Home AC went out

[06GrnRubi]

Just stopped blowing cold air. Fan on unit outside of house is still running, as is the air handler. But no cold air. All circuit breakers have been checked. Piping outside that normally gets cold and has foam wrapped around it is not cold. My frirst guess would be compressor, or freon leaked out.

Any AC speacialists out there? Any ideas?

[ademster]

either the compressor died, or you have a leak, but willing to bet compressor died...


My brother is a Hvac tech... I could call him but I dont think he could make it out there until next week.

[TRobertsRN]

I agree, odds are a freon leak or compressor gone. Freon leak not as expensive to fix, compressor can be expensive.

I am on a short break at work and get off around 8 PM.

If you need a place to stay I have a couple of spare rooms in AJ but won't be there until tomorrow.

Baby sitting in Maricopa tonight.

Tom

[06GrnRubi]

:mad:If you need a place to stay I have a couple of spare rooms in AJ but won't be there until tomorrow.

Baby sitting in Maricopa tonight.

Tom

Thank you for the offer, but we have a 2 story and the evenings are cool enought that we can open the windows and use the ceiling fan. We slept with the windows open last night without a problem Today was kind of miserable, but as long as the temp keeps going down, we may be able to make it for a while.

Again, thanks for the offer of a place to stay.

[OlneyJeeps]

many/most units have an outside (on the side of teh unit) reset switch for the compressor (little button size of pensil eraser), some you have to remove access panel

is compressor working (you should hear distinguishable hum separate from condensor fan)?

[CooL_DaD]

Most compressors have a 5 year warranty...
if fan is blowing but air is warm then it is like you said ..Either leak or compressor
I just had to replace my blower motor...
Good thing its a dry heat...

[knockonit]

Find your condensing unit disconnect ( electric box with handle, usually small next to unit. ) turn off, open and take fuses down to hardware store to check or use a meter, sometimes one of the fuses will blow and that will create a power problem for the compressor, might save you a hot nite.
good luck, ac repair folks are in high demand.

[Fire Ball]

Before getting too far into this, check to see if air is actually blowing. Maybe the evap is frozen due to high humidity. Sometimes if you have a heavy load when it is humid it can turn into an iceball.

If no air is blowing inside the house when the fan is on:

If it is a heat pump, run it in heat mode for about 10 minutes, then turn it off. Let sit for 5 minuttes then see if it works.

If it is a true A/C and seperate heater, turn the unit off and turn on fan for about 30 minutes or more to see if that works.


If you do have air flowing inside the house then it is time to check other things.

PM me if you have any more questions. I'm really tired and I nkow I'm not making too much sense :)

[Crawldit]

Same thing happened to me last weekend. Stopped blowing cold air sometime late on Friday night. It would still blow it just wasn't cold. I flipped the breakers and all that fun stuff and nothing helped. When the guy came out on Sunday to fix it he said that the compressor was seized up. Took him all of 30 minutes to replace it. Thank goodness for home warranties. It cost me a whole $55 for the work order and everything else was covereged.

[06GrnRubi]

OK, I pull the breaker on the back wall next to the AC unit and open up the exterior panel. Find no fuses or reset button. I pull the fan off the top, replace the breaker, and turn on the AC. There is a definite hum coming from inside the unit, in addition to the fan itself. Next to what I am assuming is the compressor, as it has wires going into it, is canister with a thin layer of an oily substance. I am assuming that is freon.

So it may not be as bad as it could have been, but I'm sure it isn't going to be cheap either. If there is a leak, something will need fixing/repairing/replacing.

Who knows a reputable AC service company that I can call on a Sunday?

[06GrnRubi]

Called Parker and Sons. Had to leave a message with their answering service. After 2 hours had passed, and not hearing anything back, I called Arizona Refrigeration Service at 12:30. They said they could have someone their before 4 PM. A few minutes later, the phone rings and it is Parker and Sons. They couldn't get onyone there sooner, so I went with AZ Refer.

The freon lever registered zero. The oily substance I saw earlier was freon. The accumulator needs to be replaced as it has a leak. Not at one of the joints, but in the unit itself. Tomorrow they will call me with a price and a time when they can come back and replace.