REPAIR

So it's that time of year. Summer's arrived with a bang and suddenly the beautiful weather takes on a more sadistic edge.

No problem - you have air conditioning. You smugly turn to your remote control, press the magic button and....................

What's wrong with it? I'm sure it was fine last time I used it!

Just to perhaps save you some time, money and embarassment we'll first guide you through the most likely (and easily remedied) problems you may experience.

1. Dirty filters - by far the most common problem, your aircon will work but nowhere near as efficiently as you remember. Simply lift the front cover, slide out the filters and if dirty give them a good brush / hoover / wash. Replace them and try again.

2. Leaking water - The water drain usually runs outside. If draining into a container is the container full and the bottom of the drain sitting in the water? If so it will back up. Is the drain blocked? Is it running up hill at any point? Check these things before making the call.

3. Remote control - Are the batteries OK? I know, I know - sounds obvious but you would be amazed at just how many service calls we get for this exact problem! Is it set right? Remember you can set the required temperature, but if not set in the right mode this will make no difference. For cooling, usually there is a snowflake symbol (sometimes just the word cool), and for heating usually there is a sunshine symbol (sometimes just the word heat). Make sure this is set correctly before making the call.

4. Pre-defrost - Only on heating mode, most modern units will take around 5 minutes from switching on to blowing heat, as the compressor completes it's pre-defrost cycle. This is completely normal, but if you didn't know you would think the unit wasn't functioning properly.

5. Read the manual - Obvious, but before making a service call read your manual to make sure you've missed mothing obvious.

OK, so you've checked these items and the thing still won't work. No problem - we can fix most makes of units, and for those we don't deal with, we usually have the numbers for the relevant service departments. Just give us a call and we'll do our best to help.