I will get around to helping you with tips on coil cleaning,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,if it turns out to be nessary. It;s something a determined diyer can handle but it's certainly not a required routine. My 10 year old evaps have never been cleaned and likly will never be simply because I make certain only clean air go's through them. To get some idea wherether coils need cleaning,how much dirt and lint is stuck to return walls "DOWNSTREAM' of filter? If proper filters have always been used there should be little to none. Look at fins on blower wheel,are they caked with dirt and lint? Again,they shouldn't be if proper filters were always used. BTW,while cleaning coils it's a good idea to remove blower to clean motor and wheel. The boo birds will chime in with all their imagined reasons not to use them but pleated filters "THAT FIT" will keep coils clean for the life of a unit not to mention save a bundle on electricity and save your health. With that out of the way,what leads you to believe your coils are dirty? Look at the indicators I mentioned,report back and we will go from there.

Thanks Klem, will do.

One thing I did not mention is that this house was orig purchased from an out of state investor that engaged in Mortgage fraud. It was leased on and off for 3 yrs and when we first looked at it, there AC filters and intake covers were caked. Based on how the rest of the house looked, I.m pretty sure that the AC system was not singled out for maintenance while the rest was deplorable.

next, how do I get access to "the walls downstream?" Also, both plenum systems are closed, taped and covered w a heavy sealing material. I am aware that you can install coil panels for viewing/cleaning the coils. Is this a good route to go and what does this entail?

Thank you very much,

tstex

Downstream is anywhere after air has passed through filter. Access can be as simple as removing the filter and looking behind it. I emphasized downstream because many are freaked out by what collect's on intake and filter which are nothing more than indication of passed due filter change.

Thanks - we have 6 intakes. Four for the down stairs unit and 2 for the upstairs unit. When I change the filters, I see a little "fuzz" around the lips of the where the filters go, but nothing of great magnitude inside the return air ducts. Does this help?

" Does this help?"

Yes but "fuzz around the lips" hints at a related but additional concurn. If lip means the perimeter of intake that meet's filter frame,you might have inadequate intake size/volume. This is starting to look like one of those situations where the poster (you) may require a crash course in a can before anything meaningful get's done. Sadly that's what contractors do for new techs before sending them out in the field. The result is the tech can't see problems staring him in the eye unless covered in his recipe to hvac. If the installation is wrong,we might be doing what you Texans call Wupping a dead horse. Can you afford a service call? If so,carfully choose a contractor to give the system a complete once over. If you insist on pushing foward against Dr's orders,ask away and let the process begain.

The good news is a cool spell is blowing into Tx right now so the attic should be below 175F if youdecide to go up there.

Thanks Klem - I'll do some more homewk, but I am also thinking of getting a service all done. There was some condensation leaking from the plenum box where the coil resides. I think the primary line was clogged, but since I poured some 50-50 bleach/H20 down into the primary line, it cleared out the line.

The primary line empties into the P-trap of the upstairs bathroom sink. The sink drain was clogged w what looked like puke and other pieces of solid debris, I plunged it clean to make the drain clear qkly, but then the funk went straight down to the master bathroom downstairs which is right under the sink that was clogged. The whole sink [and worse this was my wife's side] was almost full to the top. I plunged multiple times and only brought up more funk, so I removed w plastic cup a lot of the water and funk. Plunged again and more stuff came up - nothing draining.

Went and bought a Rigid Augur and tried clearing sink, but also went to shower drain and removed a whole cat worth of hair...augured this drain, then augured wife's sink. Still no draining in wife's sink. Poured a whole bottle into each shower drain and sink drain..left for 30 min's and poured 3-5gal of hot water in each drain..all went down well. My sink across from hers was never a prob, nor the spa.

Put all drains back together, went upstairs in attic and poured bleach/H2O into primary line again and had daughter listen to where it empties into P-trap of upstairs bathroom sink...It flowed well, AND no more issues w any drains of master [sink or shower] not working well.

The water pan below the unit in question had a lot of water in it, but not enough to drain out of the secondary drain line. I will go upstairs each day to make sure pan is evaporating....the never ending joys of home ownership...AC down here is important, even in winter. :)

Thanks, tstex

so...did you clean the coil?

No, I did not attempt to clean the coil bc of the other issues that took place. I am going to wait to see if the purging of the primary line of the AC helps to dissipate all of the water in the pan...Thank you for asking