How did your AC system work this summer? As you made your way along the winding highways in the Great American Midwest, were you sitting pretty, humming along to your favorite tunes and waving to fellow truckers? Or were you sticking to your seat, fanning your face with whatever piece of paper you could get your hands on? You might not need to recharge your system just yet.
Road Rage Isn’t the Only Thing That Can Get You Heated
It’s rough driving a big rig with no A/C in the dead of summer. A big hot engine up front with an even bigger, hotter sun beating down on the metal box that makes up the cab can turn a trucker’s living area into an oven. Rolling down the windows isn’t an option, either, unless you’d like to listen to the roar of a semi-truck engine for countless hours on end. That’s why maintaining the A/C system of your rig is so vital, and AC condensers are an often-overlooked component.
AC condensers in Illinois, in particular, have issues with bugs, from the mayflies from Lake Erie to your run-of-the-mill highway mosquitos and no-see-ums. It seems like there’s no end to the things and for every bug that splats on your windshield, there’s two jammed in your AC condensers air channels. It’s not a hard-to-resolve problem, but it can have significant consequences if you ignore it. Let it go long enough, and you risk having to get it replaced by a professional.
Bug-Off
It’s not a glamorous task, but you have to clean all the bugs out of the fins of the condenser. A pressure washer or air compressor can help you get them off, but you might want to invest in a can of purpose-built cleaner. You can find solutions fine-tuned to target our little buggy buddies to make sure you get every last drop of bug juice off to get the most out of your A/C condenser.
