Published on September 16th, 2013 | Many people make the mistake of leaving their window air conditioner in place during the winter or not taking the time to properly prepare the AC unit for storage. This can cause premature wear and broken components. Take an hour or so to prepare your window AC unit for storage to prevent damage and ensure that it runs well when the new cooling season begins. When should you get your air conditioner ready for storage? Once outside temperatures drop below 60 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, it may negatively affect the performance of the air conditioner. For many parts of the U.S. and Canada, now’s the ideal time to remove your window air conditioner and prep it for storage. Here are seven simple steps to prepare your window air conditioner for the off season: 1.       Read the unit’s owner’s manual for care, de-installation and storage instructions. 2.       Remove the unit from the window with care.

Never attempt removal of a window air conditioner without the assistance of another person. 3.       Inspect the unit for damage.Enter your air conditioner’s model number here for model-specific troubleshooting and how-to repair help for air conditioners. RepairClinic has replacement parts for air conditioners including knobs, remote controls, curtains, fan blades, blower wheels and many others. How to find your air conditioner’s model number 4.       Replace or clean the air filter. On most models, the air conditioner’s air filter should be cleaned or replaced once monthly during the cooling season. Get it ready for next season by cleaning or replacing it now. 5.       Clean the condenser coils and water pan. An air conditioner’s condenser coils will accumulate layers of dust and dirt over the course of a cooling season, which may cause the air conditioner to work harder to remove heat. Follow the owner’s manual instructions to remove the outer cabinet so that you can access the coils.

The easiest way to clean the coils is by blowing compressed air or using a soft bristle brush. Don’t use a pressure washer, as the high pressure may bend the condenser coils’ delicate fins. Use warm water, dish detergent or white vinegar to remove dust, lint and dirt from the condensation pan at the base of the unit.  Make sure the pan is thoroughly dry before storing. 6.       Use touch-up paint to cover scrapes and scratches on the unit’s exterior. RepairClinic has biscuit, white and black-colored touch-up paint for air conditioners. 7.       Find a good storage location. It’s best to store window air conditioners during the winter. Leaving window air conditioners in place can cause drafts and lead to increased energy consumption. Air conditioners are best stored in an attic, basement or utility room. Garages are not a wise place because small animals and insects are more likely to seek shelter inside of AC units in those locations. Mice and other rodents are known to chew on wiring and cause expensive damage.

If you must keep the unit mounted in the window during the off season, be sure to use an air conditioner cover that’s specifically designed to protect AC units from weather damage. How to determine what size window air conditioner you need Six simple ways to get your window or through-the-wall air conditioner ready for summer Shop for Air Conditioner Parts and Accessoriesac unit used How an air conditioner workswall around ac unit Love DIY tips and discounts? ac and heater only work on highThat’s why we give them away. Have you joined our free VIP email list? Need help finding the right part? We’re here for you 7 a.m. to midnight ET, every day. Since 1999, three and a half million people have purchased replacements parts and accessories from RepairClinic and saved more than $260 million in repair costs by fixing appliances, lawn equipment, power tools, and heating & cooling equipment on their own.

From the beginning, RepairClinic has provided free troubleshooting and how-to resources on its website. The company’s 2,000+ free how-to repair and how-it-works videos on its YouTube channel have been viewed more than 41 million times. RepairClinic’s free, advanced online repair help system empowers do-it-yourselfers to fix common problems associated with home appliances, lawn equipment, power tools and heating & cooling equipment. DIYers can enter a model number to choose from a list of common symptoms for that particular model, troubleshoot and watch award-winning, expertly-produced videos to learn the most likely causes and conditions and purchase the correct part. stocks more than one million parts and accessories for 160 brands of lawn mowers, small engines, snowblowers, string trimmers, furnaces, air conditioners, air handlers, heat pumps, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, power tools and many other products. Since 1999, the company has served more than three million customers including homeowners, first-time and beginner DIYers, advanced DIYers, appliance repair professionals, small engine repair shops and landscaping and lawn care business owners.

RepairClinic orders are backed by a 365 Days. Period.® return policy that enables customers to return any part. Of the more than one million parts available on the website, 95 percent of parts ordered are in stock and guaranteed to ship the same business day. RepairClinic ships within the United States, U.S. territories and military bases and Canada.Your browser is out of date. For the correct work of a site, install the new version.Twice in five years I’ve cleaned my outdoor AC condenser, and both times I’ve been amazed by the amount of dirt and  leaves I’ve found. Fortunately, cleaning your outdoor coil is a task that any homeowner can accomplish, and it doesn’t take very long. A good cleaning will help your AC unit to function more efficiently, and potentially make it last longer too. Read on to learn how I removed the fan, outside panels and scrubbed away a lot of dirt and debris from my outdoor AC condenser. Editors note: This post originally ran in August 2009.

In a related post about AC maintenance, one reader asked about cleaning an outdoor condenser unit, which prompted us to update this post with more pictures and information. If you find it helpful, give it a +1. Else, leave a comment and we’ll try to make it better. The coil transfers heat from your home to the outside, and this process works best when air can move freely. That’s why outdoor units have those big ‘ol fans. When dirt and leaves block up air passages, it’s that much harder to cycle enough air. Plus, dirt and even dust can settle on the AC fins making them much less efficient. This in turn raises operational costs and shortens the lifespan of your compressor. This project doesn’t require much in the way of tools. You’ll need a nut driver to remove some metal screws, a hose, and a scrubber. I’ve got a handy brush that allows me to attach the hose and pump water through the bristles. Cleaning my condenser is pretty much the perfect application for it.

It’s best to start by turning off the breaker supplying power to the unit, and hopefully your panel is labeled better than mine. Next, remove any nearby obstructions. Most installation manuals will let you know the minimum clearance around and above the unit. If you don’t have access to the manual, try for at least two feet. My unit has louvered sides held together with a lot of metal screws, and I’d estimate I removed about 30 screws all together. Fortunately, they’re all the same. Just keep track of where they all go. If your unit has a grill instead of louvers, don’t even bother taking the sides off. You can effectively clean everything as is. You’ll see screws around the perimeter, at the corner where the top and sides meet (not the screws circling the fan). After you remove all those screws, the top (and fan) can be lifted off. Be careful because the fan is tethered with electrical wires. If the installers had any sense, they left a generous length of wire and you can lean the top nearby.

This picture shows the electrical compartment. And here you see the compressor. The side grills have more screws at all the corners and along the bottom edge. After you remove these screws you’ll see how the sides overlap and can be lifted up and off. It’s a good idea to remember where each panel was located. They should be identical, but this’ll help ensure that screw hole line up when you put it back together. Use your hose and brush to clean the grills, and hose down the fins (do not scrub the fins!). The fins maximize surface area for the heat exchange so if you accidentally mash them together, they won’t work nearly as well. Even an invisible layer of dust decreases efficiency so run your hose over everything (except the electric). I think this was the beginnings of a nest. You can see the fins and a few places where the fins are bent- probably from when the previous owner had the compressor replaced. This shows some of the gunk I found on the fins.