It’s not just the air conditioning that rusts on these houses however anything that is outside & is metal is usually rusty too.
I told my Heating, Ventilation, & A/C tech friend about my mom’s AC compressor rusting outside & he told me the people I was with and I need to rinse it down every day when it is windy because it blows the salt air around more. I didn’t even know about something like this however it does make sense so I am going to get mom & dad to rinse it each windy day with water from the garden hose. I bet it will help a lot with the rusting concern they are having with all of the air conditioning compressors they have had installed over the past many years. They live genuinely close to the Gulf of Mexico & when the wind is blowing & the waves are crashing, the salt spray travels with the help of the wind & gets onto the AC compressor in their backyard. I’ve observed salt spray on my car before when I parked it at their home for the weekend so it does make sense. It’s not just the air conditioning that rusts on these houses however anything that is outside & is metal is usually rusty too. I would like to clean her home too while the people I was with and I are spraying the AC component because she has a lot of metal screws & fasteners around the home that could rust too if sprayed too several times with the salt water. This is one of the disadvantages of residing close to the ocean however it is worth it in the end. I will go buy a HEPA filter today for my mom & replace her old AC filter with it.