Air Conditioning - Freezing from the outside in!

I have read lots of posts regarding freezing of coils due to low freon or dirty coils. I am hesitant to call for service if I can resolve this problem myself. Can anyone tell me if the symptoms call for service or cleaning? The freezing starts at the outside unit on the large copper tubing. The freezing progressess down the line into the inside unit until the whole unit becomes a block of ice. Does this sound like a freon/leak issue or a cleaning issue? Also, if I have to have a technician come out to fix a leak and recharge the freon what should I expect to pay?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Probably low charge. 1st get in there and clean the indoor coil and make sure the filter is clean. If that don't help call for service.

Price for the repair and recharge is impossible to guess. They will give you their rates to look for the leak and after they find it they will let you know the repair charge.

How old is the system??

Thanks for the help. The system is 11 years old.

You just wouldn't want to sink a bunch into an older system.

Very good chance that your low on charge, Mattison is right on cleaning your coils first,

HiltonTech