Practicing Preventative Maintenance on AC/R Units is More Important Than Ever:
HVAC Technicians are experiencing air conditioner parts shortage as a result of COVID. It is more important than ever to practice preventative maintenance care on HVAC/R units to avoid emergency repairs and waiting for parts to become available.
Limited AC Parts Production
Earlier this year many air conditioning manufacturing facilities and suppliers were forced to limit production, and even shut down for a time-period which made it difficult to get parts in across the country and overseas. Typically, the busiest time of the year for HVAC/R is the summer months, but as we navigate into the season change, things are not slowing down. People are using their systems more than normal as they continue to socially distance and work from home. This contributes added loads on the system and could potentially wear it out faster.
Due to these combined factors if your AC unit breaks or needs repairs it will be harder to find the find the replacement parts–practice preventative maintenance instead of being caught off guard.
HVAC System Protection
Regular maintenance and cleaning filters are a good start to keeping the system running optimally. It is suggested to change filters every 30 days as a simple upkeep and prevent costly repairs like leaks, which contribute to contaminates such as air and moisture entering the system creating damage.
However, an extra system protection tool would be to use fluorescent dye. Fluorescent or UV dye is a quick find and fix HVAC solution that is cost effective and provides long-term preventive care– the dye can remain in the system indefinitely for 24/7 protection without leaving harmful residues behind.
Leak Detection & Preventative Maintenance Solution
When fluorescent dye introduced to the system early on it can safely circulate until there is an issue. When scanned with an ultraviolet light, the dye will be seen escaping at all leak sites, this includes intermittent and hard to locate leaks that other leak detection methods may not register right away.
After repairs are made, the dye then continues circulating in the system to identify any future leaks. By having a plan and preventative measures in place along with regular system service, your HVAC unit will have optimal performance and longevity. Otherwise the longer you wait on system upkeep, the longer you could be waiting on parts and repairs.
