What Townsville asks of a system
Long running seasons
The Queensland Government's design aim for climate zone 1, where Townsville sits, is to cool the home all year round. More running hours means more dust through the filters and more wear between services.
The wet season
Most of Townsville's rain falls between November and April, and February afternoons at the Bureau of Meteorology's Townsville Airport station average 68% humidity. Mitsubishi Electric says dirty filters cause condensation that helps mould grow.
Sea air on the bay
For homes near Cleveland Bay or on Magnetic Island, 8 km offshore, the QRA's advice applies: homes close to the ocean need more frequent inspection and maintenance than those further inland, because salty, moist air corrodes metal connections.
Units that sat through 2019
If your outdoor unit was caught in the 2019 flood, in Rosslea, Hermit Park, Idalia or elsewhere, or in any flood since, tell the technician so they know to look closely.
The warranty angle
Several brands write the service interval into the warranty. ActronAir's terms set residential maintenance at once every 12 months, and Gree's card says its warranty is void if regular maintenance isn't done at intervals of no more than 12 months by a suitably qualified tradesperson. In a city where the unit runs most of the year, that interval comes round quickly.
Keep every service invoice together. Our main air conditioning service page covers the standard visit, and the warranties guide covers what else brands ask for.
What a proper Townsville service should cover
- Filters cleaned, and the indoor coil, fan and drain tray checked for mould.
- The drain tested, so water runs freely outside with no kinks or dips in the hose.
- The outdoor coil and casing checked for salt damage, and the brackets and bolts for rust.
- Debris cleared from around the outdoor unit before the wet.
- The refrigerant charge checked by a full RAC01 licence holder, with a low reading treated as a leak to find.
- Electrical connections tightened and the controls tested.
- Anything needing repair written up separately, for you to decide on.
Questions for a Townsville technician
- Do you hold a QBCC licence and an RAC01 licence?
- What does your service include, unit by unit?
- Given where I live, should the outdoor unit be washed down between services?
- Is the drain running freely?
Between visits
You can
- Clean the filters about every two weeks in the wet season, as most manuals suggest.
- Switch off at the isolator before touching anything, and dry filters in the shade.
- Rinse the outdoor unit from the ground if you're near the bay and the manual allows.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Coil, fan and drain cleaning.
- Refrigerant checks and electrical testing.
- Units on roofs or high walls.
Who's licensed to do it
Queensland treats maintenance and testing of air conditioning as mechanical services work, which needs a QBCC licence regardless of value. The QBCC says a technician with a restricted electrical licence for air conditioning can test, repair and maintain the equipment, and the refrigerant check needs RAC01.
Townsville service jobs are seen by licence-checked technicians who do this work all year, where we have them, and only the one who takes yours gets your contact details. If no Townsville technician takes it within 48 hours, technicians in other parts of Queensland may see it too. Our Townsville page covers the city's climate and weather.
What we'd do
Our take
Book once a year in the dry season, May to October, and treat the warranty's 12 month interval as the outer limit. Near the bay, ask for the outdoor unit and its fixings to be checked every time, and rinse it between visits. Clean the filters yourself through the wet.
