Question on home A/C blowong cool not cold

[new57]

Home A/C is blowing cool, not cold, air. Definitely not reaching thermostat temp setting. As such, if allowed, the unit will run continuously.

Outside, when runnin, the air is not hot as you would expect to feel. The unit beside it when running the air is hot.

I like to work on issues myself. BUT the other half wants it fixed NOW. I told her she would never make it on Survivor, Naked and Afraid, Alone, etc. LOL

She has given me today after work to check into it. Anyone experience this themselves -the A/C issue, not the misses issue - and tackle it? What to look for or check? Have done a little online research already but haven't had time to dig into it yet.

 

[boomer]

Freon

 

[naildrivr]

Hopefully just low freon, may have a leak, could be the compressor, lets hope not

 

[palmettomoon]

I told her she would never make it on Survivor, Naked and Afraid, Alone, etc. LOL

Funny how that never seems to alleviate their angst, isn't it? LOL!!!

Could be low coolant. That happens a lot in older units (in my experience). It might be located and corrected or "topped off" by a tech. Old GF's brother is an A/C man. He keeps her units chugging along (4,000 sq ft house) by adding coolant so she avoids the $15,000 replacement bill.

I keep capacitors at hand for mine in case they become bad. That's not a fix (something caused the capacitor to fail, find it) but can get the unit going again. I figured that out after paying a tech $287 on a Sunday to swap out a $5 capacitor. Ouch.

When my compressor burned up I had to bite the bullet and replace my unit. It was over twenty-five years old anyway so it was about time I guess.

 

[basstracker89]

Check with Ottoman. He's on here

 

[Jack Rabbit]

Check to see if your coils on the outside unit or inside unit is frozen or clogged up with dust & debris.

 

[voodoochild1989]

Make sure ypur air filter is clean. Check to make sure the coils aren't dirty (indoor and outdoor) and clean if needed. Possibly low on freon. If low on freon, there is a decent chance there is a leak somewhere.

 

[palmettomoon]

Check your drain line too. If blocked, your evap coil might be frozen. (Mine did this because I had an algae garden growing in the drain line once years ago. After I "harvested" the algae, the drain ran free and the coil defrosted the cooler air began to flow).

 

[canut]

If it needs refrigerant (freon) and tech adds it, ask if they will do it again if it leaks out. I was told after my second call about 6 months after first call that they were not allowed to continually charge a leaking system. Most likely because an old system will not hold up forever and will eventually need callbacks.

In old days you could buy 10 lb tanks and throw in a pound or two for five years yourself ongoing, if you had gauges and knew what you were doing. Now it's all locked up and you just can't go out a buy home AC refrigerant w/o credentials.

I finally bit the bullet and updated to a more efficient system 10 years ago after 15 years on the builders low cost model. I added more BTU's cooled house faster and holds on hot days, plus it's paid for itself in power savings since installed. Had a local pair of firefighters doing AC as a sideline do the install, good rates and good service and just as knowledgeable as some of the bigger shops.

 

[joel2000]

Depending on age it may cost more to add freon than what it worth. Some of that stuffs like gold now