2014
April
Hail Damaged Air Conditioner’s Outer Condenser

Hail Damaged Air Conditioner’s Outer Condenser

Apr 29


There are many households that suffer quite a lot because of damage to their air conditioning units because of severe hailstorms in some parts of the US. The damages are sometimes permanent and there is a need to replace the entire unit but sometimes the damage is repairable. In both cases, it is pertinent that you employ the services of air conditioning technicians.

Technicians properly assess the damage dealt with the condenser coils or the heat transfer coil. Plus, good technicians ensure that they provide you the most economical solutions for the problem. A condenser coil is located on the outside part of the air conditioner and resists the heat generated by the air stream from the inside unit of the AC.

Damage Control & Assessment

During a hailstorm, the outer condenser unit can be hit badly and the aluminum fins which are protruding outside of the unit can get bent. The severity of the damage and the bent of the outer fins should be assessed prior to deciding whether to replace or repair the outer unit. This is where you should consult with experts who can quickly assess the situation and come up with a proper solution.

After a hailstorm, the first sign of damage to your outer condenser could be normal or negligible. Normal damage refers to when some of the fins on the condenser are slightly bent, covering 10% of the surface. If the bent is not considerably deep or goes into the enhanced area on the condenser, you are safe and you can get it serviced easily. Though this type of damage does not look good on the surface, it does no harm to the cooling functions of the air conditioner.

Severe Damage to Outer Condenser

Deplorable damage to the aluminum fins of the outer condenser can be defined as severely bent into the coil’s surface from ¼ to 3/8-inch deep. This kind of damage covers almost 30% of the entire condenser. You may be able to see the damage easily and it should not be ignored. It is strongly recommended that you stop using the air conditioner and call in the technicians to assess and evaluate the damage precisely.

Severe damage makes the bending of the fins extremely difficult to repair. It can be done but it requires professional expertise and time. It takes somewhere between 40 minutes to 1 hour to complete one square foot. In addition, this type of damage usually spreads and chances are that you might get your refrigerant tubing damaged as a result of the hailstorm.

In some cases, replacing the entire unit proves to be cheaper than repairing it. If you assess that the damage to the coils of your outer air conditioning unit is negligible or if you are not sure how severely damaged your AC is, it is better to call in professionals for solutions.

Categories