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@ diyguy, Off late I have been getting the Window AC removed to be cleaned by water by the service guys - just like you.
However for past more than 15 years, my father would follow what your father-in-law was doing - remove the filter and clean it every month, that's it.
After reading your post, my doubt is if I should get it water washed by the service guys post lock down or just clean the filter and let it run. Mine is a Hitachi that has been running trouble free for past 6 years.
What difference does water washing the AC make - except psychological satisfaction that some cleaning was done.

Cleaning carefully will improve efficiencies am sure but there is no ac mechanic or very few who take care to see there is no damage done. My last guy washed my kids room Daikin split ac and kept the IDU components standing and then knocked the body down which broke the clasp that holds the rotating fan drum on one end. As a result the ac now makes a galloping sound when running. I have tried dampening this by pressing on the IDU or sticking a double sided tape but the sound is still subtly there.
I would suggest to reduce the water wash to once a year or to slide the window ac into your room but not remove it completely. Wash the insides yourself by pouring mugs of water. The water will usually spill out outside your window. I think if you do this even twice a year the life will be prolonged. I went through 5 window acs before I realized this fact and it's a criminal waste of money.

I have found that cleaning the ODU fins with water gives you that extra edge in cooling. The reason is that modern high efficiency AC have a very close spacing and even a thin layer of dust can clog the fins, reduce the ait flow hence lower the cooling. My bedroom AC ODU is mounted on the terrace and I wash it every week, and boy the water comes out extremely dirty as though exposed to a mud shower.

If your AC is cutting out frequently, then you should check the fan motor. Too low a speed may result in icing in the IDU and that will trip the AC. Used to happen quite often in my Hitachi window AC when the fan was on the brink. One work around is to run the fan at maximum speed and see if the room cools more and/or the AC trips less.

Hello Aroy,

What you have mentioned about ODU is 100% correct. Dust accumulates in between the fins and hence cooling reduces. I do the same but once in a while (I mean a long time :)). However I sturggle with the IDU. I can clean the filters easily by taking them out but how do you clean the IDU fins?

For now I take a spare brush that I just clean these fins with. Any brush is good to take out some of the dust/fungus that you usually see on the fins. But the fins are covered by the outer plastic case in many places and hence are not easy to clean with brush at many places. Moreover I can't apply water there for obvious reasons :(

I don't have a blower and can't source one due to this lockdown. Any suggessions will be helpful.

Hi diyguy,

Thanks a ton for the detailed response.

I got another A.C. technician in last night and, after a lot of trouble shooting, he has found that the temperature sensor is faulty (What I thought was the thermostat). Anyway, he has taken the whole electronic control unit away and says he will replace the sensor and return it by this evening.

He was very confident in his work and trouble shooting so I am hoping this is indeed the cause and that the problem should now be solved. The A.C compressor was cutting out after 4 minutes and cutting back in after 5 minutes. Once he disconnected the sensor (and bridged something else), the A.C. compressor ran for about 11 minutes and cooled the room beautifully before cutting out.

Let's hope the PCB will be back soon and the problem solved.

Regards,
SS

This is good and sounds right. Hoping this solves your problem for good.

The IDU of Samsung 'Split AC' at my sister's home in Mumbai does leak water after few mins of use. Also, the cooling has come down drastically.

Is there a workaround, so that this can be fixed by themselves? They are NOT sure technician will visit them during this lock-down. As you know, it is high summer and heat is unbearable in Mumbai.

Please advise!

The IDU needs to be cleaned well with a soft brush between the fins and when finished they should pour about two mugs of water on the fins to check if the water is draining away through its normal route of the drain pipe. This also helps unclog the drain pipe.

There are two methods of cleaning the IDU thoroughly

1. Use specialized hood and pump to wash the IDU with water jet in situ. The hood collects the water and recirculates it, no leakages to the walls. This method is used by a lot of high end service providers. I think urbanclap did this.

2. Pump all the gas from the system into ODU. Seal the ODU valve and then disconnect the IDU, Take the IDU and wash it with water jet and brush. Dry it and reconnect it. After releasing the gas check for any leaks and rectify them. This was done by LG to one of my split AC.

Water condenses when cold pipe meets humid air. It is normal, hence a pipe is provided to take the condensed water away. Water leakage points to some blockage in the water outlet pipe that drains the water from the IDU and releases it outside. You can

. Open the cover and if you can identify the drain see if there is any mud accumulated on the tray.
. If you disconnect the outlet pipe, then connect a small length of pipe (it is normally same size as the 1/2 inch garden hose) and try blowing through it. If it is blocked then you have to figure out how to clean it without making a mess.

It needs a top-up of gas.

Hi diyguy & Aroy,

So, changing the sensor resolved the problem - partially. The room was still not cooling. :FrustratiThe technician now says that the previous guy should not have reduced the gas pressure as Daikin A.C's run on 75-80 psi pressure.:Shockked:

Anyway, called the original guy back in after checking with Daikin themselves who also agreed that 75 to 80 psi is correct. He topped up the gas to 78 psi and now found that the fan was running O.K. so removed the capacitor he had fitted. Phew!! A.C. is finally back to normal!!!

So for anyone having doubts, Daikin A.C's running R22 gas run at 75-80 psi. With a rotary compressor. Well, the older models anyway.

Regards.
SS

Come May, come summer heat, come... AC failure.

Bedroom AC, our old Daikin is showing an odd fault. It runs for a while (the first couple of times, it was for an hour or so, now it is for a few seconds) and shuts itself down. It does not just stop, it shuts down properly. It seems that the stabiliser output light goes off too.

At first, I thought/hoped it was a stabiliser problem, but I cobbled together a replacement (cobbled wiring) and the same thing happened. All three of our stabilisers are together near our main breaker panel, and, at least, while I was poking around there, I found some dangerous burnt-out insulation on another circuit, and was able to repair that.

I don't know how this happens. As far as I know, the cable is over-spec for the current drawn by the AC. I guess there must have been some bad connection: the burning was only the last few inches of the cable.

Anyway... We have a maintenance contract on the Daikin. All would be simple if it wasn't for... Lockdown. We called the company. They said, yes, they started work today as they understood they were allowed, but had been stopped by the police who took their tool bags away.

They have recovered the tools, and got a written permit. We hope to see them at 10.00am tomorrow.

Wife decamped to the other room, but it has only a small cot, and I am fond of my bed and mind the heat less than she does. Woke up in 29.6C this morning. I can bear it, unless it goes much above 30 --- but I don't want to! Besides, the humidity is worse than the heat.

I bought a Whirlpool Magicool 3 star inverter split ac, during January. The ODU is placed on the sunshade of the window. For the past few weeks I have been noticing water dripping on the clothesline strung immediately below the sunshade. Humidity has been high in recent times. I thought the drain tube connected to the IDU outlet pipe must have become loose and went to check, but water was freely flowing from it to a flower bed where it is routed.

Surprised, I climbed up to check what was wrong. There was no water coming from the connection to the IDU drain pipe. But water was condensing and dripping from the refrigerant inlet/outlet pipes connected to the compressor. This water is falling on to the sunshade and after a while running off to drip on the clothes hung out to dry.

Any idea how to remedy this? Ac is cooling well, no issues. I have not seen this happen in the Samsung split ac I have in another room.

Does your Samsung use the same copper pipe insulation material? What appears on this AC looks like Styrofoam insulation which won't have the ability to absorb condensation on the pipe. What you need to use is polyurethane based insulation which can absorb water on the pipe. It is a much better insulation material too.

It is possible to replace the insulation material yourself. Will be a lot cheaper than calling an engineer just to do this. Approach an AC wares shop that sells parts and buy the length of polyurethane insulation material you need and wrap it around the copper pipe. Cut the new insulation material and wrap it around the pipe. Ideally; you want to slip it in like a sock but you cannot do that as the system is charged. Wrap the new insulation material around the copper pipe and use cable ties to secure the insulation material. Do not over tighten.

Do note that some water will still drip as even polyurethane has limited absorption levels. It should reduce a lot and not drip at the rate it is now.

The other alternative is to place a small tray just under the pipe, drill a hole into it and channel a small pipe else where so the water does not fall directly on your clothes line.

If you are worried about the water forming on the copper refrigerant pipe then worry not. That condensation is normal in high humidity areas. There is nothing wrong with your AC. It the same concept where water forms on the outside of a chilled container when kept for a while. The reason why it is dripping down is that the Styrofoam insulation does not absorb water.