a/c blows warm air. How can I diagnose?
I am trying to learn fix my a/c unit. So Cal is especially hot this summer, and fans are not helping. The A/C blows warm air, but I don't know where to start. Can anyone give me some suggestions on what to check? Thanks! -Paul P.S. I am very mechanically inclined, I just don't know anything about air conditioners. What does the air feel like outside blowing from the unit? The larger copper line with foam, is it cool and wet? Smaller copper line same as outside air temp or warmer? Hello, My husband is deployed and I am doing this alone. I like to think of myself as an independent gal. I fix lots of things arund the house but I dont know much about my a/c. Was reading your post about A/C blowing warm air. I have that problem too right now. Can you assist please? I live in NC and it's about 90 everyday!! The larger copper tube that runs from the compressor to the heat pump keeps freezing over. The black foam is missing some pieces here and there. That is where you can see the big white pieces of frost. You can also see white frost where the tube comes out of the compressor and where it goes into the heat pump (up in the attic). the air blowing out of the compressor is cool. the filter inside the house is clean the smaller copper tube feels the same as the outside temp. thank you for any help you can offer. I would like to be able to fix the problem without a costly tech coming out. Syndi The frost on the line is a sign of low on charge, and that you can't repair. You need to call in a Pro on that. Otherwise, do you get good air flow out of the vents? All vents open? Turn of the system or the frost will damage the compressor. We have been gently chippng off the frost or pouring tap, not warm, water on the line to remove the frost. We turn the compressor off and just run the fan until the line defrosts. The vents blow fine, just warm. Back in the Spring, I closed a few vents in the house to direct more air to the front bedroom. That room faces the morning sun and gets hot even eith the drapes closed. I read in the newspapaer recenly, that is a sign of a poor builder; that parts of the house cool better than other parts. Anyway, can you tell me what 'low on charge means? Wow Jay, I really appreciate your help. So a trip to Home Depot wont help? Thanks! Syndi Just about anytime the coil frost up check that the filter is clean the coil inside is clean the fins or cup blades on the blower wheel are clean. If so then its call a tech cause your low on freon. The big copper line by the outdoor unit has to be cold and wet for the charge to be ok I read in the newspapaer recenly, that is a sign of a poor builder; that parts of the house cool better than other parts. No Id say its a bad heat and cool guy that put it in. ED Thank you --you guys rock the frost is gone again. I went up in the attic and clean off the coil a bit with a can of air. It is once again blowing cold. But I have been able to get it to work after I get rid of the frost. But, it lasts for only about 10-12 hours. I will get it to blow cold each evening and it will be good for the night. But when I get home from work the next day Whew! Hot! I guess I need to call a tech. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Thanks for your help. If you have any other ideas let me know. Love this website! We had an A/C tech come out ot diagnose the not cooling problem. He tested the pressure, charged the system and added freon. It worked great for 2 days then stoped blowing cold again. We had them come back out. Now they are saying that there are pin hoes in the coil and it will cost at least $800. They even tried to push a new system on us. I need some honest advice. I feel as though we are being scammed!!!!! Shouldn't they have found these pin holes the first time they came out to test the pressure in the system? Your system obviously has a leak...somewhere. they probably just filled it on their first visit. it's fairly expensive/time consuming to look for a leak. did you pay for that? or was it just a re-charge. by just charging it up you can't tell how big the leak is. they just know you're low on freon. re-charge might last 5 years or 2 days, can't tell. obviously the leak is substantial. if the system is over 10-11 years old you might want to replace. An honest tech will show you where it is leaking. This can be done with a dye, an electronic sniffer which will beep or blink faster when it detects a leak, or with soap bubbles if they pressurized the system with nitrogen. If they can't or won't show you where the leak is, they are either guessing or scamming. In either case, you need to find someone else. I most commonly use either the dye which shows up as day glow yellow under an ultraviolet light or the sniffer. My A-Frame would freeze all the time. The solution for my problem was that you need your fan to be adjusted to blow on higher speeds so it takes the cold faster (warms the A-Frame faster) and blows it to your ducts. The adjustment is on the mother board of the controller for the fan. If you had a leak you would lose the freon, and nothing will ever get cold. Freezing parts are because the freon can not circulate so it stays on one spot and freezes everything arround. This was just simple expalnation. It could be that you have too big unit outside for the size of your A-Frame in the house (furnice). So the A-Frame can't keep up with the work what outside unit/fan/compressor does. Good luck and let me know if it helped you.
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