A State of Total Collapse

[speedqueen]

Here is the reason to replace your furnace filter at regular intervals.

I finally got around to changing the filter and I just could not pry it out. After fifteen minutes of poking prying and pulling along with a few cuts and scrapes from the chicken wire mesh it finally gave in and came out.

Has anyone had an experience like this?

 

[toploader55]

If you have Central A/C, I've seen filters collapse after the Evaporator condensation leaked on to a clogged filter.

Nasty and twice as nasty to clean a clogged evaporator.

 

[norgeway]

I used to work in HVAC

In the 80s, yep, Ive seen it all!

 

[washer111]

M-O-N-T-H-L-Y

"Clean or replace filters MONTHLY" is always what I've seen recommended. Replacing later than that, and you are guaranteed to see reductions in airflow, thus reducing system capacity and un-necessarily raising energy consumption.

Thankfully, our A/C filters the air at the point of entry into the "return duct" (an open cavity above the hallway ceiling where the main supply runs - LOL) and therefore this sort of problem with the moisture of the evaporator coil is a non-issue.

Of course - on mini-split A/Cs, not cleaning the filters probably IMPROVES filtration performance because of how poorly designed those are. You might as well use shade-cloth or fly-screen mesh!

 

[gusherb]

There is a furnace I service regularly that the filter always catches on the rack so I have to remove it very carefully or it will (and has) end up in a mess like that. That gets done every 3 months, though I don't count as I have the thermostat set to alert me after 10 days worth of run time.

At home the upstairs furnace has an electronic air cleaner, I wash that every 3 months, and the downstairs has a media filter, which I love because it only has to be changed once a year and I can get even longer than that out of it.

 

[yogitunes]

been there, done that......never again...

mine takes a 16 x 20.....which is hard to grip and pull out

first I stay away from those flimsy ones, their super cheap, but will collapse at ease....

but as my size notes, I go to the next one larger, as in length, 16 x 25...so there is something to grab and pull....

I find spraying first with something like Lemon Pledge, gives a nice scent, and makes the surface really tacky for fine particles....

usually best to replace once a month, no more than 60 days...its one of those things you don't think about until something goes wrong...

 

[speedqueen]

One size up...

Thanks Yogitunes, that was a great idea about using a larger size filter. Just went and bought one.

And for those who are wondering the furnace is an 1995 Amana.

 

[wayupnorth]

I dont have to mess with those filters anymore having oil hot water baseboard heat now. But it stagnates every bit of dog and cat fur in every corner of the house which used to end up in the filters thru the return. 6 of one half dozen of the other. I am tired of vacuuming and dusting all the time but would never get rid of my animals.