A/C - To clean or not to clean

[yebo]

sabi nya "whether to have my perfectly running and still untouched A/C system" so may nakalimutan kayo ...

first rule of maintenance: if it aint broke, don't fix it! (there is a more colorful way of saying this but tsikot.com will censor it ehehehe)

you're asking about cleaning the evaporator di ba? before you have it cleaned, check it first if it is dirty. a dirty evaporator will most probably have a low air flow. malakas pa ba ang hangin? if in doubt then look at it! also, if you do not smoke in your car, if you never ever drive with the windows open, if you keep your car clean, then most probably the evaporator is still clean.

your compressor? well check the sight glass. if there are no bubbles in the glass after the compressor has ran for a few minutes, then your compressor has no leaks, is pumping as it should, and there are no contaminant gases in the system. have the system pressures checked also. if the pressures are ok then that confirms the assumptions of the 3rd sentence of this pharagraph. so why have it fixed?

the trouble with messing up with your a/c is that automotive aircon shops in pinas are not very thorough in their jobs. if your a/c system is opened for evaporator cleaning or charging oil, then that is the time you get the problems! subok na yan, di ba you hear of people going back and forth to the a/c shop to have their a/c fixed after a minor job lang. the reasons are varied but the most notorious ones are: 1 - they do not vacuum the system; 2 - they introduce incondensable gases (AIR) when charging oil or refrigerant. NOW, IF the a/c shop will give you a guarantee that they will vacuum the system (this takes half a day!!!), IF the a/c shop can guarantee that their charging units (for oil and refrigerant) are not contaminated, or will be flushed before they connect it to your a/c system, IF they will not take any shorcuts in servicing your a/c, like not replacing the filter-drier (sorry dun sa nag-post sa taas pero the filter-drier must be replaced) then by all means have it serviced.

BUT IF they can not guarantee that then that means they will not vacuum the system, they will leave incondensible gases inside, they will take shortcuts because they want you out of there pronto so they can serve another customer (after taking your money of course!) then refer to first rule of maintenance above.