General tuneup tips for your air conditioner

With energy costs going up practically every month, it pays to do what you can to keep your air conditioner in peak condition. You would be smart to take care of this before the summer cooling season begins. Although a qualified air-conditioner repairman can check things that you can't, there are some things you can do before he gets there to ensure that your system is well maintained.

For example, cleaning the inside and outside parts of the system can be fairly simple and can really help. When working on any part of the system, turn the power off, both inside the house and outside.

The compressor is located outside the home and is covered by a metal frame with "fins" around the sides. These fins are important and must be kept open for air to flow through. Use a water hose or air compressor to clean debris from the fins. Straighten any bent fins with a fin comb, available at your hardware store. Make sure that ants, wasps and other bugs are removed.

The blower and coils are located inside the house or attic. With the power off, you can remove the side and clean the coils and blower fan. A vacuum cleaner works well, but other tools also can be used. Clean the drain pan under the coils and make sure the drain is functioning. Add a cup of bleach to the drain to kill any fungus inside the lines. Do this every month when the system is running to keep the lines clear.

The air filter should be cleaned or changed every month. Some filters last longer, but don't forget to do it. It's extremely important in keeping your home and the air conditioner clean.

After you have it all put back together, use aluminum tape to seal all of the edges around the coils, blower and plenum.

Turn the blower back on and look for leaking ducts. You can run your hand down the ducts and feel for air leaks. Once you locate them, use mastic - available at your hardware store or home center - to seal these leaks. If any sections of ductwork are crimped or sagging, use pipe strapping to raise and support the sagging area. This will allow for full air flow through the ductwork.

Most of us spend a lot of money on cooling our homes during the summer, and the costs keep getting higher each year. Doing what you can to help the AC run efficiently will save you money.

Bathroom fixtures in the shop: Bathroom accessories are easy to replace and can make a huge difference in the decor of the room. But you can find new uses for some of these old accessories. Use the toothbrush holder on your workbench to hold some small screwdrivers. Use the toilet-paper holder to hold rolls of assorted tape. You even can use the towel bar to corral trim and pipe. It might give your workshop a new look, too!

Cable ties keep things together: Those little plastic cable ties are very handy and can be used for more than just holding cables together. Put one or two on the side rails of your stepladder near the top. Connect the sides of the cable tie together but leave them hanging loosely. Now you can slip your hammer into the cable tie, where it will be handy for you when you need to pick it back up. No need for a tool belt or a climb back down the ladder to retrieve it. Hang other tools this way, too.

Super hints

• One way to get faucets flowing again is to remove the aerators, clean them with vinegar and reinstall them. It usually will make a big difference!

• When you use a bolt cutter to shorten a bolt, you end up with burrs that need to be removed. Place the nut all the way on the bolt before cutting it. Then you can twist the nut off and remove the burrs at the same time.

• We had some serious tree work done by an arborist, and he dug down about 2 feet around our large elm trees. This left a large pit in the middle of our front yard that needed to be filled. The arborist said not to use dirt over the tree roots, but we needed to install something. We chose large river rocks to fill the hole. This allows water and air to get to the roots without having the dangerous pit in the front yard.

Q. A few years ago, we purchased some lifetime allergy filters for our air conditioner. You just clean them once a month instead of replacing them. I want to take them out and really clean them, because they just don't seem very clean. Can you tell me how to do this?

A. You might contact the manufacturer to see what it recommends. Manufacturers don't usually recommend taking them apart to clean them, but there are a few things you can try. Use an air compressor to blow the dirt out. Work from the "inside." Then place them in a tub with enough water to cover them. You also can use high-pressure water to blast more dirt out. Make sure they are completely dry before putting them back in place.

Q. We have decided to add another wind turbine on our roof and need to do most of the work from the outside. How do we cut the hole without taking the roof apart?

A. Use a reciprocating saw to cut through most roofing materials. You can drive a nail through the roof from the inside of the attic to pinpoint the center between the rafters. Then use the saw from the outside to cut the hole.

Q. We have an older home with tiled bathroom walls. We painted the tiles with epoxy paint years ago and are now wondering if we can go back to the original tile. Is that possible?

A. If the tiles were etched or sanded to accept the epoxy paint, then you will not like their appearance. You can get the epoxy paint off with paint and varnish remover, but you may have to apply a new finish if the tiles don't have glaze left on them. You might want to test a small area before stripping the whole room.

Reader tips

• I updated my dining room in just a couple of hours. I bought large cloth napkins and used them to cover the dated cushions on my chairs. I just removed the screws holding the seats on the chairs, flipped them over and used my staple gun to attach the napkins over the old seat covers. The whole room looks much better. I bought a tablecloth and runner to match also. It was quick and easy.

• Our dog door has a thick plastic mat over the door. It tears often and has to be replaced. It cost quite a bit, and now such mats are getting hard to find in stores. We bought a rubber floor mat for a car and cut it to fit. It seems to work just as well, and it cost one-sixth the price of the original one. What a savings it will be in the years to come as we need to replace it.

• We finally put in an automatic sprinkler system for our yard. What a timesaver it is, and I'm sure our lawn will look better as a result. We have a nice hose reel that was easy to move around the yard, and we couldn't sell it in the garage sale, so we converted it into an extension-cord reel. It holds all of the electric cords we use for the other lawn equipment, and it is much easier to wind them up than it used to be. I think it's probably better for the cords to be wound on the reel too. And the wheels on the hose reel make it very easy to put away.

• I needed to make a drywall repair but didn't have a standard keyhole saw to cut out the hole. I made my own very simply from a spare saber-saw blade and a scrap of dowel. I cut out a small slot in the end of the dowel and glued the blade in place. My new little saw worked well, and I am going to keep it for the next repair.

• We use assorted chairs for our kitchen table, and the latest purchase was missing a rung. It was easy to replace with a matching dowel, but I didn't have a proper mallet to tap everything back into place. I got an old tennis ball and cut an "X" in the side to push the hammer head into it. This cushioned the blows and allowed my hammer to act as a mallet and do the work without damaging the wood. The chair fits in nicely with the others and was a real bargain.

Shoptalk

• If you've decided that a battery-operated string trimmer just isn't powerful enough to handle your yard, you need to take a look at the new 36-volt model from Black & Decker. The company has raised the bar with its latest powerful cordless model. It doesn't use gas, a pull cord or oil, and no tuneups are required, but it has the power of a gas-model string trimmer. The patented gear-drive transmission is extremely powerful, yet quiet, and there is less vibration to deal with. A simple, one-touch height adjustment switch is located right on the shaft. There is also a variable-speed trigger switch to get extra power when you need it. It also has a dual-line cutting system. This "green" option is worth a second look. See it at your home center, hardware store or wherever Black & Decker Lawn Equipment is sold. For more information, you can see it online at www.blackanddecker.com.

• Perf Go Green lawn and leaf bags are the first biodegradable plastic trash bags. Now you can use plastic bags that are safe for the landfill. They are made of recycled post-consumer and postindustrial plastic, combined with an additive that breaks the plastic down into water, carbon dioxide and biomass over the course of two years. No harmful toxins are released in the process. Look for them at select drugstores and online at www.perfgogreen.com.

• Write to Al and Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or visit the Carrells' Web site at thesuperhandyman.com.

© 2009, Cowles Syndicate Inc.