That I know. I am more interested in industry standards. More to the point we have a maintenance contract with HVAC company to come out twice a year to check and service unit and heating seasonally for at least the last 3 years maybe more.

A few days ago I was rinsing unit woth the hose because of a lot of rain and mud up on it and noticed a lot collecting at the bottom. I took the front off to clean it better and the entire bottom started crumbling from corrosion. They say from dog pee (which would have been good to know before hand to put up a fencing barrier to keep them from peeing on it. Issue #1 I have since they are well aware we have dogs) which we have 3 large dogs, the youngest going on 4. So they havent miraculously started peeing on it since company was out last year this has been deteriorating for some time and quite upset that I am the one that has to discover this and to this degree when they are being paid to inspect the unit and maintain it aside from our normal rinsing and checks on it. I really just want feedback if its the norm for them to completely miss this or they have been negligent in their inspection and maintenance along with information that would have prevented this from happening. Obviously the unit is now pretty much destroyedand needs replaced. I dont expect them to cover the whole thing but they significantly had a part to play in it in my opinion. If I hadnt removed the front, it's unlikely they wouldn't have caught it this time either, at least according to them they dont take the front off although the maintenance contract explicitly states they do a visual check and cleaning of the coils.

Are you looking for a scapegoat? Your AC unit, your dogs. I'm not sure what the situation has to do with maintenance.

Make sure if you replace this damaged piece that the new one is not placed directly at ground level as this one is. How much it should be raised depends on your location but if it's prone to so much mud splatter, that's something to think about too. A good HVAC contractor will know what's best.

Good luck.

Just curious, what is age of this outside condenser? Your general location? This condition did not occur overnite. Look at it. I would say both you and your HVAC dealer were negligent. Don't expect any monetary help from the HVAC dealer.

IMO

No scapegoat. Advice would have been great. As professionals passing along knowledge would have prevented this and we could have made sure years ago it wouldnt occur. I seriously doubt most people just know this stuff. Thats what professionals are for. And again for several years they have been out, pretty sure its their job to catch things like this BEFORE its a problem especially to this level. I shouldn't be the one discovering it when they are paid to make sure the unit is running smoothly and problem free every year.

Replacement unit will definitley be raised and handled so dogs cant get to it. Especially since now we know. Current unit is about 9yrs old and we would likely replace it in the next few years anyway but unexpectedly and from something that could have easily been prevented is maddening.

If you guys were servicing a unit yearly would you really not advise the homeowners about protection from the dogs so it doesnt compromise the unit as well as to raise it? Would it have really corroded that far on your watch? Or unit, our dogs absolutely. We rinse it a few to several times a year especially with the amount of rain we've had which equals a ton of mud. Never crossed my mind typically to take it apart though. Only reason I even did this time was make sure it was rinsed off well with the collection at the bottom that I thought was gook and mud and the insane heat we've had so it would be able to keep up properly. Needless to say lesson learned. The unit already has a makeshift chicken wire fence around it by a few feet to keep them away for the time being until we can put in place something better and plans to raise it this weekend providing the rain ever stops :/

I agree 100% with your expectations Brook and to answer your question. " I really just want feedback if its the norm for them to completely miss this or they have been negligent in their inspection and maintenance." Unfortunatly it's the norm for outfits selling maintenance contracts to be negligent. Some reasons why contractors like selling contracts is (A) Being paid to come out and see if there's anything they can sell customers. (B) It's done in spare time of their choosing when they don't have other calls. (C) 99% of maintenance labor is done by the inexperienced techs on staff. Adding insult to injury is that maintenance should have already been preformed before summer is half over. Not to twist the knife but I've serviced and repaired thousands of units over a period of decades and the amount of gunk on those coils was rarely found unless it had been a few years since they were cleaned. The exceptions are when unit sit's near Cottonwood trees,a patch of Dandelions or whoever mows lawn blow's mower discharge onto coils.

Ok,now to leave you with something you didn't already know and can use in the future. To do a good job cleaning coils,turn electric power off at disconnect or breaker before you start. I can't tell if top is off in pics but it need's to be so you can get hose inside to blow trash out in opposite direction from which it entered coil. Use a garden sprayer,empty dishwashing detergent bottle or such to squirt a solution of 5% dish soap,5% liquid laundry detergent and 90% water into coils on both sides. Let it soak a few minutes then hose out coils. Most hose end spray nozzles have threads onto which a leaf sweeper nozzle can be screwed. Using the jet from leaf sweeper is better but not necessary. By far the easiest but most important thing homeowner can do is change filter before it's so dirty it restrict's airflow. Notice I said"before it's so dirty",not every xx weeks. Filter change intervals can range from twice monthly where occupants work in dirty environment,have 3 pre-teen boys,2 cats, 3 large dogs and old carpet that shed's to once every 4 months for a single bank teller with no pets. To do it's job,the filter must fit slot,otherwise dirt laden air by-passes the route of least resistance and stick's to indoor coil where efficiency drop's dramaticly. I highly recommend merv 8 pleated paper filters. $2 fiberglass filters are better than no filter but not much better. At this point the super handy can do more but that's for another day. Best of luck.

As bad as the condenser looks, had we known we would have done more. I have an alert on my calendar monthly to check the filter which most of the time with our dirt fur bandits it needs changed. If I notice the house being dustier than usual I will check it before the month is up. In the in-between super shedding periods it can go every 6wks to 2mnths. Currently the inside of the condenser still has gunk at the bottom but will be cleaned out shortly. Between baseball games/practice 4x or more a week and it was ungodly hot and humid when I rinsed the unit and couldnt bear being outside much longer it hasn't happened yet. Thank you a ton for your reply and advice!

Just be sure to cut electric power before starting. Good luck.

"Maintenance contracts" are 10% maintenance and 90% ripoff. A rare HVAC company will actually clean the indoor and outdoor coils; the vast majority won't (no matter what they say when they sell it to you). If you're lucky, they'll check the refrigerant pressure. They will check the filter, as the can charge you extra for a new one!

I would suggest you give the replacement job to a different company if you haven’t already thought of that yourself.