An outdoor air conditioning condenser unit positioned beside a blue-sided house at sunset.

AC Maintenance in Myrtle Beach, SC

Air conditioners here run from May through September, so April is the time for a tune-up. Tell us about your system, and a licensed contractor who covers Horry County will get in touch.

Tell us about the job

It takes about a minute.

Step 1 of 3: Equipment

What kind of equipment?*

An outdoor air conditioning condenser unit positioned on a concrete pad next to a blue-sided house, surrounded by green shrubs and flowering hydrangeas at sunset.

Five months of heat is hard on a system that never gets a break

Your air conditioner runs from May through September here, and on the afternoons it works hardest, it is pushing against 89 degrees outside. That is not a burst of hot days followed by a rest. It is a long stretch where the system is expected to hold the house steady, day after day, for five months straight.

A tune-up before that stretch begins is when a contractor finds the low refrigerant charge, the weak capacitor, or the dirty coil that would otherwise force the system to work harder through the summer and fail on the afternoon you need it most.

5 months: May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
89°F: the average summer afternoon it cools against
49 hail events: in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
111 wind events: in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units

Isometric cutaway illustration of a house showing attic ductwork, an indoor air handler, refrigerant lines running outside, and an outdoor condenser unit on a pad.

Your air conditioner works hardest from June through September.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

Aerial view of a square outdoor air conditioning condenser unit on a concrete pad beside a house wall with a sliding glass door.

Book your AC tune-up in April, before homes here start needing cooling in May.

A tune-up checks the refrigerant charge, cleans the coils, tests the capacitor and tightens the electrical connections.

What does AC maintenance include?: A technician checks refrigerant pressure, cleans the condenser coil, and tests the capacitor and contactor that keep the compressor starting properly. They will also check the drain line for clogs, replace or clean the filter, and confirm the thermostat is calling for cooling correctly. Outside, the condenser fan and its motor get checked since that unit sits exposed to sun, pollen, and whatever the wind blows into it. This matters here, where summer afternoons average 89°F and the system runs hard for months at a stretch.
How often does an air conditioner need maintenance?: Once a year, ideally before the cooling season starts. Homes here run their AC from May through September, so having it checked in spring gives a contractor time to catch a weak capacitor or a low refrigerant charge before the heat sets in. A unit that goes into five months of 89°F afternoons without a checkup is more likely to fail on the day you need it most.
Is AC maintenance worth it?: Yes, because a cooling system that runs five months a year here works harder than one that runs occasional days elsewhere. Regular maintenance catches the small failures, a failing capacitor, a dirty coil, a low refrigerant charge, before they turn into a breakdown in the middle of summer. It also matters after storms. This area has recorded 111 damaging wind events and 49 hail events over the past ten years, and a condenser left unchecked after one of those can be running with bent fins or hidden coil damage that only gets worse with time.

Find a contractor