Air Conditioning - AC Not Cooling
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vmdave
08-06-08, 08:48 PM
I just brought and moved into my house 2 months ago. After being here about a month, we began to notice the AC wasn't keeping up during the day. We'd had the thermostat set to 74 and the temp would hover in the 78-80 degree range with the outside temps in the upper 80s to mid 90s. In the evening and over night the inside temp woul drop to the 74 degree range and the AC would be off most of the night. Since the sellers offered a home owners warranty when we bought the house, we called them and they sent a tech out to look at the unit.
My wife was the only one home when he arrived and she said he took some kind of guage out to the compressor outside (by the description she gave it sounded like a guage to measure the freon levels), came in, changed the filter in the airhandler and then told my wife the problem is the unit was too small for my house; our house is about 1300 square feet. He never indicated that he checked the freon levels or that they were ok. And that was that.
Now, two weeks later we're at the point where the inside temp hover in the 83-85 degree range, all day long (we've had a string of days in the 90s) and we're lucky to have go below 80 at night. This is with the unit running non stop all day and all night long.
Yesterday I noticed the copper pipe that has the insulation on it was dripping right as it went into the airhandler inside. Today I opened it up and found the copper pipe that is NOT isulated had frozen inside the condenser unit. The coils were pretty dirty so I cleaned them up and allowed the whole unit to thaw out. I also looked outside at the compressor and the grill on it was dirty as well. I cleaned that up and turned the air back on after everything was thawed and dried. The air still isn't getting cold. I measured the air temp at the return and it measures 83 degress and the temp at the registers is 76.
After reading this site it sounds like the most likely thing is the freon level being low. I'm reluctant to call the warranty people back and just have them tell me the unit is too small again, its a $75 deductable for every visit. Are there any other suggestions as to what the the problem could be? Is the tech right, the unit is simply too smal for my house? The unit is a Carrier, model #8GS024 according to the sticker on the air handler.
Hope this wasn't too long winded. Thanks in advance!
My wife was the only one home when he arrived and she said he took some kind of guage out to the compressor outside (by the description she gave it sounded like a guage to measure the freon levels), came in, changed the filter in the airhandler and then told my wife the problem is the unit was too small for my house; our house is about 1300 square feet. He never indicated that he checked the freon levels or that they were ok. And that was that.
Now, two weeks later we're at the point where the inside temp hover in the 83-85 degree range, all day long (we've had a string of days in the 90s) and we're lucky to have go below 80 at night. This is with the unit running non stop all day and all night long.
Yesterday I noticed the copper pipe that has the insulation on it was dripping right as it went into the airhandler inside. Today I opened it up and found the copper pipe that is NOT isulated had frozen inside the condenser unit. The coils were pretty dirty so I cleaned them up and allowed the whole unit to thaw out. I also looked outside at the compressor and the grill on it was dirty as well. I cleaned that up and turned the air back on after everything was thawed and dried. The air still isn't getting cold. I measured the air temp at the return and it measures 83 degress and the temp at the registers is 76.
After reading this site it sounds like the most likely thing is the freon level being low. I'm reluctant to call the warranty people back and just have them tell me the unit is too small again, its a $75 deductable for every visit. Are there any other suggestions as to what the the problem could be? Is the tech right, the unit is simply too smal for my house? The unit is a Carrier, model #8GS024 according to the sticker on the air handler.
Hope this wasn't too long winded. Thanks in advance!
Codyy
08-06-08, 09:31 PM
From what you've wrote, I take it the A/C was okay for the first little while. Then you noticed the drop in performance. If that is the case, it obviously isn't overly undersized. Even if it was, it shouldn't be freezing.
Anyway, freezing indicates usually one of two problems. Low freon as you know, or low airflow. Since your coil and filter is clean, and you mentioned no blower problem, I would have to say I too believe your unit is low on freon.
Good luck.
Anyway, freezing indicates usually one of two problems. Low freon as you know, or low airflow. Since your coil and filter is clean, and you mentioned no blower problem, I would have to say I too believe your unit is low on freon.
Good luck.
vmdave
08-07-08, 05:04 AM
Thanks for responding,
I wouldn't go so far as to say it was always fine...we've only been in the house for two months so I don't have a good history. Also, the first few weeks we had fairly mild temps so the system was never really taxed. It does however appear to have been getting progressively worse since we moved in.
Over night last night the inside temp dropped from 85 to 80 however the outside temp dropped from 89 to 69. Guess I should have left some windows open....
I wouldn't go so far as to say it was always fine...we've only been in the house for two months so I don't have a good history. Also, the first few weeks we had fairly mild temps so the system was never really taxed. It does however appear to have been getting progressively worse since we moved in.
Over night last night the inside temp dropped from 85 to 80 however the outside temp dropped from 89 to 69. Guess I should have left some windows open....