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semi-reformed sailor |
Yesterday evening I thought it was warm in the house and turned on the fan in the living room. Today, well just now, I felt warm and went to check the thermostat, it’s set at 72 but it’s electronic and sometimes it will follow its program vs staying set to 72. Anyway is running and set right. It’s 87 outside and 76 inside. Just checked the outside part (compressor and fan) and it’s running the compressor and the fan. And there the ground is wet where the drain line comes from the other part of the system. Anything else I can check before calling for a service call? The air moving part is working as air flows from the vents. "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | ||
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Member |
make sure the filter is clean. | |||
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A Grateful American |
Check the capacitors, and look to see if the run cap for the compressor is swollen or signs of leaking oil, same for the fan cap. Make sure the fan is spinning at it's correct speed. (not slow) and that the fan motor is not really hot. (indicating possible bad cap) The condenser and evap coils are clean/clear. Look and see if there is any evidence of oil staining on the coils, or line where they are brazed/connections to servicing valves. If it is sudden, capacitors are usually the first thing to check, next is the capacitors, and also the outside contactor (relay) and also the thermostat. If you know how the thermostat functions, and the wiring, you can jumper and see if it fixes the problem, and if so, replace the thermostat. Check breakers. (to check caps, turn off system, disconnect power at the condenser, pull cap wires, properly discharge caps, then use multimeter set to uF (microfarads) and test, they should read the labeled values.) Then, if nothing obvious, call the man. "the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב! | |||
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Green grass and high tides |
How old is the system? Previous work or issues?u "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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Member |
Two copper lines going to the outside unit . Is one of them cold ? | |||
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Dances With Tornados |
Are you in the area where many units are in the Attic? I have some family and friends in the DFW where their units are in the attic. I'm not an AC guy but I understand the attic units have a float switch if the drain is blocked it will not let the unit operate. This is to prevent an overflow of condensate water and ruining the ceiling etc. Or if the drain line is clogged. This may not apply since your outside unit fan is turning. Best wishes to you. | |||
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Member |
No advice, just a good luck. We dealt with this last summer & had to replace the evap coil [$$$] Hope yours is something simpler. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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Member |
ice on the outside unit? With the fan running on the outside unit, is the fan blowing warmer air? Is the inside unit blowing air? | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
Note that not all failed capacitors end up being bulged or leaking. The capacitors can appear fine to the eye, and still be bad. To be sure, you (or your HVAC tech) need to test them with a multimeter. | |||
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Drill Here, Drill Now |
+1 I learned a very expensive lesson capacitor lesson. My house has 2 AC units and the one with my MBR let the indoor temp creep up to 80 and it was slowly running. It was under manufacturer warranty so I called the nearest authorized HVAC place for that brand of AC. The technician spent all of 1 minute with a multimeter and 2 minutes with a screwdriver. I got a free $30 capacitor and a $200 callout bill as the warranty was parts only. Now, I keep 2 capacitors on the shelf in my garage as I'm not sweating an extra day over a $35 part (i.e. the made in America capacitor was $5 more than the Chinesium capacitor). Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
Same here, after learning a similar lesson. | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
Yup checked all the things, filter is a month old I replace them every three. No ice in the outside condenser/compressor. The fan outside is working at speed, and I’ve stopped the fan and seen/heard the compressor come on-so the caps are working. The attic-blower is working, and there’s water on the ground where it drains to. Only thing I can think of is the system has leaked all the Freon/coolant out. Ran into a buddy tonight and his dad does hvac and other stuff, he is gonna try and get his dad to come by tomorrow-schedule permitting. I left a message at the hvac company and expect a call back in the morning. "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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McNoob |
Yep, same here. I luckily dodged an unscrupulous HVAC tech. Back in 2017 my furnace wasn't working, and I had the HVAC company send someone out to check things out. The HVAC tech, condemned my furnace, and then gave me 3 options, ranging from $1700 - $8000 to fix or replace my furnace. I chose nothing and was going to get a second opinion. I found out my neighbor was an HVAC tech and he came over and we replaced the capacitor for $7 and it's ran fine ever since. Same thing coincidentally happened with our AC the very next summer. "We've done four already, but now we're steady..." | |||
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Thank you Very little |
This is a good place to check, I know you said water is coming out, but check that float, usually you can pull the cap off and it will bring out the plunger switch, see if operating it manually lets it kick on. We've had that happen a few times where the drain was partially blocked, water backed up in the pipe enough to throw the switch... | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
^^ checked it. Dry The company can make it out tomorrow morning. I called another company and no answer….soooo The first one said that if the guys finished up earlier than expected they will get me today. I may wait till 5 and then go get a window beater to cool our bedroom if the guy hasn’t shown up "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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Thank you Very little |
Window Shaker is a good option, plenty have them down here for emergency air source or during power out in a hurricane. I have one of the floor models got it on sale at Lowes, you can roll it from room to room, open a window for the vent and bob's your uncle. Use it in the office during the summer so I don't have to run the full house AC all day for one room... Link | |||
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Savor the limelight |
Raise your hand if you didn’t read the first post. Based on the advice given, there’s quite a few. If everything is running, which you said it was in the first post, I’d turn it off and wait for the man. | |||
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Partial dichotomy |
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Member |
This is why I asked if the freon line outside is cold ... | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
So the man showed up yesterday morning. Found a leak in a small line in the attic evap coil and said were it him-he’d replace the whole thing cause there might be other leaks in the future. Good:apparently past Mike registered the system with Lennox and got a 5 year extension on warranty for parts in addition to the 5 year regular warranty. We are in year 6, and had I not done that I’d be on the hook for parts and labor. Bad: dude said they didn’t have the evap coil in stock-so they are looking for one….no ETR given Got a portable ac for the Tomminator and borrowed a window shaker for our bedroom. Now we wait. "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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