Heating · Cooling
AC maintenance and tune-ups in the Tri-Cities
A yearly AC tune-up from A-One covers the system from the outdoor coil to the condensate drain, before dust and 100 degree afternoons turn a weak part into a breakdown.
Chapter 01
Tri-Cities dust and heat wear down a condenser and a filter faster than a mild climate would
The Tri-Cities sit in dry shrub steppe country. Wind lifts fine dust and weed seed, and it lands on the filter, the evaporator coil and the condenser fins. A clogged filter starves the blower, and a coil with a film of dust stops shedding heat. The compressor then runs longer at higher pressure through every 100 degree afternoon, and both the power bill and the wear climb.
Heat does its own damage. Capacitors dry out and drift below their rating. Contactor points pit. Condensate drains grow algae and slime that back up into the pan, and a float switch shuts the system down on the day you need it most. None of this announces itself. The system simply cools a little less each summer until one afternoon it does not cool at all.
New condenser and pad beside a Tri-Cities house, ready for the cooling season
A tune-up covers the system from the outdoor coil to the condensate drain
The tech cleans the condenser coil, checks the fan motor and the capacitor, and looks over the contactor and wiring for heat damage. Indoors, the filter is checked, the blower and evaporator coil are inspected, and the condensate drain is cleared and flushed so it runs freely. Refrigerant pressures and the temperature drop across the coil are measured and compared with what the system should produce.
Airflow gets a look too, because a restricted return or a leaky duct keeps the house from receiving what the outdoor unit makes. When a part is weak but still working, such as a capacitor reading under its rating, you hear about it while it is a small planned job and not a no-cool call in July. A-One also offers maintenance plans. Ask the office what a plan includes.
Chapter 03
Once a year before summer is the usual timing, and a few signs say it is overdue
Most systems should be looked at once a year, ahead of the cooling season, so problems show up in spring and not on the first hot weekend. If the outdoor unit sits near a field, a gravel lot or a dusty lane, a second look in late summer is reasonable, since the coil collects dirt quickly there.
Signs a tune-up is overdue: air that feels cool but not cold, a unit that runs all afternoon and never catches up, ice on the refrigerant line, a musty smell at startup, water near the air handler, and a higher power bill with no change in how you live. Any of those means book the tune-up now, not next spring.
A-One has kept Pasco, Kennewick and Richland systems running since 1980. 2-Year Warranty on all service parts, with an optional 10 Year warranty on parts and labor.
Heating & CoolingSince 1980
More from the A-One Heating & Cooling crew
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