Derek ColeGM, Simmons One Hour Heating & Air · AI HVAC Answers

Clean AC Outdoor Coil: DIY 5.5M Views Strategy! #shorts

28 Aug 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:24

In this YouTube short, Derek Cole and a co‑host demonstrate a quick, high‑viewed DIY method for cleaning the outdoor coil of an air‑conditioning system. They explain why a dirty coil reduces airflow and overall efficiency, then walk through the essential safety steps before any work begins. The key safety protocol is to locate the dedicated disconnect near the unit, pull it, and then verify that power is truly off with a multimeter—highlighting that simply turning off the thermostat is unreliable and that miswired disconnects are common. The video emphasizes double‑checking power status to prevent accidents, setting the stage for safely cleaning the coil.

This video received 5.5 million views on YouTube, and then it's about how to clean your outdoor coil for your AC system. Is it worth it, and what do I have to say about it?
Fully plugged up, they can still be affecting how well the AC unit is able to breathe and therefore affect how efficient the AC unit is able to run. All right, so first thing I want to do before I start working on this, a lot of people will say, hey, I turned off my thermostat so it's not going to run. I don't trust that. That's not good enough. So you should always have some form of disconnect right next to the AC unit. And as you can see, there's this handle in here. All you gotta do is pull it out, and now to the AC unit. Now you can—
Obviously at this point you want to still check to make sure power is killed when you pull up the disconnect. If the unit is not running like it's not right now, obviously you want to use Or if it is running and not. Either way, you want to use a meter to make sure the power has stopped when you pull that disconnect unit. Just double-check that. I've seen it so many times where it's not wired properly, it doesn't work the way you think it works. Make sure the power is off even though you pulled the disconnect. Make sure that is actually the case.