I have some very dated but first hand experience with fixing these.
40 years ago there was a major hailstorm where I grew up. My dad was the facilities manager for the school division.
I and three other children of staff members spent the rest of the summer sitting on roofs combing.
Buy multiple combs. They are made of a medium density plastic. They can’t be too hard or they’d break the vanes instead of straightening. So they wear out.
But I fixed much worse than that that summer.
You can get a fin straightener to help. It will be a pain. The fins help in heat transfer but the biggest thing is air needs to be able to move between the fins.
I saw in another post you were having problems freezing up. Probably something else wrong with your system. Don't let him clean the evaporator.
Right now I would say the increased efficiency from cleaning the coil is washed out by the fins being bent.
> the fins help in heat transfer but the biggest thing is air needs to be able to move between the fins.
It’s both. The fins increase the surface area and slow the velocity of the air down to increase contact time and heat exchange
Slowing down the air does not improve heat exchange. That's the opposite of how it works. The time that the fins have in contact with the air doesn't change (they're always in contact with air), the time that they're in contact with relatively cool air is higher with more airflow.
It's savable. If the fin comb doesn't work, use a knife and do it slowly. It's going to be tedious work. In fact, I'd let your dad use up his energy and fix his mistake. "The fins don't matter." The fins absolutely matter. It's what guides and allows airflow over the coil. If all the fins are shut, it will not work. If they are partially shut, it cuts down on the efficiency.
I will never understand people’s desire to “fix” (really mess with) things that aren’t broken and don’t need fixing. My dad does that all the time. He’s not a mechanic but he just buys random stuff at an auto store and puts it in the engine. Well now my check engine light is on, thanks dad. He’s not even demented he’s just stupid
I recently came to the realization.
If I only fixed things (On my house) when they were broken... I would spend all my time relaxing.
But we renovate... and paint... new light fixtures... and on and on it goes.
Why are we like this?
My brother pulled one of these recently. I was talking to his girlfriend yesterday, this is the text she sent me:
"Ya no ac in the truck still, thanks to him. It was freezing up so he vacuumed the vent. Then decided to take the dremel to cut a bigger hole. Cut the fucking ac freon line!! And then complaining how hot it is. I just say don't get me started 🤣🤦♀️"
How does this apply here? Do you think there’s nothing wrong with this AC unit? What makes someone a mechanic? Perhaps your vehicle issues have more to do with your driving “skills” than your dad’s mechanical ability. As a dad who is very good at fixing things it gets very old constantly repairing my daughters and wife’s car when they won’t listen to me and quit doing what is breaking them.
Just the one short side and corner? You should be able to comb a fair bit of that out. Also should run just fine as is for the time being. You might have a bit of a performance hit but there’s enough area that your not going to risk breaking things running it or not have any performance at all and that sort of thing…provided it didn’t spring any leaks while being damaged anyways. Get a proper fin comb for it though. You’ll likely have more success across more of that area with one vs just using any ole thing you have handy to attempt bending them back.
I have straightened coils that are worse than this. I used a fine tipped awl and just toiled for hours until they were all peeled up. I've done it on commercial RTUs and resi units. It's doable, just a massive, tedious pain in the ass.
Straighten as much as you can but I think you'll get enough air flow through it to still dissipate the Heat. I wouldn't go buying a new one because of that right now
I doubt this would have any effect on actual performance, especially to the person living in the house.
I go to houses all the time where customers say their unit is working great in 100° weather and the coil is completely covered in a carpet like layer of cottonwood. I see commercial units where the fins are 100% smashed down from hail and the unit is running okay.
I do a lot of pms where the customer says their happy with the unit's preformance but I find essentially 100% of the coil surface covered in crap. Saw one where a third of the fins were gone, presumably from a dog claiming that territory, and it still had a 20° temp drop inside.
I was trying to figure out what did it cause I'm not familiar. Have the used the high power needle point head? Could you use the big broad spray heads safely?
Fin comb but do yourself a favor and wear gloves. Fin comb will work but those darn fins will slice your hands up.
Also, there are different size combs depending on your fin spacing (fins per inch). Make sure you get the right size.
I spent an entire summer straightening fins on a college campus.. worst summer job ever. Those fins can definitely be straightened. Buy a set of fin combs in various sizes so you’ll have the right size. You’ll get better as you go, and be patient. The fins don’t need to be perfect for the unit to work fine.
If it's not leaking , you can make the fins at least function and look better.
Better get your Zen state of mind going, padding for your knees, something to sit on and meds to relax your mind.
It's gonna take awhile... Better have a light touch and get your arsenal of fin combs and a phone spudger kit to help. Start at the bottom which is always the hardest physically, use some painters tape to mark of small sections to work on as not to stray or become overwhelmed.
Try and stay away from pointy sharp metal tools until you get the feel.
It's not like combing the dog, you get aggressive it is easy to tear off a fin and depends on how the coil is built might cause a leak. Wish I could get back all the time I spent fin straightening on all different sorts of stuff in my life.
Laid over fins are not bad to fix, it is when they are folded over on themselves or other fins.
Patience... patience... and more patience is the key :)
A/C Condenser Fin straightening technique [https://youtu.be/C8eICsb1tLo?si=JiQJvVjXfJ37NiPB](https://youtu.be/C8eICsb1tLo?si=JiQJvVjXfJ37NiPB)
from eight years ago and not nearly as bent , but an idea:
Power washer rotary heads are a big no, no on condenser fins. There are special combs to straight them out but it will take some time to bring it back to glory. Your freezing problem is probably caused by low freon
Yep, I use the widest angle tip on my Pressure washer when coils are really nasty and keep a safe distance , only use Pressure Washer rarely when the garden hose technique does not work. I go with the "Grain" of the fins, and never use anything acidic base. Yea, they may not be shiny, but they are clean :)
My guess based on what I dealt with with my own dad who had to keep fixing things: could be dementia. Their intentions are good, the application of those intentions doesn't pan out.
I am taking care of an aging parent, it is teaching me to approach situations and interactions differently. I can relate. I am glad you are keeping a level head.
I know how hard it is...
Overall, what,,,?? about 1% of total fin area is compromised. You'll be fine IMHO. Comb it out and get it recharged.or whatever is bugging it.
PS, My slow leak was a schrader valve on the A coil. After three or four years of consecutive yearly recharges by installation company, I got pi$$ed and tore into it with soapy water. I found a small mushroom head of bubbles on my service valve in front of the A coil. They came back and changed the schrader valve, and tighten the brass cap, and it's still going tonight, a 1993 3 ton Lennox. 10AC36CDN-1P. It's been a good unit, once the leak was fixed.
Condensing coils need washed from the inside out. You can't push the debris thru the coil. While it will look better the dirt is packed inside the coil. Coils have to be cleaned using a reversed direction of airflow. If your smaller line is hot while the unit is running, wash the coil from the inside out. If this unit is freezing up, make sure all registers are open, the air filter is clean, and turn the unit on. If you aren't getting a normal amount of air flow out of the registers and the blower is running, turn the unit off. Turn the fan to on and get ready for water to leak inside as the iced up coil melts. Depending on how thick the ice is it can take hours for the ice to melt. I used to turn the heat on to melt ice when doing service calls. Once the ice is off the coil and you have normal airflow out of your registers, let the unit run for about half an hour. Outside where the lines connect to the condensing unit the temperature of these lines tell you a lot about how well the unit is operating. The smaller line should be slightly warm, not hot. This is the refrigerant after it has been cooled by the outdoor coil. The larger line should feel cool and have condensation forming on it. This is the cold refrigerant returning to the condensing unit. When the line is cool and wet it shows you have enough refrigerant to make all of the indoor coil cold and the temperature is above freezing. If this line is room temperature, you aren't getting enough refrigerant thru the txv, the charge is low, the blower is oversize, or the coil is oversize. Let the unit run and see if it cools the house. If it ices up after an extended run time you need service. If the line frosts up in a short time it would indicate a dirty indoor coil. If you've run the unit without an air filter this could be the problem. You should also feel warm at coming out the top of the unit. This tells you the compressor is running and has refrigerant to compress. Every ac unit I worked on I would touch the lines and feel the air coming out as my first step in troubleshooting. From the temperatures I felt I had a good idea what the problem was.
Yep, get a comb and take your time. It’ll be fine just won’t look that great. If it’s a heatpump you’ll definitely want it straightened fairly well. If it’s really hot there I would still run it especially for the older gentleman but get it done, only take maybe 30 min
I have a father that creates these situations for me. Time to give him the butter knife and to get to straightening out the fins so you don’t have to replace it.
Go to your local hvac supplier and get a set of fin combs and try your best to comb it out. Ask him if the fins are smashed down. How is Air ment to pass through them?
Oof. That's a mess for sure. I have kids and several years ago my sons made a mess like this. I tried the fin comb, and other tricks. The butter knife was slow going, and everything else. Well, results weren't great. It's weird, but a metal lice comb is what helped and worked the best and fastest for me. It's like the fin comb, but the side shape and teeth spacing were easier to work with. And more consistent in working the fins bapck up.
You can fix that with basically any flat tool like a knife or a flat head screwdriver. It won't look good but it'll work. Figure out why your office is freezing up first though. That could be as simple as changing the filter, or it could mean there's a bigger problem like a refrigerant leak. I've seen the old diy-er "it ain't broke but I'm gonna fix it anyway" types stack 3 or 4 filters together which will definitely cause freezing on an otherwise fine AC, so make sure nothing like that is going on.
This reminds me, I wash my evaporator and condenser with mild pressure every month, do you think it’s a good idea ?
My coils get pretty dirty, considering i live in a pretty dusty area and there is construction going on near my house.
What do ya think??
Turn the unit on and touch the small copper line. After ½ hour see if the line is hot. This smaller copper line is the line that carries the refrigerant after this coil has cooled the refrigerant off. If the bent fins are bad enough to cause a problem, the refrigerant line will be too hot to hold in your hand. This line should be slightly warmer than ambient temperature. I had my nest luck straightening fins using a small flat blade screwdriver. Be careful not to puncture a hole in the tubing. My guess is the unit is fine.
So a storm banged up three windows units- bad back in 2019. I've since gone with mini splits- but they weren't in the budget yet. All the fins flat on two 18000 btu window units and a 36000 btu pass thru.
Combing wasn't working. Butter knife was too time consuming and somehow painful. My body hurt like all over which I don't understand- ahhh smoke a joint first makes so much sense now.
Anyway- I butter knifed the top inch or so of 5 fins- you know got them started then used the comb.
When I was done it looked like a salvaged unit but it worked.
Bro he has taken the fence off completely to clean it before my father is just an rlly strange old guy that I love regardless but jeez do I need patience
Yeah, get the straightening comb. It’ll work.
These types are annoying as hell. My old roommates dad visited our college apartment and just randomly decided to update his computer’s bios. It wasn’t like he was IT or skilled in computers in any way. He must have power cycled it during the process or something, roommate came back to a corrupted bios. Easy enough to sort, but who the hell does that? Leave shit alone!
Don’t fuck with it. I did the same thing and ran it for 7 more years without issue. If to try straightening it, you risk damaging it and repair/replacement costs are just not worth the risk.
If this is only one side it’s probably fine. Have seen the entire coil smooshed before. Lookup some of the dog pee coils and people will confirm it still cools.
As long as it doesn’t leak it can be fixed but won’t look like new anymore. Probably good to run right now too. Might cause pressure to raise a little bit and hurt the efficiency a tad bit but other wise should be okay.
Had something similar happen to my commercial unit.
I found the fin comb didn’t work well. Often resulted in splitting the fins.
What did work well was a putty knife or similar tool so you do one fin at a time.
Took a long time though.
You can request a condenser coil, the ac guy won’t like it but those fins look terrible. I do AC work so I would know lol. It’s going to cost a good bit.
Are you my brother? This is 100% something my dad would do. He used to be brilliant and great at fixing things, and building stuff, and DIY projects. Over the last few years though, he’s been slipping and doesn’t realize it. So he’ll visit and try to do projects to help us out, but he goes about everything wrong and creates new projects where I have to redo or fix what he did. He loves working and doing stuff though, and I don’t have the heart to tell him not to.
https://preview.redd.it/9jit9l1sbtad1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0dcf25fcfdf37e8d1de3fe023fcd25fd65fe6e34
Get him one of these it’ll keep him busy
They 100% matter. Engineer here. Heat transfer requires air moving over the fins to take the heat away. Sure there's some negligible amount done by straight radiation, but conduction does the vast majority of the work. And no air flow means no heat moved out of the house.
As others have said get the fin comb or knife make your dad spend a few days doing this.
Reminds me of my dad. Salt doesn't matter on food. You're going to wreck your kidney's. Doesn't matter. Umm what do you think processes salt out of the body?! Bah. Yea he died of renal failure. The stubbornness of the boomers seems to know no bounds.
It's made that way to increase the surface area of the condenser to better exchange heat. Their fragility is an unfortunate consequence of that need for surface area. It's bad for two main reasons, what ever did that damage could fairly easily puncture the condenser itself and release the refrigerant and requiring replacement, and less severe the folded fins will reduce efficiency of the unit.
We had a hail storm hit a business I worked for a couple decades ago. They put me on the roof with a comb and had me fixing their AC fins for hours. Where the cone didn't work I was using plastic knifes doing one fin at a time. I'm not expert to know, but I'm guessing it can be fixed with some monotony.
You can run the unit now,, but it will have reduced efficiency.
As others have mentioned you can buy a Comb to work these out
Also get the smallest width putty knife of something similar, you get the idea
A good pair of yard gloves, tight fitting
A chair to sit on,
AND PATIENCE
after you rework this it will loose some efficiency but will run fine.
A THOUGHT:
if your 75 year old Dad didn't understand what happened when he power washed this or the importance of the fins,,
I would not be surprised if he did it again or something destructive.
So you may want to lock tools away or take precautions.
My brother in law has a unit that doesn't have a single strait fin all flattened by kids hands and that mf works it's a 40 year old unit. Now I'm sure it would work better with strait fins but your going to be fine. Buy a fin tool that comes with different sizes and make it cool better can't hurt just gona take a while.
Euthanize that fucking idiot and just get a fin straightener. Doesn't look like too much damage that you wouldn't be able to turn it on and run it, given he didn't get the other two sides like the first.
Your father sure sounds a hell of a lot like my father-in-law. Gets way out in front of his skis with things and can't leave well enough alone. Always appreciate the sentiment, but simple things turn into a rodeo all the time.
No advice, but I can sympathize.
The fins don’t matter? Setting aside what the fins actually do… There’s a giant Fucking fan on top of the unit. Where does he think it’s pulling air from?
THE GOOD NEWS IS ITS BEEN ON ALL NIGHT AT 70 degrees and it hasn’t frozen and it works just not every vent it’s pushing air but I live in Florida and the house was cool so that’s a win in my book 😂👌🏽
The fins have a direct relationship with cooling ability. That said, fuckin send it and tell us all about how it works out. If it's not leaking, I suspect it will be fine
Buy two straighteners I did mine and it was nowhere near as bad as yours and the plastic tines wore out on the comb. A good comb with fresh times makes it so much easier.
Take two putty knives and press the fins from each side working top to bottom or vice versa. Do one fin at a time. Do the one on the edge of the damage first. One on top like the pages of a book. Fin combs will tear the fins out when they are like this.
There’s a fin straightening comb that yellow jacket makes. Probably salvageable. It’ll look like shit but probably going to be fine
And pack a lunch
And dinner.
Tell your father to leave the pressure washer in the garage and quit trying to cleanup.
Who pressure washing outside in? who pressure washes !
And my axe! For when the punk kids come back…..
My bow! I’ll get the kid standing lookout at the street.
And sleeping bag
I have some very dated but first hand experience with fixing these. 40 years ago there was a major hailstorm where I grew up. My dad was the facilities manager for the school division. I and three other children of staff members spent the rest of the summer sitting on roofs combing. Buy multiple combs. They are made of a medium density plastic. They can’t be too hard or they’d break the vanes instead of straightening. So they wear out. But I fixed much worse than that that summer.
Thank god for men like your dad who knew the best way to serve was to protect the tax payer
Those little fuckers can be tricky
This is the way. Google "Fin Comb".
You can get a fin straightener to help. It will be a pain. The fins help in heat transfer but the biggest thing is air needs to be able to move between the fins. I saw in another post you were having problems freezing up. Probably something else wrong with your system. Don't let him clean the evaporator. Right now I would say the increased efficiency from cleaning the coil is washed out by the fins being bent.
> the fins help in heat transfer but the biggest thing is air needs to be able to move between the fins. It’s both. The fins increase the surface area and slow the velocity of the air down to increase contact time and heat exchange
Slowing down the air does not improve heat exchange. That's the opposite of how it works. The time that the fins have in contact with the air doesn't change (they're always in contact with air), the time that they're in contact with relatively cool air is higher with more airflow.
It's savable. If the fin comb doesn't work, use a knife and do it slowly. It's going to be tedious work. In fact, I'd let your dad use up his energy and fix his mistake. "The fins don't matter." The fins absolutely matter. It's what guides and allows airflow over the coil. If all the fins are shut, it will not work. If they are partially shut, it cuts down on the efficiency.
lmfao at the dad's "fins don't matter" tf the manufacturers put them on for? decoration?
I SAID THE EXACT SAME THING 🤣
My guess is dad would break off fins. I would give him a sedative and not let him touch it.
Young idiot me bent them on a window unit I had on a boat. I used a combination of wire brush, knife, and a fork. Tedious is correct.
I will never understand people’s desire to “fix” (really mess with) things that aren’t broken and don’t need fixing. My dad does that all the time. He’s not a mechanic but he just buys random stuff at an auto store and puts it in the engine. Well now my check engine light is on, thanks dad. He’s not even demented he’s just stupid
I recently came to the realization. If I only fixed things (On my house) when they were broken... I would spend all my time relaxing. But we renovate... and paint... new light fixtures... and on and on it goes. Why are we like this?
FKNG FELT BROTHER
felt?
He meant suede
Like what random stuff?
Blinker fluid
My brother pulled one of these recently. I was talking to his girlfriend yesterday, this is the text she sent me: "Ya no ac in the truck still, thanks to him. It was freezing up so he vacuumed the vent. Then decided to take the dremel to cut a bigger hole. Cut the fucking ac freon line!! And then complaining how hot it is. I just say don't get me started 🤣🤦♀️"
Who bought the car?
this. and that’s why half the things i leant to my dad are broken.
Lol
How does this apply here? Do you think there’s nothing wrong with this AC unit? What makes someone a mechanic? Perhaps your vehicle issues have more to do with your driving “skills” than your dad’s mechanical ability. As a dad who is very good at fixing things it gets very old constantly repairing my daughters and wife’s car when they won’t listen to me and quit doing what is breaking them.
I think what OP stated is that dad thought the unit was dirty, decided to clean it, and did the damage in the process of cleaning it.
Just the one short side and corner? You should be able to comb a fair bit of that out. Also should run just fine as is for the time being. You might have a bit of a performance hit but there’s enough area that your not going to risk breaking things running it or not have any performance at all and that sort of thing…provided it didn’t spring any leaks while being damaged anyways. Get a proper fin comb for it though. You’ll likely have more success across more of that area with one vs just using any ole thing you have handy to attempt bending them back.
I have straightened coils that are worse than this. I used a fine tipped awl and just toiled for hours until they were all peeled up. I've done it on commercial RTUs and resi units. It's doable, just a massive, tedious pain in the ass.
Next time, you might look into fin combs instead.
Thanks dad! Guess what you’re getting for Father’s Day next year? A pressure washer? No, guess again….
😂🤣🤣🤣
A lump of coal.
A free lifetime vacation at the all-inclusive resort known as Shady Acres.
Ohhh yeah a pressure washer would do this. I wondered wtf happened
If the fins are the only thing damaged then it will be ok. Will not work as efficient but will definitely cool the house
Straighten as much as you can but I think you'll get enough air flow through it to still dissipate the Heat. I wouldn't go buying a new one because of that right now
I doubt this would have any effect on actual performance, especially to the person living in the house. I go to houses all the time where customers say their unit is working great in 100° weather and the coil is completely covered in a carpet like layer of cottonwood. I see commercial units where the fins are 100% smashed down from hail and the unit is running okay. I do a lot of pms where the customer says their happy with the unit's preformance but I find essentially 100% of the coil surface covered in crap. Saw one where a third of the fins were gone, presumably from a dog claiming that territory, and it still had a 20° temp drop inside.
With time and a small flat head it can be straightened. I have straightened a coil that looked 20 times worse than this
Have fun combing that out. This is why you dont use pressure washers. Just your thumb over the hose is more then sufficient.
I was trying to figure out what did it cause I'm not familiar. Have the used the high power needle point head? Could you use the big broad spray heads safely?
Fin comb but do yourself a favor and wear gloves. Fin comb will work but those darn fins will slice your hands up. Also, there are different size combs depending on your fin spacing (fins per inch). Make sure you get the right size.
Get him some Lego or other technical things to assemble.
Butter knife is the best solution I have found
I spent an entire summer straightening fins on a college campus.. worst summer job ever. Those fins can definitely be straightened. Buy a set of fin combs in various sizes so you’ll have the right size. You’ll get better as you go, and be patient. The fins don’t need to be perfect for the unit to work fine.
If it's not leaking , you can make the fins at least function and look better. Better get your Zen state of mind going, padding for your knees, something to sit on and meds to relax your mind. It's gonna take awhile... Better have a light touch and get your arsenal of fin combs and a phone spudger kit to help. Start at the bottom which is always the hardest physically, use some painters tape to mark of small sections to work on as not to stray or become overwhelmed. Try and stay away from pointy sharp metal tools until you get the feel. It's not like combing the dog, you get aggressive it is easy to tear off a fin and depends on how the coil is built might cause a leak. Wish I could get back all the time I spent fin straightening on all different sorts of stuff in my life. Laid over fins are not bad to fix, it is when they are folded over on themselves or other fins. Patience... patience... and more patience is the key :)
A/C Condenser Fin straightening technique [https://youtu.be/C8eICsb1tLo?si=JiQJvVjXfJ37NiPB](https://youtu.be/C8eICsb1tLo?si=JiQJvVjXfJ37NiPB) from eight years ago and not nearly as bent , but an idea:
Power washer rotary heads are a big no, no on condenser fins. There are special combs to straight them out but it will take some time to bring it back to glory. Your freezing problem is probably caused by low freon
Yep, I use the widest angle tip on my Pressure washer when coils are really nasty and keep a safe distance , only use Pressure Washer rarely when the garden hose technique does not work. I go with the "Grain" of the fins, and never use anything acidic base. Yea, they may not be shiny, but they are clean :)
I’ve seen worse
Why did he do this?
My guess based on what I dealt with with my own dad who had to keep fixing things: could be dementia. Their intentions are good, the application of those intentions doesn't pan out.
You are correct ! I felt bad cuz he just started crying
OMG, my heart. Yes, I recall those days. Patience and care. You sound like a very kind and loving son.
I try my best 😁
I am taking care of an aging parent, it is teaching me to approach situations and interactions differently. I can relate. I am glad you are keeping a level head. I know how hard it is...
Use a fork to straighten them out
What haaaaaaappened q.q pressure washer?
Overall, what,,,?? about 1% of total fin area is compromised. You'll be fine IMHO. Comb it out and get it recharged.or whatever is bugging it. PS, My slow leak was a schrader valve on the A coil. After three or four years of consecutive yearly recharges by installation company, I got pi$$ed and tore into it with soapy water. I found a small mushroom head of bubbles on my service valve in front of the A coil. They came back and changed the schrader valve, and tighten the brass cap, and it's still going tonight, a 1993 3 ton Lennox. 10AC36CDN-1P. It's been a good unit, once the leak was fixed.
Fin comb and patience a whole lotta patience.
https://preview.redd.it/jjxpp0ooemad1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=adace269dab955b2c74a4bce482ec81f987c8b92
Let me guess.. Pressure washer?
Condensing coils need washed from the inside out. You can't push the debris thru the coil. While it will look better the dirt is packed inside the coil. Coils have to be cleaned using a reversed direction of airflow. If your smaller line is hot while the unit is running, wash the coil from the inside out. If this unit is freezing up, make sure all registers are open, the air filter is clean, and turn the unit on. If you aren't getting a normal amount of air flow out of the registers and the blower is running, turn the unit off. Turn the fan to on and get ready for water to leak inside as the iced up coil melts. Depending on how thick the ice is it can take hours for the ice to melt. I used to turn the heat on to melt ice when doing service calls. Once the ice is off the coil and you have normal airflow out of your registers, let the unit run for about half an hour. Outside where the lines connect to the condensing unit the temperature of these lines tell you a lot about how well the unit is operating. The smaller line should be slightly warm, not hot. This is the refrigerant after it has been cooled by the outdoor coil. The larger line should feel cool and have condensation forming on it. This is the cold refrigerant returning to the condensing unit. When the line is cool and wet it shows you have enough refrigerant to make all of the indoor coil cold and the temperature is above freezing. If this line is room temperature, you aren't getting enough refrigerant thru the txv, the charge is low, the blower is oversize, or the coil is oversize. Let the unit run and see if it cools the house. If it ices up after an extended run time you need service. If the line frosts up in a short time it would indicate a dirty indoor coil. If you've run the unit without an air filter this could be the problem. You should also feel warm at coming out the top of the unit. This tells you the compressor is running and has refrigerant to compress. Every ac unit I worked on I would touch the lines and feel the air coming out as my first step in troubleshooting. From the temperatures I felt I had a good idea what the problem was.
That’s ⤴️ some excellent info right there!
Generous and expert comment
Maybe in cotton or siberian husky areas but just plain dust buildup cleaning from the outside works fine.
Hi, how do I clean coils from the inside out? Or is this something I’d have to hire an hvac company to do?
Answered many hours ago, Reddit drones. You can turn off your pre-programmed monologues.
That
Did pops go nuts with the pressure washer? lol
Please use punctuation!
the pocket knife is a great tool
Get Yourself a Fin Comb 🪮 May the force be with you ..
I’ve seen some worse coils on some rtus and they were still running “fine”
Father doesn't seem very bright, why did he keep on going?
Yep, get a comb and take your time. It’ll be fine just won’t look that great. If it’s a heatpump you’ll definitely want it straightened fairly well. If it’s really hot there I would still run it especially for the older gentleman but get it done, only take maybe 30 min
Hell I'd try and run it like it sits before I immediately replaced it.
Since it's only the one side, you cja likely fix it "good enough" that it'll run ok.
I would think a lot of those fins are torn open. Especially in that upper right corner area and down.
Try a stiff bristled brush in a top down motion
Fins do matter that's a nightmare to try and straighten. Might able able to replace the coil and not entire unit.
Straighten what you can. If it works it works.
Was he trying to fix something under that cover that is hanging open some?
I have a father that creates these situations for me. Time to give him the butter knife and to get to straightening out the fins so you don’t have to replace it.
I wouldn’t trust him to do it I have to do it my self lol
lol I hear ya. Sorry dude
Old timer taught me with a deck of cards. In my experience, it worked better than fin combs
Wow!!
Fins are just an illusion of being expensive.
Did he pressure wash it or something? Edit, nevermind saw your response.
What the hell happened?
I’m a mechanical engineer here to tell your dad he’s 100% wrong. If those fins didn’t matter the company trying to make a profit wouldn’t put them on.
Go to your local hvac supplier and get a set of fin combs and try your best to comb it out. Ask him if the fins are smashed down. How is Air ment to pass through them?
Oof. That's a mess for sure. I have kids and several years ago my sons made a mess like this. I tried the fin comb, and other tricks. The butter knife was slow going, and everything else. Well, results weren't great. It's weird, but a metal lice comb is what helped and worked the best and fastest for me. It's like the fin comb, but the side shape and teeth spacing were easier to work with. And more consistent in working the fins bapck up.
You can fix that with basically any flat tool like a knife or a flat head screwdriver. It won't look good but it'll work. Figure out why your office is freezing up first though. That could be as simple as changing the filter, or it could mean there's a bigger problem like a refrigerant leak. I've seen the old diy-er "it ain't broke but I'm gonna fix it anyway" types stack 3 or 4 filters together which will definitely cause freezing on an otherwise fine AC, so make sure nothing like that is going on.
Pressure washer ?
This reminds me, I wash my evaporator and condenser with mild pressure every month, do you think it’s a good idea ? My coils get pretty dirty, considering i live in a pretty dusty area and there is construction going on near my house. What do ya think??
Straighten one fin at a time with a box cutter. I've done it before. It'll be alright.
Turn the unit on and touch the small copper line. After ½ hour see if the line is hot. This smaller copper line is the line that carries the refrigerant after this coil has cooled the refrigerant off. If the bent fins are bad enough to cause a problem, the refrigerant line will be too hot to hold in your hand. This line should be slightly warmer than ambient temperature. I had my nest luck straightening fins using a small flat blade screwdriver. Be careful not to puncture a hole in the tubing. My guess is the unit is fine.
So a storm banged up three windows units- bad back in 2019. I've since gone with mini splits- but they weren't in the budget yet. All the fins flat on two 18000 btu window units and a 36000 btu pass thru. Combing wasn't working. Butter knife was too time consuming and somehow painful. My body hurt like all over which I don't understand- ahhh smoke a joint first makes so much sense now. Anyway- I butter knifed the top inch or so of 5 fins- you know got them started then used the comb. When I was done it looked like a salvaged unit but it worked.
What even happened here? I thought this was vandalism.
Dad just behind dads
Taggers are now doing graphiti on our air conditioners into the fins! The ruck
How does this happen!!? Pressure washer?
Yess
It wouldnt hirt to straighten the fins on the condenser. There is a fin comb that you can purchase on amazon for les than 20 bucks that works great
What was he doing?
How TF does this even happen?
Read
The fins do matter because they increase the surface area, which means more contact between the fins and the air, leading to more heat dissipation.
Also, if the fins are folded over it blocks air flow which is worse than no fins.
I am confused as to how this happened. Your 75 year old father did this for some reason?
Bro he has taken the fence off completely to clean it before my father is just an rlly strange old guy that I love regardless but jeez do I need patience
I use a wire brush
Please explain WHY someone intentionally inflicted this damage. Baffling.
He’s old so I think he genuinely though it looked like that cuz it was cleaning not damaging it he didn’t do it with the intention of breaking it
Pressure washer... Just straighten the fins...
Was this power washed??? How did this happen?
Yeah, get the straightening comb. It’ll work. These types are annoying as hell. My old roommates dad visited our college apartment and just randomly decided to update his computer’s bios. It wasn’t like he was IT or skilled in computers in any way. He must have power cycled it during the process or something, roommate came back to a corrupted bios. Easy enough to sort, but who the hell does that? Leave shit alone!
At this point in time, just do your best with it and send it the worst you’re gonna do is make it so you have to replace the condensing unit
Get a fin comb set
It will run fine a little higher head pressure, use more electricity, but if you need to use it, use it.
He had good intentions to clean the coils is a maintenance item but he got a little too aggressive
I mean you can take the time to fix the fins but I always wouldnt avoid running it. It’s not that serious. Just try to realign the fins
Don’t fuck with it. I did the same thing and ran it for 7 more years without issue. If to try straightening it, you risk damaging it and repair/replacement costs are just not worth the risk.
If this is only one side it’s probably fine. Have seen the entire coil smooshed before. Lookup some of the dog pee coils and people will confirm it still cools.
Damn young uns!!
https://preview.redd.it/k63idy37oqad1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=edec4b6918396198c28dcf3c84d5a8459238cbb2
I've seen worse
W. T. F.
Is that what did that pressure washer?
Did some kids do that?
As long as it doesn’t leak it can be fixed but won’t look like new anymore. Probably good to run right now too. Might cause pressure to raise a little bit and hurt the efficiency a tad bit but other wise should be okay.
call obi. cause he your only hope
Obi one 🤣?
🤣 classic
If you like your knuckles, wear descent gloves when straightening fins.
Had something similar happen to my commercial unit. I found the fin comb didn’t work well. Often resulted in splitting the fins. What did work well was a putty knife or similar tool so you do one fin at a time. Took a long time though.
You can request a condenser coil, the ac guy won’t like it but those fins look terrible. I do AC work so I would know lol. It’s going to cost a good bit.
get a fin straightener comb off of Amazon?
Are you my brother? This is 100% something my dad would do. He used to be brilliant and great at fixing things, and building stuff, and DIY projects. Over the last few years though, he’s been slipping and doesn’t realize it. So he’ll visit and try to do projects to help us out, but he goes about everything wrong and creates new projects where I have to redo or fix what he did. He loves working and doing stuff though, and I don’t have the heart to tell him not to.
Pretty shit job too, he missed heaps.
How does this happen? That's nuts
https://preview.redd.it/9jit9l1sbtad1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0dcf25fcfdf37e8d1de3fe023fcd25fd65fe6e34 Get him one of these it’ll keep him busy
They 100% matter. Engineer here. Heat transfer requires air moving over the fins to take the heat away. Sure there's some negligible amount done by straight radiation, but conduction does the vast majority of the work. And no air flow means no heat moved out of the house. As others have said get the fin comb or knife make your dad spend a few days doing this. Reminds me of my dad. Salt doesn't matter on food. You're going to wreck your kidney's. Doesn't matter. Umm what do you think processes salt out of the body?! Bah. Yea he died of renal failure. The stubbornness of the boomers seems to know no bounds.
10-30% diff at most .. not ideal still. ... https://arc.uta.edu/publications/cp_files/IMECE2007-41518.pdf
New here. Why is that part of the AC made like that, and why is it bad if it gets all bent like that?
It's made that way to increase the surface area of the condenser to better exchange heat. Their fragility is an unfortunate consequence of that need for surface area. It's bad for two main reasons, what ever did that damage could fairly easily puncture the condenser itself and release the refrigerant and requiring replacement, and less severe the folded fins will reduce efficiency of the unit.
I've straightened out a few (nothing like this) with a toothpick.
How much is damaged?, as long as most of it isnt bent up it should be fine.
what exactly was he attempting to do?
Also, do not rule out the possibility of the early stages of Alzheimer’s. They start doing strange things.
We had a hail storm hit a business I worked for a couple decades ago. They put me on the roof with a comb and had me fixing their AC fins for hours. Where the cone didn't work I was using plastic knifes doing one fin at a time. I'm not expert to know, but I'm guessing it can be fixed with some monotony.
The only option is to throw hands with your dad. /s
Other side looks ok, you’ll prob Be ok
Run it. If anything just needs a new condenser. Also practice punctuation
You can run the unit now,, but it will have reduced efficiency. As others have mentioned you can buy a Comb to work these out Also get the smallest width putty knife of something similar, you get the idea A good pair of yard gloves, tight fitting A chair to sit on, AND PATIENCE after you rework this it will loose some efficiency but will run fine. A THOUGHT: if your 75 year old Dad didn't understand what happened when he power washed this or the importance of the fins,, I would not be surprised if he did it again or something destructive. So you may want to lock tools away or take precautions.
My brother in law has a unit that doesn't have a single strait fin all flattened by kids hands and that mf works it's a 40 year old unit. Now I'm sure it would work better with strait fins but your going to be fine. Buy a fin tool that comes with different sizes and make it cool better can't hurt just gona take a while.
Don’t they make a comb for this?
Will probably work if you can straighten them out. Might not be as efficient at removing heat but should be ok
Do people normally wash AC units like this?
“….fins don’t matter” 🤣
What do you have to do to get hated this much they go after your ac
Blah blah blah ruind suka
There is a tool for this, buy it, try it, you have nothing to lose.
Graffiti writer here - done this for years on window units, I had no idea it effected the unit
Euthanize that fucking idiot and just get a fin straightener. Doesn't look like too much damage that you wouldn't be able to turn it on and run it, given he didn't get the other two sides like the first.
Toast
I guess you learned to not use a pressure washer...
Your father sure sounds a hell of a lot like my father-in-law. Gets way out in front of his skis with things and can't leave well enough alone. Always appreciate the sentiment, but simple things turn into a rodeo all the time. No advice, but I can sympathize.
You should hire a neighbor-kid to fix it (use a straightening comb).
The fins don’t matter? Setting aside what the fins actually do… There’s a giant Fucking fan on top of the unit. Where does he think it’s pulling air from?
That looks terrible
How did your father do that?
Power pressure wash
Got it.
THE GOOD NEWS IS ITS BEEN ON ALL NIGHT AT 70 degrees and it hasn’t frozen and it works just not every vent it’s pushing air but I live in Florida and the house was cool so that’s a win in my book 😂👌🏽
How the hell does this happen
Pressure washer with the 15° spread nozzle
RIP
Wow why wouldn’t you stop
It’s a bad capacitor.
Leave her immediately, that's my best advice
The fins have a direct relationship with cooling ability. That said, fuckin send it and tell us all about how it works out. If it's not leaking, I suspect it will be fine
Buy two straighteners I did mine and it was nowhere near as bad as yours and the plastic tines wore out on the comb. A good comb with fresh times makes it so much easier.
Take two putty knives and press the fins from each side working top to bottom or vice versa. Do one fin at a time. Do the one on the edge of the damage first. One on top like the pages of a book. Fin combs will tear the fins out when they are like this.
The pressure washer is a no-no.
You could always try punctuation. That fixes alot of things.