4 Repairs That Should Get Your AC Up and Running Again
It’s tough to get comfortable in your home when your ac is on the fritz, either running too hot or too cold or just breaking down completely. A lack of running air conditioning to regulate the temperature inside your home, especially when the outside temperature is more severe, is not just a threat to you and your family’s comfort but also possibly to your health. Especially for children and the elderly. If your HVAC system is broken down, here are four possible reasons why and what a repairman may do to fix it.
A Bad Capacitor
The outdoor unit of your AC uses a device called a capacitor in order to get the fan and compressor to start cooling the air in your home. Without the capacitor, the fans in your unit will just blow unconditioned air throughout the house. You may also hear a humming sound from your outdoor unit as it tries and fails to start the compressor and fan. A technician can replace this part quickly and easily, getting your unit back to work quickly.
This same step may be needed for heating maintenance as well because the capacitor is vital to both heating and cooling operations. Thus, if your capacitor has called it quits it’s important that you call in a professional to repair or replace it quickly.
Bad Blower Motor
The cold temperatures generated by your outdoor unit are wasted if the indoor portion of the system cannot deliver the air meant for the rest of the house. Your indoor unit may be making strange sounds, putting out a burning odor, tripping breakers, or not doing anything at all. If that’s the case, your blower motor may be out. The technician will need to go to your indoor unit and install a new motor in order to get the fan running again.
Iced-Up Coil
Your heat pump pushes cold refrigerant into a coil near the blower fan. The fan blows air across the coil and then into the house. If something impedes the airflow, the coil will actually become too cold and ice up, preventing air from moving across it. This is usually the result of an air obstruction like a dirty filter. Replacing all your filters and getting the whole system cleaned should let the technician get you going again.
Wet/Dry Switch Tripped
As a result of the air being pumped into your home being cooler than the air it’s trying to replace, your indoor unit can create condensation while it’s running. If it’s located in an attic or finished room, you may see a plastic pan designed to catch any dripping water from said condensation. This pan will have a wet/dry switch in it so that the system shuts off if any water collects in the pan. Your technician will simply have to empty the water, identify the reason it collected, and reset the switch.
Many air conditioning problems are easy fixes when handled by trained personnel, but your knowledge of issues like these can help guide your contractor’s team to what the problem likely is.
