Did You Know Your Dog Can Destroy Your Air Conditioner?

We are all familiar with the damage our four legged friends cause when they have accidents and urinate inside our homes. What you may not know ,however, is your dog’s urine can create major problems outside also. Dog urine can actuallly destroy your outside air conditioning unit. This is particulary true with male dogs who lift their legs to urinate and mark their territory, repeatedly soaking your air conditioner.The chemicals in dog urine can literally eat away at metal, especially aluminum. Unfortunately, many air conditioner fins and coils are coated in aluminum. Over time, these parts can be eroded away to dust resulting in your coils begining to leak. Once this has occured, your system can become completely emptied of refrigerant within a matter of hours or days. Running your air conditioner with inadequate refrigerant can burn out your condensor. In addition, the holes alone, created by urine, can often be enough to destroy the unit completely. This whole process can occur in as short as a year’s time, and once it has reached this point, you will have no choice but to replace your system.
If you have noticed your dog using you air conditioner as a toilet, clean it immediately. If the unit appears to be damaged, call MTB Heating and Air. We will replace any necessary parts to prevent futher damage. Of course, it is important to make sure your dog is not able to continue to urinate on the unit. Installing a fence around the air conditioner is typically the easiest solution. Just rememeber that it is important that the fence be constructed in a way that allows for adequate air flow to the unit itself.