A/C fins disintegrating? Gray, crumbly mess.?

Question

I just moved into a house with a friend, and I notice his outside a/c unit has some issues, so any experts out there....maybe you can tell me if this is normal, is it a cheap a/c unit, or something that's covered under warranty. It's over 9yrs old and I just found out the ten yr warranty is almost up.

I just sold my house and had a/c problems so I'm a little familiar. I do know the fins are supposed to be straight; mine were, and looked like a solid metal. That unit was 11 yrs old.

Several areas on the outside of these units (2) are completely disintegrating. Each bottom corner is a pile of, is it aluminum? All crumbly, dusty; a mess.

On each side of the unit many areas look like this, and the fins that aren't bent all look about to fall apart. They look like grey, faded, cheap metal or something.

I haven't mentioned this yet; don't want to worry him if nothing's wrong. It is cooling the house.

He's not a handyman type whatsoever, and I'm no expert, but this looks weird.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Talk to some pros and see if they have good used units they can install, maybe some side work, if you get a good price then he can pay for it.

Answer 2

There is no doubt about this problem.  The former owners dog liked that unit.  Pet urine is what caused the problem.  Shut off the power to the unit wash it the best you can with a garden hose or power washer if you have one.  The unit will still run but its not as efficient as it once was.  The only way to repair is to replace the condensing unit.  costs 1200  to 2000 good luck.

Answer 3

The aluminum part of the coil is disintegrating, maybe from salt water (on the coast?) or chemicals but the tubing itself is probably copper and still intact.

Will make it a little more inefficient but there is nothing you can do short of replacing the coil and a 9 year old unit is not worth that.

Just plan on replacing the unit when you can afford to and if your on the coast near salt water look into getting a unit that has a protective paint on the coils to resist salt.