Has The NEWS ever considered doing a story on why condenser coils get dirty quickly? I’ve been in the HVACR business for over 40 years now and never understood why manufacturers of condenser coils for commercial a/c units can never build a coil that is made for planet Earth and not for outer space.

Condenser coil fin spacing should be made just like they did on the older refrigeration units — anywhere between 8-12 fins per inch. Any more than this and servicemen have to lug either the power washer on roofs or lift the heavy, bulky tanks of CO2 just to clean these coils, only to hope that they will stay clean for the rest of the summer, with dirt and cottonwood only making things worse.

When manufacturers are asked, they always say “They’re cheaper to make them this way,” never considering the serviceman out in the real world.

I hope this will get the attention of engineers to start making their coils higher, wider, or thicker and consider the serviceman out there, instead of only the engineering side. To say it simply, “If you can’t see through the coils when they are clean, they shouldn’t be built”!

Jim Mazies
HVAC/R Building Engineer
The University of Chicago
Chicago

Publication date: 08/22/2011