screening an AC unit to keep out debris from the cooling fins

Posted by finding z0 on May 30, 2006, 12:25 pm

Yesterday I spent most of 3 hours hosing and picking out cottonwood
fuzz and other debris from the cooling fins of my 2 outdoor AC units. I

usually do this once a year after the cottonwood stops. I missed last
year. I was thinking of using screen door like mesh to wrap around the
outside of the units to make them easier to clean. I thought about
cheap furnace filters. Any intersting solutions out there? I googled AC

& cottonwood and came up with an inventor in my home state trying to
interest investers in his product. Cheers

Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on May 30, 2006, 12:58 pm

> Yesterday I spent most of 3 hours hosing and picking out cottonwood
> fuzz and other debris from the cooling fins of my 2 outdoor AC units. I
> usually do this once a year after the cottonwood stops. I missed last
> year. I was thinking of using screen door like mesh to wrap around the
> outside of the units to make them easier to clean. I thought about
> cheap furnace filters. Any intersting solutions out there? I googled AC
> & cottonwood and came up with an inventor in my home state trying to
> interest investers in his product. Cheers

There is a company that makes filters for industrial cooling towers. They
use a polypropylene mesh. It is not as fine as a filter, but is fine enough
to keep out leaves, the cottonwood stuff,etc. It is washable. If you can
find the right material, you can make your own.

Inside you want fine filtration to clean the air you breath. Outdoors, you
only have to keep the debris that clogs the fins.

Posted by finding z0 on May 30, 2006, 2:11 pm

Absolutely. I was thinking that rather than metal mesh, I might try to
dig out some sort of plastic type flexible mesh.

Posted by Robert Mech on May 30, 2006, 2:50 pm

|> Yesterday I spent most of 3 hours hosing and picking out cottonwood
|> fuzz and other debris from the cooling fins of my 2 outdoor AC units. I
|>
|> usually do this once a year after the cottonwood stops. I missed last
|> year. I was thinking of using screen door like mesh to wrap around the
|> outside of the units to make them easier to clean. I thought about
|> cheap furnace filters. Any intersting solutions out there? I googled AC
|>
|> & cottonwood and came up with an inventor in my home state trying to
|> interest investers in his product. Cheers

With a number of cottonwoods in the area, the last thing I wanted to do
was to spend hours cleaning my new Carrier A/C. I got some fiberglass
screen cut to length from a hardware store and magnetic strip. Cut the
strip to length, drilled holes for the screw heads and put the screen
under the strips. So far so good after one summer and two winters.

I got the magnetic strip from
http://www.usmarkerboard.com/markerboards-easels/page20.html
In my case, P-1201, as the thicker the more holding strength. Not cheap,
and shipping seems to be steep, judging from the final cost. But it was
worth it as I couldn't think of an easier and more esthetic method at
the time.

Robert

Posted by finding z0 on May 31, 2006, 12:27 pm

Robert Mech wrote:

> With a number of cottonwoods in the area, the last thing I wanted to do
> was to spend hours cleaning my new Carrier A/C. I got some fiberglass
> screen cut to length from a hardware store and magnetic strip. Cut the
> strip to length, drilled holes for the screw heads and put the screen
> under the strips. So far so good after one summer and two winters.
> I got the magnetic strip from
> http://www.usmarkerboard.com/markerboards-easels/page20.html
> In my case, P-1201, as the thicker the more holding strength. Not cheap,
> and shipping seems to be steep, judging from the final cost. But it was
> worth it as I couldn't think of an easier and more esthetic method at
> the time.
> Robert

I ordered some polypropylene mesh (.03x.05" mesh size) from
McMaster-Carr yesterday. I think it's here today (by e-tracking). I
already have magnetic strip rolls from the portable car moldings I made
several years to lessen the auto dings on my then new car. We'll see. I
heard about the fiberglass mesh from Ace hardware, but wondered if the
flow might be restricted?Cheers

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