If your air conditioner is running, but it isn't cooling your house, your first thought might be low refrigerant. While low refrigerant in the system can cause this problem, other things can be to blame too. An AC repair technician can hook a gauge up to the refrigerant line to test it for a leak. If the refrigerant is full, the AC repair technician might consider these other problems as the cause of the AC failure.
1. The Condenser Fan Isn't Working
The condenser fan is situated so it blows over the equipment inside the condenser including the refrigerant lines. This is necessary to cool the refrigerant and parts down as the refrigerant releases heat and gets ready to cycle back inside your house. If the fan is malfunctioning, the refrigerant won't cool down, and your house won't cool down either.
If the compressor is kicking on, the repair technician will probably rule out the capacitor as the problem since a bad capacitor would affect the compressor too. If only the fan is dead, the problem is probably with the fan motor. The repair technician can test the motor with a multimeter to see if it's bad. If so, the technician can pull the fan and motor out so a new motor can be installed.
2. The Refrigerant Line Is Coated With Ice
The copper refrigerant line can freeze over anywhere along the line. However, freezing over in the evaporator coil is common since the coil gets wet from condensation. The freezing may start due to a dirty coil, and once ice starts building, the ice keeps growing until your AC shuts down. While the ice is growing, your refrigerant gets less effective at cooling your house.
An icy refrigerant coil is an obvious problem to spot. The AC repair technician will probably shut the AC down so the ice can melt. Once the ice is gone, they will clean the coil to get rid of grime and built-up dust. After that, the AC should start cooling your home again.
3. The Condenser Fins Are Blocked
When the fan blows on the condenser coil, hot air blows out of the condenser fins. These fins can get blocked with wind-blown debris, grass clippings, and tree fluff. When air can't escape through the fins, heat builds in the condenser and that affects the cooling of the refrigerant lines. This is a simple problem to fix since all the AC repair technician may need to do is clean the fins to restore air circulation. Contact a company like ZAP Cooling & Heating for more information.
