No power to A/C Unit

[ndgrad95]

Please help--it's 95 here today and nobody can come out until tomorrow...
I know NOTHING about HVAC but watch very carefully whenever service people come to my home so I tried to do what the guy did in my last place.
This unit is only 2 years old...home is brand new.

My thermostat has no lights on it suddenly when I arrived home this evening. The unit outside not running. I checked the breakers in the circuit box...no problem but I flipped them on and off once anyway. Checked the outside box, no problem. Flipped those too, just in case.

Went into the attic where the actual unit is located....made sure on/off switch on wall was on. Looked in pan...there is water there.
Pushed down "floater" (sorry I don't know what that's called) in water pan and if I held it down for a minute or two, the unit kicked on. Changed the filter just in case (it was filthy and I was afraid that was overheating it or something)...A/C came on. Lights on thermostat were back.

Went to bed. I don't know when, but it kicked off again...

Anything I can do now?

Any ideas what might be causing this...

Thank you in advance!

[mattison]

1st. Turn it off and just run the fan for a few hours. While the fan is running get a shop-vac and go to wherever the primary drain empties and suck it out good with the shop-vac.

The primary drain is the drain coming out of your unit that does not drain into the pan with the switch.

It sounds as if the condensate line is just clogged and that switch you fiddled with is a safety switch so the unit don't keep running and overflow the pan and ruin your cieling.

Change that filter every 30 - 90 days depending on how dirty it is.

[ndgrad95]

If there's no power to the thermostat again (once it kicked off again, the thermostat goes out)...how do I run the fan? Should I start it up manually (using the switch) again and then run the fan?

I will try the shop vac when I get home from work tonight and let you know...I'd appreiciate your input about the fan though...

Thank you so much!

[ndgrad95]

The unit is in the attic but it seems likely that the drain that I need to suck out is on the bottom floor, right? Not in the attic...

Another question: there are two units in this house. The downstairs unit is working fine. I assume that if there is a blocked drain problem...these must have two separate drains? How do I know which one is for which unit?

I'd appreciate any guidance...

[mattison]

If you can suck the water out of the pan to let the switch engage then the fan will work. Follow the drain line and see where it goes they could have terminated it anywhere.

[ndgrad95]

Ok...I did everything you suggested: I used the shop vac to get the water out of the pan. Ran the fan for an hour and while that was happening, used the shop vac on the drain (it was drained out the back of the house).

Now, I have the AC on...we'll see if it works!

You're my hero, if it does!!! Keep your fingers crossed...

Shannon

[hiltontech]

"It sounds as if the condensate line is just clogged and that switch you fiddled with is a safety switch so the unit don't keep running and overflow the pan and ruin your cieling."
My exact thoughts, mattison is right here. :thumbup:
In fact I had the same problem with one of the air handlers at work today, clogged drain, also, after you unclog the drain add a little bleach in the drain, helps to eat away the nasty in the line. :D

[ndgrad95]

Thanks you guys...you're the best!!!!

It's cool upstairs in my house now...