Home AC troubleshooting

[BK911]

Recently moved into a new house.
Turn the air on Friday night and it is not very cold.
Time to start troubleshooting!

Found one of the nastiest return air filters I have ever seen:



That had to be it, right?
Nope! So troubleshooting continues.
Indoor coil looks pretty clean.
Outdoor coil?



Are you kidding me?
How many of you keep your AC running while cutting the grass?
How many of you will continue to keep your AC running while cutting the grass?

Also found a cut wire to the compressor.

[BK911]

15 minutes with shop vac and hose:




That's as far as I got.

Tonight put it back together, cross my fingers, and see what happens.

[GH85Carrera]

I clean my coil every spring before I crank up the AC. It is never that dirty. Obvoiusly the PO had no service calls on the unit. Mine is never that dirty. I do leave my unit running when I mow my yard but I sure don't throw the cliiping at the unit, I use the mower's bagging system.

[rick-l]

Does that pink wire go to the capacitor? Why would someone cut that?
Did you use it as a heat pump for heat?

[Zeke]

Some hack may have cut the wire because it kept tripping the breaker.

[rick-l]

I wouldn't think it would start without that capacitor.

[BK911]

It is a heat pump with gas back up.

No idea why somebody would cut a wire ~1" away from a connector.
I hope I can reconnect the wire and fire it right up. We will see!

In the past, I never shut down the AC while I was cutting the grass either.
But like Glen, I changed my filters several times a year and cleaned the coil annually.
I think I will start shutting down the AC just because.

[T77911S]

i just cleaned mine too.

took the fan off like you did. you can buy a spray can of coil cleaner. i spray the coil inside and out, then use the garden hose to clean it from the inside out. then i take a coil cleaning tool and go over it and then hose it one more time- if its really bad.

my yard is very sandy/dusty. the outside unit gets pretty dirty.

[red-beard]

You people turn off your AC? Ever?

[madmmac]

Just a guess, you never had the home inspected.

Did you buy or are you renting?

[rick-l]

Well? Did it run?

Did you stick an ohm meter on it? S-C R-C R-S (sum) R-Case

[john70t]

Originally Posted by T77911S

my yard is very sandy/dusty. the outside unit gets pretty dirty.

Mine too, mainly because of a few trees that shed year-round.
Some natural wind barriers help though.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Some hack may have cut the wire because it kept tripping the breaker.

(green) just attach some jumper cables in the box to fix this (/green)

[Rick Lee]

I'm gonna make the wild guess that the damage is done. That looked awful and speaks to years of neglect. There's a good spray to use for cleaning outdoor coils. I change my filter on the first of every month the unit is in use. I also send my tenant a 12 pack of filters so he does the same.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I'm gonna make the wild guess that the damage is done. That looked awful and speaks to years of neglect. There's a good spray to use for cleaning outdoor coils. I change my filter on the first of every month the unit is in use. I also send my tenant a 12 pack of filters so he does the same.

I saw the aerosol cans of spray at Lowes last week......is this what you mean, Rick?

I've seen the service companies use a tank sprayer with a mixture....maybe i could make up my own?

Getting toasty out - like to get through the season without any drama...

[john70t]

Renting or a new home purchase?
That's an older unit, and if not cooling now, the damage may have already been done. They leak regardless especially if not run several times a year. The circulated oil conditions the seals and prevents leaks.
Not sure about the R-12 replacement costs/proceedures. All new ones use R-134A.

Look at the SEER rating label. Each number higher equals a significant improvement in efficiency. 20% or more i think. Depending on the zone and usage, replacement now will save a lot of money and discomfort.

There should be two tubes running into the house to the furnace, one hot straight from the compressor and one cooler/ambient return.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by john70t

Renting or a new home purchase?
That's an older unit, and if not cooling now, the damage may have already been done. They leak regardless especially if not run several times a year. The circulated oil conditions the seals and prevents leaks.
Not sure about the R-12 replacement costs/proceedures. All new ones use R-134A.

Look at the SEER rating label. Each number higher equals a significant improvement in efficiency. 20% or more i think. Depending on the zone and usage, replacement now will save a lot of money and discomfort.

There should be two tubes running into the house to the furnace, one hot straight from the compressor and one cooler/ambient return.

I think your are thinking of automotive AC systems. I have never heard of a home AC unit running R-12 or 134a. It is likely R-22.

[red-beard]

New home AC units use 410a, in the pink canister

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, but that is an OLD unit.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by john70t

Renting or a new home purchase?
That's an older unit, and if not cooling now, the damage may have already been done. They leak regardless especially if not run several times a year. The circulated oil conditions the seals and prevents leaks.
Not sure about the R-12 replacement costs/proceedures. All new ones use R-134A.

Look at the SEER rating label. Each number higher equals a significant improvement in efficiency. 20% or more i think. Depending on the zone and usage, replacement now will save a lot of money and discomfort.

There should be two tubes running into the house to the furnace, one hot straight from the compressor and one cooler/ambient return.

SEER is a seasonally adjusted version of EER. It is a ratio of energy use to cooling.

A 14 SEER unit compared to a 13 SEER unit is ((14-13)/14)*100 more efficient, or in this case, about 7%. A 19 vs a 13 SEER would be almost 32% more efficient.