The air-conditioner filter, the mesh only

Introduction

The only household move on a split is the mesh filter behind the front panel, if it slides out by hand. Switch off, disconnect the power, clean, dry, refit. It is not a gas recharge and it is not a consumer unit.

How to tell it apart

The split cools poorly and, with the panel open, the filter is grey with dust: start there.

The unit drips, ice forms, or the smell remains with a clean filter: not the mesh. A qualified technician.

You cannot see a filter that slides out by hand: do not open the rest of the machine to hunt for one.

A smell of gas in the kitchen or by the boiler, not from the split: not this page. It is who to call, and the gas steps.

Likely causes

• A mesh filter full of dust.
• A filter refitted while still wet.
• A panel shut badly, so air bypasses the mesh.
• A fault that is not the filter: the condensate drain, ice, a leak on the circuit.
• Mixing up the split’s refrigerant with the boiler’s gas.

What to do now (€0)

1. Switch the split off at the remote and pull the plug, if you can reach it. If the plug is not reachable without taking the unit apart, cut the power at the main before you open the panel, and only if the switch is safe to reach.
2. Open the front panel the way the booklet shows. If it will not open by hand, stop.
3. Slide the meshes out. Light dust: a vacuum. Heavier dirt: lukewarm water, not boiling. No “gas recharge” products.
4. Let the meshes dry in the air, right through, before you refit them. A wet filter does not go back in the split.
5. How often is what the maker’s booklet says, not an invented calendar. If there is no booklet, clean when you can see the mesh is dirty and do not go further.

A small DIY step

1. DIY stops at the visible mesh. There are no cards: there is no universal filter to put in place of the circuit.
2. Do not touch pipes, valves or the refrigerant circuit. No tutorial gauges.
3. Do not open the consumer unit and do not work on the cables.
4. If it still will not cool with a clean, dry filter, stop. The next step is a technician, not another strip-down.

Mistakes to avoid

• Cleaning the filter with the unit running.
• Refitting it wet.
• Opening the refrigerant circuit.
• Pouring a product into the split.
• Taking a boiler gas smell for the filter.

When to call a professional

A technician qualified for air conditioning if it drips, ices up, still smells with a clean filter, or will not cool.

No work on the refrigerant on your own. If the smell is fuel gas, leave and use the who-to-call steps, not this page.

Safety

Before you open the panel the unit is off and the plug is out, or the power is off at the main if the plug cannot be reached safely. Do not open boards, sockets or appliances while they are live: an electrician.

The refrigerant circuit is not touched. If you smell gas in the home, do not light a flame and do not flip a switch, open the windows, close the meter tap if you can reach it, leave and call the distributor’s emergency number on the bill, or 112 if there is danger. Gas and the boiler: a qualified technician.

Questions people ask