Mister spray on AC condenser coils OK?

If you are using your house water supply, minerals will build up on the condenser.

-- Dennis

snipped-for-privacy@removethis.com wrote in news:jvr9b2pbfh5la7175dshiftn6gui59oubq@

A pro AC guy told me they do this as a test for something and monitor with attached guages, temps and whatever. He said doing it without the gauges you can easily trash the compressor.

Can you explain this, I'm having a hard time figuring how it would trash a compressor. The gas has already gone through the compressor before entering the condenser. How would this be different than turning on the AC on a cold day? Or on a hot rainy day?

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

It won't hurt anything. The 'pro' was being a bit grandeous. I work on automotive a/c, and hosing down the condenser is a quick test to see how well the condenser and fan are doing, if the high pressure side drops a lot with water sprayed, it means the fan/condenser isn't very effective and could be suspect. It's also a way to see how the system operates with optimum cooling. On a hot day without a really good box fan blowing through the front of the car, it's often the only way to get decent readings.

-- Dennis

Andy Asberry wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I really don't know Andy. HVAC is not a strong area of mine since I've had very little exposure to it.

The guy was a pro in that he worked as a repair tech for a reputable local company. Then at that, Day-1 on the job they call them "Tax Pro"s at H&R Block...