hvac experts

ok my unit dont seem to be cooling i turned it on to make sure it works if i recall shouldnt i have 20 degree f across evaprater coil? i have more like 10.. my condo is like 1100 sqaure feet in ga id assume that requires 2 tons to 2.5? any ideas what can be wrong. is a 2 ton condenser unit expensve? i could install it if i had freon and it was legal since they come precharged now anyway other then the lines

I'd have it looked at before considering replacing it. Maybe it is low on referigerant and can be repaired.

Hey raggie,

There are so many different things that could be hosed up. You could certainly be low on refrigerant, but first thing I'd make sure that your coil is clean and that your filters are clean so that enough air is getting through it. Since you measured the temp in there I assume you can see the coil OK and make sure it's not clogged with dust and other nasties?

in most places you cannot buy refrigerant without a license I think, and you probably dont have access to the proper tools to weigh it in properly, not to mention pumping down the old system and recovering the r22 or whatever it is in there.

First thing I'd do is to wash the outdoor coil with a hose and get as much of the muck off that as possible. Unfortunately if your unit is a 2 layer coil then it really has to be taken apart and the coils separated to get the garbage out of the middle, and if you have something like a cotton wood tree nearby then it will be totally clogged. Then I'd clean the indoor coil as best as I could. If it's really badly clogged you can pick up some coil cleaner at a local supply house. That stuff is really nasty though, it's an acid or something that actually dissolves the hair and crap on the coils, you have to rinse it off immediately after it's dissolved the goo or it will eat the coils too. Oh, and don't use a pressure washer to wash the fins /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif They are delicate and will all bend completely flat closing off any airflow that is left! I've seen pictures of a friends place who hired a pressure washing company to clean his house and cleaned his AC also, completely destroyed the coil.

if none of that helps then you're going to have to call somebody. It would still be cheaper to have someone come out and recharge the system than to replace the outdoor unit with a new pre-charged one. I know that you used to be able to get pre-charged line sets that you just screwed on, but I don't know if such a thing is still available. And even if you could, you'd have to have someone out to recover the old charge anyway.

but it could be a number of other things too, like a kinked line set, or a clogged filter dryer, or your outdoor fan might be running slow or not at all.

Good Luck!

commonly the relay contacts get fouled with whatever. I have fixed 2 A/C's before by doing that. One I cleaned, and one had an adjustable part for the tension or something on the relay I can't remember but I did that and they worked great.

One wasn't cooling, and one would stay on and freeze up the evaporator coils because the fouled contacts would start arcing and weld/fuse together.

put your hand where the fan blow on the condenser unit, if you fell the air not hot, you got a refrigerant leak somewhere. call somebody to check the leak. even if you buy the new condenser unit, if yours system got a leak, it's going to be the same thing.

ok moree info to help out i looked at indoor coil it is in furnace and very very hard to get to a course the top part of the a coil i could see it looked a bit nasty a course thats the out put side of the air so i assume inside is worst. but i cant get to it easly no way to usenwater do to its in a closet inside house .also the coil is 24000 btu yet the outside unit is 18,000 btu .that is bad aint it? also when my dad and step mom bought this place 3 years ago it had no cooling coil was dirty .but the moron didnt tell my parents that there is no filter holder the filter just moves up when its turned on im sure most air by passes filter i fixed filter probelm,!111... is there some ntrick to cleaning evaperter ccoil ina 2 part unit aka furnace inside conderser outside? 2.. also does it matter evpaerter is 24000 btu and outside is 18.000 house is 1050 sqaure feet my dad says i still think thats 2 tons? or 24000 btu upstaires is way hoter.man i am hot lol upstaires is where my liveing quaters is and its hot as hect up here.i sure wish they replaced unit before i moved in.but i got a good price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

also dischage line from condeser is waremr then inlet thats normal im pretty sure the unit is makeing condestion im sure thats good im geting only a 10 degree difence in the air entering the inlet vent and the ckloset vent leaveing it to exaust vent/... man i always thought it should be like 20 degree drop?

clean the evap and condenser first.you may have to tear the plenum apart to clean the evap.it is the A shaped part.
sounds like you fixed the filter issue.now once cleaned it should stay clean.then go outside to the condenser and clean it of all leaves,grass,dandilion,wasp nests,ect
just a hose and a scrub brush.
shut it down at the breaker first.finish by pulling the plugs on the motor oiling ports and oil it as directed on the label.once clean fire it up and repeat your test.
20 deg f drop is good .
look at the low side return to the compressor.
if the system is fully charged the low side(bigger pipe) will be cold and sweating all the way to the compressor.