Understanding Air Conditioner Problems

Let’s look at why an air conditioner might stop emitting cold air. There are a number of things that can cause this problem, so it is important not to jump to conclusions. Make sure you do your due diligence and perform all the necessary checks before trying to fix the problem. The following information will point you in the right direction:

 

It Does not Have Enough Refrigerant.

To discover whether your external air conditioner has enough gas in it, check the heat exchanger. Switch the air conditioner on and wait for several minutes. If the heat exchanger freezes up, this indicates there is too little gas. The exceptions to this rule are as follows:

-A malfunctioning external fan: Even if there is enough gas in your unit, a malfunctioning external fan will make it freeze up.

-The output of air from the external fan is poor: Your external fan might function, however, it might not emit much cold air (heat pumps work as condensers in some internal units, and as evaporators in external units – this is what causes ‘freezing’ to occur). Inspect the fans closely to ensure that the air output is good.

 -The unit is defrosting itself: External air conditioners have settings designed to prevent freezing. If any freezing is detected, the electronic board performs a cycle inversion temporarily, delivering warm gas to the heat exchanger. This unfreezes the exchanger and removes any ice that has formed. After several minutes, the machine will start operating again. This process will fail to complete if the machine is switched off too soon. In this situation, the process will resume when you next switch on the machine, regardless of how frozen it is – and it will continue until completion. One way to stop this from happening repeatedly is to unplug the machine for five minutes to wipe the electronic board’s memory.

Another method to discover whether your machine is low on gas is to touch its’ copper pipe connections. While the heat pump is operating, these connections become hot. If there is not enough gas, though, they will feel much cooler — although this varies, based on the amount of gas still present.

Dirty Filters on Internal air Conditioners

If you are unfamiliar with filter cleaning, we can explain how it’s done. This is an important task because dirty filters stop air conditioners from heating up the air. In addition, they reduce the output of air from these machines, which prevents them from keeping rooms at a comfortable temperature. This can cause the gas pressure to rise inside the machines, and potentially trigger the pressostat, which shuts them off and increases their energy use while in operation.

If you can not access the filters on your air conditioner, check whether enough air is passing through it, and feel how warm the air is. If you only detect a small amount of hot air, the problem is probably just dirty filters, rather than a lack of gas.

The fan or Heat Exchanger is Dirty.

This is similar to the situation with dirty filters. Your air conditioner will not function correctly if the fan or heat exchanger is dirty. The signs are identical to what occurs with dirty filters. Your machine will produce hot air; however, it will only emit air softly.

The Cold Exchanger is Dirty

The cold exchanger on your air conditioner might have become dirty. If this has happened, you will notice that your unit runs OK initially; however, it will generate smaller and smaller amounts of heat over time. This might occur if some of the cold air doesn’t get released like it should be. In this scenario, the external unit can freeze, which causes similar symptoms to when there is a lack of gas.

A Malfunctioning External fan

Here, the symptoms resemble the ones that occur with a dirty, cold exchanger, however, they will occur quickly and be more pronounced.

A Malfunctioning Compressor

One tip from a local company (https://furnaceusa.com/ca/san-diego/) says, “An air conditioner will not be able to generate hot air if the compressor malfunctions. This problem might arise if something goes wrong with the condenser unit or electronic board. In such a situation, the best course of action is to contact the SAT to find out where the fault originated.”

Air conditioners are tricky appliances to work with because they have many moving parts. When something goes wrong, it can be difficult to identify the cause if you are not technically minded. Many people misinterpret the symptoms they see and end up misdiagnosing the faults. The above information should help you to determine the underlying problems with your machine, so you can take the appropriate action to fix them. Suffice to say; if you are in any doubt, it is wise to call a professional.