Anyone knowledgable about air conditioners?

ArnoldIsMyIdol

ArnoldIsMyIdol

Member
My house AC is not putting out cold air. It is one of those outdoor types. I can't check into it this late at night but I know it is running cause I went outside and checked. Maybe it just needs a recharge. Is this pretty easy to do yourself? How expensive is the refrigerant?
 
I would imagine that your coolant didn't just run out suddenly unless you busted a hose. That's where I'd put my money. Air conditioners (that use a coolant) usually get less effective overtime and then need to be recharged. They don't just stop cooling unless there is a mechanical problem.

Other air conditioners don't have a coolant. They work by drawing moisture out of the air. These can be less effective if it's really hot, but you should still feel cold air at the vent.
 
How does an Air Conditioner work?

Air conditioning systems work by moving heat from inside your premises to the outside. In a central air conditioning system air is drawn into the ductwork system through the return air system. Installed in the return air ductwork is an evaporator coil. This coil is connected to the condensor, the unit that is outside your home, by copper tubing.

The refrigerant is then pumped from the condenser to the evaporator coil. As the refrigerant passes through the inside of the evaporator coil, warm air from inside your home passes over the outside of the coil. Because the refrigerant is cooler than the warm air, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air. The refrigerant is then sent outside to the condenser unit. When the warmed refrigerant is in the condenser unit it is compressed by the compressor; the compression of the refrigerant causes it to boil. As the refrigerant boils it gives off the heat it picked up from inside your home. The refrigerant is then passed through the coil in the condenser unit where it gets cooled again and is ready to go back inside to pick up more heat from your home.

As this whole process is going on, the temperature and relative humidity in your premises are both lowered. The relative humidity level drops because cooler air cannot hold as much moisture. As the air cools, it gives up some moisture and it gets collected in the base of the evaporator coil and is then drained away.
 
ArnoldIsMyIdol said:
My house AC is not putting out cold air. It is one of those outdoor types. I can't check into it this late at night but I know it is running cause I went outside and checked. Maybe it just needs a recharge. Is this pretty easy to do yourself? How expensive is the refrigerant?
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It can be several things; relays are bad (usually this one), slow leak or large leak. It is an old piece of ****e. Trip the breaker and restart it.
 
ArnoldIsMyIdol said:
Can the outdoor types become froze up on the coils?
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Yes. A friend of mine had this problem last week. First of all you need to turn the AC off and run the fan. The fan will circulate the air through the coils which will defrost them. It may take about 6 hours. I don't know what's causing your coils to freeze,but in my friend's case,it was the air handler in the attic. The insulation that was inside of the air handler had come loose and blocked the air way. The AC service guy took it out and everything was good to go. Call a AC company to send someone out to check your unit. Do not keep your AC running if it's frozen up.

Googled this. Invalid Link Removed
 
Thanks guys. I never had a chance to go out and inspect it, but I turned it off last night, and I just came home and it is working again so it must have frozen up.
 
If your unit was froze up, only two things can cause this, low air flow or the unit is low on freon. First ck. your air filter to see if it is dirty, if it is not dirty touch the big line going into your outside unit, if it is not really cold and sweating it may be low on freon, these r the only reasons for freezing up, this and other amazing things r what I do for a living, not the most exciting but it pays the bills and more supps.....
 
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