One of many different problems can affect your air conditioner, including an overworked capacitor, faulty control, weak air supply, or other issues.
No matter what it is, it can be irritating because you feel very hot and uncomfortable. The worse part is that if your AC just failed all of sudden in the blazing summer heat.
The good news is most of these problems can be fixed on your own without having to call a professional. So, in this guide, we’ll show you some common AC issues and how to fix them.
Ready? Let’s go!
1) Your AC is blowing warm air
If your AC is giving out warm or hot air, you should check the thermostat first—see that you hadn’t accidentally changed it.
If the thermostat is set to your preferences and you find nothing wrong, you should begin to suspect that the air filter inside is clogged.
A clogged air filter freezes the evaporator coils and renders them unable to transfer the heat from your room towards the outdoors, so the excess air releases into your room instead. Thus, you might have to change the air filter on your AC unit.
Besides that, the warm air may have been caused by a low refrigerant. Check this by feeling the two copper lines going into the condenser coil on the unit—both of them should be warm and moist, otherwise, you would need to have the refrigerant professionally refilled or repaired.
2) The AC does not turn on
In case your air conditioner shuts down and does not turn on, calling an HVAC technician should not be done yet as you might be able to resolve the problem easily.
Most of the time, homeowners just have the thermostat installed, forget it, and run it every day without fail. So, you should check or replace your thermostat batteries if it’s been a long while since you last did.
Still, if the AC doesn’t switch on and no air is coming out of it, then you may have to reset the entire thing through the circuit breaker. After that, fix the settings, set it to cool air, and to the temperature you desire—this should do the trick.
3) Your AC is leaking
A leaking AC differs in degree and can be caused by several different reasons. Naturally, an AC will drip condensed water through the condensate line and drip pan, due to having absorbed heat and moisture in the air—you may take this to be a leaking problem, but it is not.
However, if the condensate line is clogged for some reason, you can conduct DIY work. For this, refer to the manufacturer’s instructions and follow the directions given there.
Speaking of which, landlords commonly experience this problem wherein the drain line is so badly clogged by dirt and debris that the water backs up in the property, causing flood damage. If you experience this issue, it’s best to just let a professional handle the situation.
4) Your AC contactor is defective
The contactor is the electrical switch of your air conditioner. It is tasked with powering on and off of the AC and keeping the air cool at the preferred temperature.
A lot of things get affected by a faulty contactor, such as the compressor, condenser fan motor, and blower motor. If you’re proficient in electrical work, you may just be able to troubleshoot the problem.
If not, then it’s probably safer to call a qualified air conditioning repair specialist for the job.
