Back

Ductless Maintenance Steps – Part 1 (Podcast)

Ductless expert Jesse Claerbout talks about his best practices for maintaining ductless air conditioners and heat pumps. This episode is part 1 out of 2. Ductless maintenance can be a bit more extensive than regular split system maintenance.

Ductless filters are plastic; they are not high-MERV and can simply be washed off with water. Customers can clean their own filters with nothing but water from a hose or sink.

Blower wheels are a bit more challenging than filters; the blower wheels are long, have small cups that are prone to buildup, and carry an electrostatic charge. Due to the blower wheels' challenging nature, technicians require special training to deal with the additional labor, and customers require special education. As such, we at Kalos charge for special blower wheel maintenance. We pull the blowers from the systems and clean them (though the process of getting a blower wheel off the blower shaft is complicated). You can wash the blower wheel outside with a safe cleaner; make sure the wheel is dry when it goes back inside.

Removing the blower wheel gives you full access to the drain pan. During a ductless maintenance procedure, remember to clean out the drain pan thoroughly with a safe cleaner. If you clean ANY component indoors, use a drop cloth, especially if you're cleaning on carpet.

We clean evaporator coils and the housing with spray bottles (preferably) or pump sprayers. Clean WITH the grain, not against it, and use only water or mild, non-toxic cleaners. A botanical cleaner works well, especially for customers who may have allergies. Rectorseal also has a cleaning kit (Desolv) that comes with a good coil cleaner, a cleaning bib that surrounds the ductless unit, and a pump sprayer.

If you have an iPhone, subscribe to the podcast HERE, and if you have an Android phone, subscribe HERE.

Comments

Dave
Dave @bryanorr

Really great podcast for training techs I just found from face book. Look forward to listening to future episodes and will make a mention on the next surging Forward Podcast
Keep up the great work

10/21/17 at 03:48 PM

Really great podcast for training techs I just found from face book. Look forward to listening to future episodes and will make a mention on the next surging Forward Podcast
Keep up the great work

    HVAC School
    HVAC School @bryanorr

    Thanks for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed it.

    10/22/17 at 02:36 PM

    Thanks for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed it.

Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith @bryanorr

If you are doing any amount of ductless maintenance you should be investing in a battery powered pump sprayer and a bib kit.

We have 3 coil jets. Battery powered with a water tank and a cleaner tank, you can adjust the amount of cleaner. Has lots of attachments for outdoor coils. (Extention with 90* spray is great for foot tops).
2 spray nozzles, wide and high pressure.
The bib is simply a plastic bag that hangs from the bottom of the head and drains to a bucket.

All you need to do to clean a blower wheel is hold it in place with a long screw driver and spray between the louvers.
We will take all components outside and wash them with it too. But we don’t remove blower wheels unless it’s really bad.
A good flash light and spinning the wheel slow you will know if you got it clean.
When your done just run the fan with the bib still on.

We cut huge time costs on our maintenance.
Maintenance isn’t suppose to make money, its the other work that you get from doing them.
Resedental prices can’t be to high or you’ll get no work.

Went from 2.5 – 3 hours to 1.5 – 2 with a flat rate of 99

12/11/17 at 12:05 PM

If you are doing any amount of ductless maintenance you should be investing in a battery powered pump sprayer and a bib kit.

We have 3 coil jets. Battery powered with a water tank and a cleaner tank, you can adjust the amount of cleaner. Has lots of attachments for outdoor coils. (Extention with 90* spray is great for foot tops).
2 spray nozzles, wide and high pressure.
The bib is simply a plastic bag that hangs from the bottom of the head and drains to a bucket.

All you need to do to clean a blower wheel is hold it in place with a long screw driver and spray between the louvers.
We will take all components outside and wash them with it too. But we don’t remove blower wheels unless it’s really bad.
A good flash light and spinning the wheel slow you will know if you got it clean.
When your done just run the fan with the bib still on.

We cut huge time costs on our maintenance.
Maintenance isn’t suppose to make money, its the other work that you get from doing them.
Resedental prices can’t be to high or you’ll get no work.

Went from 2.5 – 3 hours to 1.5 – 2 with a flat rate of 99

Author:

loading

To continue you need to agree to our terms.

The HVAC School site, podcast and tech tips
made possible by generous support from