How To Clean Window Air Conditioners

I hope this explanation about how to clean window air conditioners will help you save some money.

The first thing to do is turn the air conditioner off and un-plug it.

If the unit isn't securely attatched to a frame or bracket, slide the whole thing out of the opening, and take it outside.

You may or may not need some help, but outdoors is the best place.

If the unit is securely attatched to a frame and/or a bracket, take off the front cover.

It may be clipped on, or it may be screwed on.

Get a flashlight and look inside of the grills and around the sides of the front panel to be sure.

It's probably made of plastic, and kind of easy to break, so be careful.

When the front cover is off, tug on the lip on the bottom pan of the unit.

If you feel it move, or if it comes right out, then pull it all the way out and take it outside.

If it feels locked in solid, look for more screws around the outside and inside front edges of the cover.

You'll have to remove them to be able to slide the inside of the unit out of its cover.

You may also need to have your helper push in on the bottom of the unit from outside to help get it moved out of its cover.

When it moves free, slide it out of the cover and take it outside.

Still curious about how to clean window air conditioners?

Once outside, unscrew and remove the panels covering the inside and outside coils

Put a block under a corner of the unit so that it's tilted with the inside coil lower than the outside coil, and with the corner that does NOT have the electrical parts touching the ground.

This is so that water running out of the unit will stay away from the electrical parts.

At this stage of learning how to clean window air conditioners, you'll be using a strong coil cleaner, so read the instructions on the container, and follow the safety precautions.

Spray the inside coil and blower with a foaming air conditioning coil cleaner, and let it sit for a few minutes.

Now carefully rinse the coils clean from the inside out, and rinse off the inside blower.

You may have to repeat this procedure several times to get all the dirt out of the inside coil and blower, and you might even have to use a toothbrush to clean extra thick stuff off the coil or blower.

You may have to tilt the air conditioner over on its side to drain the water out from behind the inside coil.

I've done this dozens of times and never had any problems.

Just handle the unit carefully, rinse it out carefully, and make sure not to spray or drain water into or onto the electrical parts.

While the unit is draining, wash the front cover and filters.

If there are no filters, go to the hardware store and buy a sheet of filter material you can cut to fit your unit.

If you take the front cover along, the helpful hardware man will probably be happy to help you install a new filter in it.

The last stage of learning how to clean window air conditioners, once the water is drained out of the unit, is to re-assemble the panels, re-install the unit, re-install the front cover, plug it in, and turn it on.

Good Job!

Time for a diet soda?

I hope this page has helped you figure out how to clean window air conditioners, and please, feel free to contact us with any specific HVAC questions you might have, including questions about air conditioning on Guam, and refrigeration on Guam.