"Winterizing" ideas

If you have an "aging" central-a/c system as we do, (our sys. installed by prev. home-owners) check your condenser unit's fan to see if it's motor has "capped oiler-holes" for the bearings. If so; disconnect power and pull the motor from it's bracket(s), pull the oil-caps and shoot some light oil (5-7 drops) down ea. tube... re-assemble and cover with a tarpaulin/bungees for the Winter months.

Or... do the oiling in Spring... a few weeks before you plan on start-up. I had an issue spring of 2012, where at start-up; the a/c compressor started without it's condenser fan. This should NEVER happen... the compressor gets HOT real quick... luckily I was monitoring... and shut the system down. The condenser fan motor was seized. The fan would turn "laboriously"... but it was too tight to start. Inspection revealed the "Dayton" motor had x2 "oiler tubes" which I serviced with some 3-in-one oil... not wanting to call an a/c service contractor. Days later... the fan turned freely... and powered-up with compressor... as it should.

I probably saved myself at least $300.00 for a new motor/labor... not to mention what a new compressor would have cost, if I didn't catch the malfunction early-on.

Fall season is a good time to clean/replace the air-filter in your air-return as well... checking it monthly; following system start-up in Spring/Summer.

If you have a "central a/c system" in your home, the condensing unit is outdoors... enclosed usually in a cabinet with louvers for ventilation. Newer systems are likely to be "maintenance-free"... but older ones; which like everything else... were built to last if some light maintenance was performed. My older "Ruud" system incorporates an outdoor condenser cabinet, with a fan that vents through the top of a steel louvered cabinet/enclosure; housing the electronics, condenser coil, compressor and the cooling fan on top. It was not difficult to service the fan.