with the benefits of a clean coil the customer usually chooses the splotched coil and better cooling. Your mileage may vary in higher end neighborhoods where appearance is all the rage.

[customal]

Yes, foaminator works great. If you got a painted coil, make sure you got plenty of water pressure to blow all the loose paint out. I found that out the hard way. A shiny clean coil should transfer heat better than a dirty oxidized coil. just my opinion.

[beenthere]

But this will be another 2 page opinion post where we'll hear it all and everyone just can't wait to explain to me why I'm wrong.

You probably don't use soap on your dishes either.

[truck12]

You probably don't use soap on your dishes either.

I've noticed my satellite signal is much cleaner after a mild dish soaping.

Obviously it depends on where you are in the world as to how effective it is to use coil cleaner on a cond coil.

I notice a pressure drop when cleaning dirty coils as well as a power consumption drop. My customers also notice the unit gets quieter afterwards. :

Whats the pressure drop numbers look like using plain water vs cleaner?
More interesting, what the power consumption drop plain water vs cleaner.

I'm guessing that tech to customer info and not intended to be tech to tech talk?

[dav66o]

Nu Brite is the best IMO if you have to use cleaner. Around my area we have a lot of cotton wood ,grass clipings stuff like that. The best way is to burn that stuff out with a torch while it is running then rinse off. I have seen unit where someone use coil cleaner on them and not fully rinse it off. It can destroy coils. If you have a film of oil or something of that nature the I use simple green.

[beenthere]

Whats the pressure drop numbers look like using plain water vs cleaner?
More interesting, what the power consumption drop plain water vs cleaner.

I'm guessing that tech to customer info and not intended to be tech to tech talk?

PD varies with how bad the coil is.

But running 10PSIG lower head because of a chemical wash. Also helps prolong the compressor life, over just using water only.

[DethWshBkr]

So now, would it be a bad idea to use the green Kleen Coil stuff, which is for evaps on an outdoor unit? I am not talking about paint removal and such, as more than likely, especially with what I see - that may actually improve the unit's looks since the paint is all flaking off and rusty anyway. (I know i know, time for a new unit!), but I don't want to use the stuff I have on a condenser, and blow a hole in the tubing. I don't see how - since it's 99% of the time all copper/aluminum anyway, indoor OR outdoor coil.