Why Regular Lubrication Is Essential For Your Home Air Conditioner
Posted on: 1 June 2023
If you rely on an air conditioning system to keep your home cool and comfortable, regular AC maintenance is hugely important. Routine AC maintenance tasks, such as cleaning air filters and evaporator coils, will help to keep your system running smoothly and efficiently, saving you thousands of dollars in repair costs, and extending the working life of your air conditioner.
Lubricating your system's various moving components is just as important, but oiling and lubricating the system is a maintenance task that many households neglect. Without lubricant oils, air conditioners can suffer from serious problems with wear and overheating, and may fail entirely.
Which Components Of Your Air Conditioner Need Regular Lubrication?
As a general rule, any part of your air conditioner that moves or rotates needs to be lubricated to stay functional. Keeping the following components properly lubricated is especially important:
Fan Bearings
All air conditioning systems use fans to blow cool air into rooms and expel unwanted heat. A small portable or window air conditioner may only have one fan, while whole-home central and mini-split systems have several. These fans are fitted with bearings, which reduce friction between the fan itself and the shaft it rotates around.
Depending on your air conditioner, it may be fitted with self-lubricating bearings, which are designed to be completely replaced when their lubricants wear out. If your system does not use self-lubricating fan bearings, they will need to be re-lubricated regularly.
Motor Bearings
The motors that drive your system's fans also contain bearings that need to remain lubricated at all times. If the motor seizes due to insufficient lubrication, the whole system can grind to a halt. Many seized motors are damaged beyond repair and need to be completely replaced.
Compressor Pumps
The compressor is the heart of any air conditioning system. It cools and compresses the refrigerant liquids that your system uses to create cool air, and pumps them to and from the system's evaporator coils.
Compressors use one or more pumps to compress and transport refrigerants. These pumps contain rotating impellers, which are fixed onto bearings similar to those found attached to the fans and motors. These bearings must also be kept lubricated.
If you are uncomfortable with lubricating your system yourself or are too busy to spare the time, a professional AC maintenance service can take the hassle out of keeping your air conditioner in full working order. These services will make sure your system is fully lubricated, and will also handle other routine AC maintenance tasks, such as filter cleaning and replacement.
For more info about AC routine maintenance.
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