So yesterday the ac worked fine, today, its still "working" but the air coming out it is definitely not cool. Any ideas on where to start before calling a tech?

5/26/2009 11:58:46 PM

Are the lines frozen up inside?

That is, is there visible ice accumulation on the pipes coming in from the outside.

If so, it's low on refrigerant and probably has a slow leak.

Pretty much anything you'll need to do will involve calling out a tech, if I had to guess.

5/27/2009 12:01:21 AM

I know it sounds trivial, but try checking your air filters. In my previous rental, there was one right before the HVAC unit inside that NEVER got changed. Took a couple of paid visits from a tech (who gladly replaced the freon for a hefty price to no avail) to figure out that the filter was full of dog hair and causing the lines to freeze up. The problem was the air filter wasn't allowing enough air to circulate and the freon was basically cooling nothing but the pipes it was traveling in. After that, changing the filter every 1-2 months kept the AC unit in tip-top shape.

6/1/2009 12:13:19 PM

Frozen lines most probably, followed by refrigerant. Happened to me last year and I actually had to have somebody come out and replace a part (ants shorted it out, essentially).

6/1/2009 12:33:44 PM

^ The frozen lines are caused by low refrigerant (or low air flow across the coils, but that's much less common.).

6/1/2009 12:35:06 PM

ur fucked...you'll be out a few hundred dollars for this bullshit. Sucks

6/1/2009 1:03:39 PM

probably frozen up. if so leaving it off for a day may alleviate the problem temporarily.

If not this, do check the filters.

A remote possibility that happened with me - the capacitor on one of my units went bad. replaced it with a part from online and it worked fine afterwards.

if you try to diagnose this, make sure to cut power to the unit, and before touching, short the capacitor with a screwdriver or something as it can still have a charge in it.

6/1/2009 3:14:16 PM

I bet that the problem is a clog in some pipes somewhere that is blocking the flow of cool air.

[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 3:23 PM. Reason : ]

6/1/2009 3:23:24 PM

check filters first

easy to check and only a couple bucks for new ones

6/1/2009 9:43:04 PM

is the fan outside working?

6/1/2009 10:50:15 PM

We just had the same problem. Most likely low on freon and could perhaps use some 'cleaning' of the unit with this foamy stuff they spray... which will cost you if you hire somebody.


^^
Oh yeah... check filters first. Although I am thinking freon/refrigerant.

[Edited on June 2, 2009 at 12:30 AM. Reason : yep]

6/2/2009 12:29:43 AM

You jinxed me you dingling. First time I turn on the AC for the summer and the bitch blows out warm air. Thank god it's not on my dime.

6/2/2009 12:33:16 AM

sounds to be frozen...get some freon

6/2/2009 12:35:01 AM

I'm having the same issue. Fan works, but no cold air.

6/2/2009 7:51:54 AM

There are two fans. One fan that circulates the air inside the house and one fan in the outside compressor that removes heat from the refrigerant. The later is the key to cool air. If the outside compressor fan is on then the problem is refrigerant related. If the outside compressor fan does not come on then you have an electrical problem (tripped circuit breaker or defective compressor).

6/2/2009 8:25:07 AM

Both of my fans work, so refrigerant it is.

6/2/2009 9:25:36 AM

^^ You need both fans to get cool air and both are key. Both fans blow air across coils for the purposes of exchanging heat. If air doesn't flow across those coils, at either end of the loop, things won't work. Not dumping enough heat into the outside air to condense the refrigerant is a whole lot less damaging than not absorbing enough heat inside the house in to evaporate the liquid refrigerant. The latter case causes liquid refrigerant to back up in the system. If it reaches the compressor, you'll blow out the valves. That costs $texas.

6/2/2009 9:49:45 AM

Check to make sure you havent tripped a breaker. This happened to me last week. 5 sec fix.

6/2/2009 1:22:06 PM

Someone recommended this company to me:

Ed Briggs Heating and AC
(919) 772-6724 or (919) 291-8865, ask for Ricky Holland

6/2/2009 1:28:37 PM

i finally turned mine on today... it's just gotten too warm upstairs with all the computers and stuff and 3 fans wasn't cutting it

turned it on... was blowing warm air

so i replaced all the filters in the intake vents in the house (needed to do that anyway)

still warm air

went outside to the exhaust fan next to the house

some friggin branch had fallen in there and was preventing the fan from circulating... so i yanked it out and the thing resumed spinning

no clue how long the thing had been stuck there

i got cold air again, though

6/2/2009 10:07:35 PM

I remember all summer my A/C would always stop working while idle (i.e stop light) than magically fix itself when i started driving.

Right before i sold it in August on the verge of geting my A4 i just happened to notice that the compressor fan did not fucking work LOL. So when stopped it overheated and quit working but the airflow due strictly from moving allowed the A/C unit to operate while driving.

6/3/2009 12:26:41 PM

^ That's a common problem. BTW, it was the condenser fan, not the non-existent compressor fan.

6/3/2009 2:19:07 PM

well your condenser fan is typically the same as the radiator fan (i.e. the same fan draws air through both the condenser and radiator)...so was that not working? did you also notice your coolant temp rising while idling for extended periods of time?

6/5/2009 9:37:10 PM