Cause of home AC unit problems?

[Paul S.]

Live in FL, AC unit on the outside of house sometimes freezes up the line and then the AC doesn't run. What is causing the AC line to freeze up like this?

I have to use the hose to unfreeze it. An example of when it freezes is like this, left for work today and forgot to set the AC to 80 instead of the night time temp of 77. It doesn't always freeze like this but often enough to know something isn't right. I don't use a programmable thermostat because wife is sometimes home.

So why does the line freeze up like this?

[Joseph Meehan]

It may be different things. You would need special tools to check it and to fix it you would need more tools. The cost of the tools would far outweigh the cost of having a professional come out and fix it for you.

[Stormin Mormon]

Thawing the pipe outside is only treating a symptom. Your system is running at too low an evaporator temp. This can have several causes, most of them are quite easy for a heating and AC tech to fix.

The ones which come to mind to me are incorrect metering, superheat too high (due to incorrect metering), insufficient air mass over the evaporator, bad blower fan, vents misadjusted, air misbalanced, and everyone's favorite.....

IT'S LOW ON FREEZON!!!!!

[HvacTech2]

Hi Paul, hope you are having a nice day

On 01-Sep-03 At About 23:28:08, Paul S. wrote to All Subject: Cause of home AC unit problems?

PS> From: [e-mail] (Paul S.)

PS> Live in FL, AC unit on the outside of house sometimes freezes up the PS> line and then the AC doesn't run. What is causing the AC line to PS> freeze up like this?

PS> I have to use the hose to unfreeze it. An example of when it freezes PS> is like this, left for work today and forgot to set the AC to 80 PS> instead of the night time temp of 77. It doesn't always freeze like PS> this but often enough to know something isn't right. I don't use a PS> programmable thermostat because wife is sometimes home.

PS> So why does the line freeze up like this?

It could be as simple as a dirty filter. if that is ok it would be best to call a local pro to look at it for you. it could be one of several different things and without being there no one can tell you what it is.

-=> HvacTech2

[HvacTech2]

Hi Stormin, hope you are having a nice day

On 02-Sep-03 At About 08:55:56, Stormin Mormon wrote to All Subject: Re: Cause of home AC unit problems?

SM> From: "Stormin Mormon"

SM> Thawing the pipe outside is only treating a symptom. Your system is SM> running at too low an evaporator temp. This can have several causes, SM> most of them are quite easy for a heating and AC tech to fix.

SM> The ones which come to mind to me are incorrect metering, superheat SM> too high (due to incorrect metering), insufficient air mass over SM> the evaporator, bad blower fan, vents misadjusted, air misbalanced, SM> and everyone's favorite.....

You really should stop answering these questions as it is quite obvious that you don't have a clue.

-=> HvacTech2