A leaky evaporator coil in a central air conditioning unit is serious and frequently cause for concern. Typically, evaporator coils are located near the base of the house near the ductwork and leading to the inside of the home. If there is no room for the coils to expand, then the excess water will eventually drain out into the ductwork. If this water has accumulated for any period it may be leaking out to the outside of the home or building and causing a problem for the air-conditioning system. The evaporator coil is typically a metal box filled with mercury that is designed to transfer heat from a liquid inside the evaporator unit to an air cooler at the base of the building.
Many of the signs that are associated with a bad coil are either not easy to see, or may be very expensive to repair, so people will just ignore them until they go out of service. A lot of the strange sounds that people hear from their evaporator coil include noises like metal scraping or clanging or banging. The clanging or banging is often accompanied by something else, such as a sizzling sound, which can get very loud, if it is not associated with something else. There are two types of metal that a coil might scrape, and both of them can make strange noises. They are lead sheet metal and galvanized metal.
The galvanized type is what makes rust-chucking noises, while the lead sheet type makes noises like clanking or banging when it rubs against the metal in a small area. When the noise happens to different places at the same time, this is a sign that you have two different problems at the same time. If you have any unusual sounds in your furnace, and the clanking or banging is coming from two different areas, you should call a professional to look at it, to rule out the possibility of other problems.
Another sign that something is wrong with your evaporator coil is strange sounds that come from only one area of the coil. One such area is where it connects to the coils on the air handler unit. Sometimes, there is no sound coming from the air handler, and in those cases, the problems will likely have to be fixed through more complicated methods. If you notice strange sounds from only one place in the coil, it could be a sign of a leak that is causing it to make those strange noises.
Other signs that indicate that the coil is probably busted are unusual smells coming from the system. One way to test this is to turn off the unit for several days, and then smell the air coming from it. If it smells really bad, it may be time for an evaporator coil replacement.
The key to evaporator coil replacement is to use the right tools and knowing how to remove the hard parts of the evaporator is also important. First, you must disconnect the gas line that runs from the condenser to the evaporator. You must also disconnect the condenser from the evaporator. Next, you must cut a length of tubing and replace it with a section of one of the hose binding that has been removed from the evaporator.
After this step, you should cut a length of tubing and attach the new hose binding. This is how you replace the old evaporator coil. Then, you must turn on the gas and connect the new hose bibbing to the evaporator. There you go, your DIY on how to replace an evaporator coil is now complete. Remember, you should always wear proper safety gear when working with power tools. Do not try to do any more work without first learning all about the project that you are working on.