Air Conditioning - Window a/c is not cooling as usual
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Tauro_34
07-30-04, 08:26 PM
Hi. I write to you from a small and hot town in Venezuela where there are not good technicians to trust in.
I have problems with a Panasonic 24K Btu window a/c. It has operated during 6 years cooling my living room and 2 bedrooms during hot days (35 C)
During last weeks i noticed a poor performance, called some guys and they serviced the outside of the coils. They did not see any leak.
After that we did not see any improvement. There is ice in the evaporator if I operate the a/c in high. I put the thermostat in the middle and adjust it every time i see ice.
No i have to close the bedrooms if a want a cold living room. I have lost 1/2 of my house !!
I have seen 3 "specialists" . The first said the compressor might be out of shape and suggest me to operate until it is broken :(
The second said it must be lack of gas although there is not any leak and it keeps operating (?). I guess if there is a leak, all the gas would leave the system
The third one said it must be a blocked line (the capillary ?)
The a/c is consuming 13,4 amps (nominal current is 14,5). The fans are operating quite good. The coils seem to be clean. I saw suction pressure when the a/c was turned on it was around 120 psi and went until 50 and then go up until 80 psi. There is no way to measure high pressure.
I have seen that when the evaporator is not cooling well I feel only 5 % of the coil is cold and the rest of it is a room's temp and all the coil is dry. But sometimes I turn off the unit for a while (5 minutes or more) and when I turn it on again, the coil becomes very cold and wet and keeps that way for a few cycles
Hmmm..I think I have said all I know about the a/c. Can you give some ideas to test and make a good diagnostic?
Thanks ....Fernando
I have problems with a Panasonic 24K Btu window a/c. It has operated during 6 years cooling my living room and 2 bedrooms during hot days (35 C)
During last weeks i noticed a poor performance, called some guys and they serviced the outside of the coils. They did not see any leak.
After that we did not see any improvement. There is ice in the evaporator if I operate the a/c in high. I put the thermostat in the middle and adjust it every time i see ice.
No i have to close the bedrooms if a want a cold living room. I have lost 1/2 of my house !!
I have seen 3 "specialists" . The first said the compressor might be out of shape and suggest me to operate until it is broken :(
The second said it must be lack of gas although there is not any leak and it keeps operating (?). I guess if there is a leak, all the gas would leave the system
The third one said it must be a blocked line (the capillary ?)
The a/c is consuming 13,4 amps (nominal current is 14,5). The fans are operating quite good. The coils seem to be clean. I saw suction pressure when the a/c was turned on it was around 120 psi and went until 50 and then go up until 80 psi. There is no way to measure high pressure.
I have seen that when the evaporator is not cooling well I feel only 5 % of the coil is cold and the rest of it is a room's temp and all the coil is dry. But sometimes I turn off the unit for a while (5 minutes or more) and when I turn it on again, the coil becomes very cold and wet and keeps that way for a few cycles
Hmmm..I think I have said all I know about the a/c. Can you give some ideas to test and make a good diagnostic?
Thanks ....Fernando
mattison
07-31-04, 06:17 AM
The 1st thing I do to a window unit that's not performing well is to remove it from the house take the cabinet off and hose out the coils really good. Just because the coils seem clean don't mean they are. Dirt will embed itself inside the coil where you can't see it. I know that 24k unit is heavy but a good cleaning is where you need to start.
Tauro_34
07-31-04, 03:29 PM
they already had washed the coils with a high pressure pump.
Ed Imeduc
07-31-04, 05:41 PM
I have seen that when the evaporator is not cooling well I feel only 5 % of the coil is cold and the rest of it is a room's temp and all the coil is dry.
After that we did not see any improvement. There is ice in the evaporator if I operate the a/c in high. I put the thermostat in the middle and adjust it every time i see ice.
I would say you need freon for sure. 6years could be a very small leak. but I would get them to find it and fix it. Dont run the AC when its this low on freon.
For test the big copper line back to the compressor should be cold and wet all the time
ED ;)
After that we did not see any improvement. There is ice in the evaporator if I operate the a/c in high. I put the thermostat in the middle and adjust it every time i see ice.
I would say you need freon for sure. 6years could be a very small leak. but I would get them to find it and fix it. Dont run the AC when its this low on freon.
For test the big copper line back to the compressor should be cold and wet all the time
ED ;)
mattison
08-01-04, 06:23 AM
With Ed on this. If it has been thoughroly cleaned and only 5% of the coil is cooling it's probably got a slow leak or an internal restriction. With the age of the unit you may want to weigh the cost of repair to just buying a new one.
Tauro_34
08-01-04, 05:46 PM
Thanks for your answers
I understand the problem should be a small leak or an internal restriction
Would you say the compressor is 100 % ok ? What are the symptoms for a bad compressor ? Somebody says it could have problems with its valves but I don't see how a compressor in bad shape can cool the living room
A new a/c here costs 1.500.000Bs (bolivares) and a compressor costs 500.000 Bs and since I can't find a job here thanks to Mr Chavez I have plans to leave venezuela before the end of the year. That's why I want to be sure of the possible damage before spending more money in this A/C
Thanks again
ps: I understand thermodynamics and P-h charts and I'd love to understand exactly what is happening inside my a/c :confused:
I understand the problem should be a small leak or an internal restriction
Would you say the compressor is 100 % ok ? What are the symptoms for a bad compressor ? Somebody says it could have problems with its valves but I don't see how a compressor in bad shape can cool the living room
A new a/c here costs 1.500.000Bs (bolivares) and a compressor costs 500.000 Bs and since I can't find a job here thanks to Mr Chavez I have plans to leave venezuela before the end of the year. That's why I want to be sure of the possible damage before spending more money in this A/C
Thanks again
ps: I understand thermodynamics and P-h charts and I'd love to understand exactly what is happening inside my a/c :confused:
mattison
08-02-04, 05:17 AM
Wow! that's like $780 US dollars. About twice what you would pay for one here. I saw an 18K window unit at Wal-Mart yesterday for $200.00. That's about 383,00 Bolivars.
Even if the compressor was going bad it wouldn't be worth replacing in a window unit. What will it cost you to have it gassed up and leak checked?
Even if the compressor was going bad it wouldn't be worth replacing in a window unit. What will it cost you to have it gassed up and leak checked?
Tauro_34
08-02-04, 10:59 AM
A charge of gas costs 13.000 Bs/kg + 10.000 Bs
I have heard it is a danger for the compressor to overcharge gas
I have heard it is a danger for the compressor to overcharge gas
Ed Imeduc
08-02-04, 12:56 PM
I have heard it is a danger for the compressor to overcharge gas
You have to have hoses and gauges to put the freon in .So you know what the head pressure is also make sure you have the right freon that is in there. You cant mix them. It should say right there on it what freon is in there.
ED ;)
You have to have hoses and gauges to put the freon in .So you know what the head pressure is also make sure you have the right freon that is in there. You cant mix them. It should say right there on it what freon is in there.
ED ;)