I just wondered if my various air conditioning units here at Posh Towers will need some form of maintenance come the end of summer. They seem to be on 24/7 at the moment and rumour has it this will be the hottest weather Spain has seen in many a year. I just enquire if my maintenance Manager Mrs Posh has to replace anything within the unit as a matter of course to keep the units in tip-top condition.They are also heaters in the Winter. When they were installed they had some form of gas put into them, I believe some units on sale now don't need it and this type the DIY johnnies go for. Any advice would be greatfully received.They just seem to run and run and give no probs at the mo.

You certainly need to clean the dust off he filters regularly, if they are one every day perhaps once a month might be necessary, they just lift out and can be gone over with the soft brush and vacuum cleaner, we are in rented accomodation, and when we put ours on they were a bit noisy, so I took out the filter, badly clogged with dust, cleaned them and replaced them and hey are now whisper quiet, and cool more efficiently as well.

Are the filters in the inside unit or the outide unit or both?

should be just under a lift off part of the inside unit..

I contacted an aircon engineer to get a service, and he told me there wasn't much that needed doing to them really apart from the filters being cleaned!!
I was a little suprised as I thought at least some things would need lubricating

My understanding is that the air-con fluid is the lubricant and that if the system is not run for a long period the seals can dry out and crack which results in fluid loss. It is recommended that you run a car system for 10 min at least once a week. You can also pressure test them but my mole tells me that as long as it is cooling normally and there is no drop off then the pressure will be OK

Simplest thing is to READ THE MANUAL, assuming of course that one was left with the property.

Also run the house so that you need them as little as poss.

That makes a huge difference.

When we were first in Spain we 'Knew' we needed air con, but now the challenge is seeing if we can do without it. So far we haven't had the full summer there, but in June at 40C we were still sleeping under a duvet.

Well our house is very old with really thick walls, we dont need aircon. it just goes to show that the thick walls and small windows make a lot of sence. Keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Mrs Posh gave an eye roll when i told her she will have to be lubricated I was of course making reference to the unit not her Thanks for all you input, I will put the cleaning of the filters down on her long to do list........... Now where is my fishing rod

I know a travelling lubricator if you fall short of the mark

Mitzy your a naughty boy


Whilst on the maintenance front I have a rather nice purgular to the side of the house its quiet big and has heavy old timbers. The timber alone was two thousend euros it was built by a man who restored old manor houses in the UK and is held together with wooden pegs in the Traditional manner. My question is after he built it he treated the wood with what I think was diesel but I am not sure because there are insects that eat the wood here in Spain. Does anyone know if it could have been diesel as it looks as though it could do will another once over and Mrs Poshs work load is getting a little heavy............ Now where are those Golf Clubs

I've heard of using used engine oil mixed with creosote.

They seel the old red bricks with engine oil too.

Why? to keep rain out? I would have thought that would cause problems. Any more info please?