Your home’s air conditioner is an extremely durable and reliable piece of machinery when you consider the constant stress its put under on a constant basis.
On a hot summer day your AC is running throughout most of the day, for many times over ten to sixteen consecutive hours, and yet your typical household rarely has problems with these units for decades.
Having said that when there is a problem with them its effects are usually noticed immediately as they always tend to have issues when its least convenient, like the middle of July.
There is a good chance you will have to call a heating and cooling company to come out and fix your problem when this occurs.
But wait! Before you do that here are five simple steps you can do first, yourself, that might get your air conditioner working again.
Step 1
This is the easiest thing you can do and more often than not will do the trick. Your A/C unit may not be turned on. Check your thermostat and make sure that its not turned off.
Also, check the temperature. Many units are programed not to turn on unless your thermostat is set under a certain temperature.
For instance, if your a/c is set to only come on if your thermostat is set below 65 degrees and its currently set at 66 degrees then your cooling system is not going to come on.
Still not coming on? Here is another easy fix you might not have thought about. The electrical breaker may not be tripped. Turn the breaker off and then on again and make sure the lever is secure.
Step 2
If your air conditioner is not producing much air inside of your house then your need to go outside and check the blower unit. It should be located on the side of your house. You will see some sort of fan inside a square block housing.
Inspect the fan and check it for any damaged or bent blades. If the blades are not fully functional then your unit’s effectiveness will be severely reduced.
Follow the ducts that go from the a/c unit outside to the house. There is a good chance they will feed into your house’s attic or basement. What are the condition of the duct system? Is there a pinch or kink in it? Maybe they have become disconnected and the flow is disrupted.
When was the last time your checked your air conditioner filter? If it has been a couple years then its been too long.
Many professionals suggest replacing the filter every month during the summer months but they should definitely be replaced once every year.
If it becomes clogged then the air flow will be compromised. You can usually locate the filter along the the air duct that returns the air back from the home to the air conditioner unit outside.
Step 3
Lets go back to the fan in the unit outside. Try to spin it with your hand. Take your hand away and see if the blades keep spinning for five seconds, at least. Are they not spinning smoothly like they should? You could have a case where the bearings are wearing out. If this is the case then you will need to have the fan motor replaced.
Step 4
Are you getting plenty of air but its not cold? Try this. Turn your air conditioner on and let it run for ten minutes. Shut it off, go outside to your a/c unit, locate where the suction line is (line made out of copper that will extend out of the unit and into your home) and touch it with your hand.
It should be really cold. If it is not then your A/C system is low on or totally out of refrigerant. If this is the case then there is nothing more you can do. You need to call an HVAC or heating & cooling company to come out and fix this.
Its not recommended that homeowners ever try to add refrigerant or repair refrigerant leaks if they detect that is what the problem is.
This should be done only by a licensed professional as the substance is highly toxic, sometimes volatile and can really harm the environment if it gets released into the air by improper installation.
Step 5
Go to the outside unit and open up the air conditioner housing. Look to see that the compressor and the fan are running. The compressor will be very noticeable as its a round canister that will have tubes coming out of it.
If you notice that the fan is running but the compressor is not working then you have a situation where air is coming into your home’s vents but it will be warm, not cold like it should be.
You might notice that the a/c compressor isn’t running but yet its still getting hot. In this case you either need a totally new compressor or your cooling system is low on refrigerant. In either case you need a licensed serviceman to come out and fix the problem.
Tags: a/c refrigerant, air conditioner filter, bearings, compressor
[...] While fixing air conditioner malfunctions may require the services of a professional A/C repairperson, homeowners are often able to accomplish certain repairs and maintenance measures on an AC unit that will save them both time and money. Knowing just what they can or shouldn’t try to do DIY style is a big help, so we’ll try to cover some of that here. For another post about troubleshooting your cooling system should you run into problems, please click here. [...]
[...] with a few simple diagnostics before panicking. It might be a faulty circuit breaker or a breaker that was turned off for some [...]