Hi -
I've been having AC/heat issues since January. Basically - after running for a period of time anywhere from 20 min to 1 1/2 hours, the compressor will shut off. The fan remains on, air is still coming through the vents but is neither heated nor cooled. This is a 12 year old Trane heatpump.
i've now had 3 people look at this:
tech 1 said that the compressor was bad, and at minimum i needed a new one, but that that may not fix the problem. he also directed me at new units. (this was in february)
tech 2 a friend of a friend with his own ac business said that there was a small leak, but that the unit was overcharged anyway and this was not causing the issue(yet). (this was also in february) he cleaned out the outdoor unit, and said to see if that helps. he said it was not the compressor. this didn't help though and i tried calling him back but he seems to have disapeared.
tech 3 said that there was indeed a leak and that it was only 1/2 full of freon.(this was last thursday - April) he fixed the leak and ended up flushing the unit of freon(not intentionally i guess) and then refilling it(but he only charged me for 1/2 the freon, nice). that day i had the unit running for about 2 hours - with no issues. i then turned it off because i'm in AZ and the weather was too nice. i thought it was fixed.
i turned it on again this weekend and started experiencing the same issue - the first time i turned it on the compressor stayed on 40 min, so i turned the thing off and turned it back on again later - with the compressor only staying on 15 min. the company whom tech 3 works for is sending someone out again tomorrow to look at it.
any advice? any experience with this sort of issue? it sounds like there is a pressure issue in the system somewhere - but where could it be? i'd rather not have to have a 3rd appt this week to look at it... i just want it fixed.
Thanks, Jenni