Standard clean & check
For units in regular use with no complaints.
Filters washed and dried, coil face and blower brushed down, drain line flushed and run-tested, pressures and temperature split recorded, casing wiped.
≈ 45 min per unit
Residential & light-commercial cooling care
Cold air, quiet units, and a written record of what we found.
Prism Quill services split, multi-split, ceiling cassette and ducted systems — scheduled cleans, chemical washes and cooling-fault diagnosis, carried out by the same small team that wrote your readings down last season.
01 / Systems
Units we service
Wall-mounted splits and multi-splits, ceiling cassettes, ducted fan coils and window units.
02 / Method
One fixed checklist
Filters, coil, blower wheel, drain line, electrical terminals and refrigerant pressures — every visit, in the same order.
03 / Handover
You keep the readings
Temperature split, drain flow and pressure notes, written down before we leave rather than described from memory.
04 / Scheduling
Windows, not whole days
A morning or afternoon arrival window, confirmed by message before the technician sets out.
Service lanes
Choose the service that matches the symptom
Five jobs cover almost everything a domestic or small-office system needs. Each one has a fixed scope and a realistic time per unit, so a booking is a plan rather than an open-ended visit.
Chemical wash
For uneven cooling or a musty smell on start-up.
Coil and blower wheel chemically cleaned in place with a mild non-caustic solution, drain pan lifted and cleared, condensate path proven with water.
≈ 75 min per unit
Chemical overhaul
For older units or a drain that keeps blocking.
Indoor unit stripped to its casing, blower wheel and coil deep-cleaned, pan and seals inspected, bearings checked, then reassembled and run-tested.
≈ 2.5 hrs per unit
Cooling-fault diagnosis
For systems that run but don't cool, ice up or trip.
Electrical terminals, capacitor, sensors and operating pressures tested; leak trace where the readings point to one. Findings and options written up before any parts work begins.
≈ 60–90 min
Install, relocation & handover
For a new unit, or an existing one moving wall.
Bracket and pipe run set out, drainage fall checked, system vacuumed and commissioned with readings recorded, then the controls walked through with you.
Quoted per site
Not sure which one?
Describe what the unit is doing in the booking form. We'll confirm the right lane and the price band by reply, before anyone is scheduled to arrive.
Diagnostic reference
Start with what the unit is doing
Most calls begin with a description rather than a diagnosis. This is how we read the common ones — and what the visit actually covers in each case.
| What you notice | Likely cause | What the visit covers | Usual time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air blows, but the room never gets cold | Fouled coil, low refrigerant charge, or a failing capacitor | Temperature split measured at the grille, operating pressures read and electricals tested before anything is refilled | 60–90 min |
| Water dripping from the indoor unit | Blocked drain line, lost fall on the drain run, or ice melting off a dirty coil | Drain flushed and fall checked along its run, coil cleaned, pan reseated and the path proven with water | 45–75 min |
| Musty smell for the first few minutes | Biofilm on the blower wheel and in the drain pan | Chemical wash of coil, blower and pan, casing wiped, then a run test with the room door closed | 75 min per unit |
| A new rattle, hum or change in noise | Blower bearing wear, an unbalanced fan, or a mounting bracket working loose | Blower balance and bracket inspection, fixings retorqued, then the unit run again at each fan speed | 45–60 min |
| The unit trips the breaker or cuts out early | High compressor draw, heat at a wiring terminal, or a sensor reading out of range | Current draw and terminal temperatures measured under load, sensor values compared against actual readings | 60–90 min |
| Ice forming on the pipework or coil | Restricted airflow from blocked filters, or an undercharged system | Filters and coil cleared first, then pressures and superheat checked once the ice has fully cleared | 90 min plus defrost |
Inside a visit
Five steps, in the same order, every time
Readings are taken before the cleaning starts and again after it finishes. That is the only honest way to show whether a service changed anything.
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Step 01
You describe the symptom
Send the booking form with what the unit is doing and how many units are involved. We reply with the service lane, the time needed and the price band.
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Step 02
The window is confirmed
You get a message before the technician sets out. Sheeting goes down under the unit and around any furniture that couldn't be moved.
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Step 03
Baseline readings first
Return and supply temperatures, operating pressures and current draw are recorded while the system runs as you found it — before anything is cleaned.
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Step 04
The work in the booked lane
Cleaning or repair proceeds to the scope you approved. If the job turns out to be larger, we stop and talk to you rather than carrying on.
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Step 05
Readings again, then handover
The same measurements are repeated and written down beside the first set, along with anything worth watching before the next service.
Access & handover
What we need, and what you're left with
A visit runs faster and cleaner when the unit is reachable. Here is the short version on both sides.
Before we arrive
- Clear roughly a metre and a half of working space below and in front of the indoor unit.
- Move soft furnishings, rugs and electronics out from directly underneath it.
- Have the remote or wall controller to hand — we test on your settings, not ours.
- Tell us about pets, alarm codes, lift booking or where a van can stand.
- Flag it if the outdoor unit needs ladder, balcony or roof access.
What we leave behind
- A written record of the readings taken before and after the work.
- Filters washed, dried and refitted, with the drain run proven using water.
- Any part removed shown to you before it is disposed of.
- A note of anything that will need attention next season, with no obligation attached.
- Sheeting, packaging and cleaning residue taken away with us.
Homes, studios and small commercial rooms
Apartments and houses, plus the light-commercial end: studios, consulting rooms, small offices, salons and cafés running one to a dozen units. For shared premises we work around opening hours and schedule cassettes and ducted fan coils outside trading time where the ceiling access allows it.
Questions we get asked
Before you book
The answers below are the ones we'd give on the phone, written out in full.
How often does a unit actually need servicing?
It depends on run hours and air quality rather than the calendar. A bedroom or living-room unit running most nights is usually due every four to six months; a unit used a few weeks a year can go twelve. Kitchens, coastal air, building work nearby and pet hair all shorten that interval. If the airflow has dropped or the room takes noticeably longer to cool than last season, it's due regardless of the date.
Do you top up refrigerant as part of a service?
No. A sealed system doesn't consume refrigerant, so a low charge means it is escaping somewhere. Adding gas without tracing the leak hides the fault for a few weeks and costs you the gas twice. Where pressures read low we quote a leak trace, show you what we find, and only then discuss recharging.
Can you service a unit that's still under manufacturer warranty?
Yes. Routine cleaning and drain work don't affect a manufacturer warranty, and keeping a record of servicing usually helps if you ever need to claim. We won't open a sealed refrigerant circuit or change a component on a unit under warranty without your written go-ahead, because that is the work that can put a claim at risk.
How long will it take, and does someone need to be home?
Allow about 45 minutes per unit for a standard clean, 75 minutes for a chemical wash and around two and a half hours for an overhaul. Someone over eighteen needs to be present to give access and to be there at handover, but you don't need to watch the work — most people carry on in another room.
Will there be mess, water or a chemical smell afterwards?
Sheeting goes down first and captured water leaves in a bag, not down your sink. Chemical washes use a mild, non-caustic solution; there's a faint clean smell that clears within about an hour of the unit running. The room is usable straight away, and we'd rather you opened a window for that hour than sealed it up.
What if the fault turns out to be bigger than the booking?
We stop and write up what we found, what the options are and what each one costs. Nothing beyond the booked scope goes ahead on the same visit without your approval. A diagnosis stands on its own — if you'd rather take the written findings elsewhere, that's a perfectly reasonable outcome.
Do you work on ducted systems and multi-splits?
Yes. Multi-splits are serviced indoor unit by indoor unit with a single check of the shared outdoor condenser. Ducted systems need reachable access to the fan coil — usually a ceiling hatch or plant cupboard — so tell us where the access panel is when you book, and whether it has been opened before.
Request a slot
Tell us what the unit is doing
You don't need to know which service you want. A short description of the symptom is enough for us to put the right lane, the right time and the right price band in front of you.
- We read it the same dayRequests sent during working hours are answered the same day; anything later is picked up the next working morning.
- You get a scope, not a guessThe reply names the service lane, the time needed per unit and the price band before anything is scheduled.
- Then you choose a windowOnly once you've agreed the scope do we hold a morning or afternoon arrival window for you.
Weekdays 8:00 – 18:00
Saturdays 8:00 – 13:00
Sundays & public holidays closed