Hey,
you're in the
home improvement zone--YOUR HANDYMAN ZONE!
Cooling
and Ventilation Systems Category:Central
Air
Conditioners
Problem:
Central air conditioner does not cool.
Tools
/ Materials (See Below
for Applicability):
Screwdriver (or other fastening device as determined by the
manufacturer's use of fasteners)
Scrubber brush
Vacuum
Dampened cloth/rag
Garden hose (to be used outside for cleaning purposes)
Filter replacement
Motor lubricant oil (see manufacturer's instruction manual)
Manufacturer's instruction manual for the central air
conditioner
Solution:
If your central air conditioner does not blow cool air, you may need a licensed AC
technician to recharge it with refrigerant (aka, Freon®
by DuPont). However, there may be other causes of an air
conditioner's failure to blow cool air that you may resolve on your
own
If your central air conditioner does not blow cool air, do the following:
Caution: When dealing with any device that
requires electrical power, make sure you take precautions before
you work on it, including disconnecting the power.
Upon having
disconnected the power, using a screwdriver or
other fastening device that is appropriate, unscrew/unfasten and
remove the grille cover, any metal covering, including the fan, to get better access to the air
conditioner condenser's coils and fins of the outside unit.
Use a vacuum and an appropriate
soft-brush, cleaning wand thereof to
gently vacuum up the debris found inside of the outdoor unit of the air conditioner and
on its coils and fins, being careful not to bend these out of
shape.
Use a garden
hose, with moderate water pressures, to spray the air
conditioner fins from the inside out by positioning the nozzle
of the water hose inside of the air conditioner and aiming it at
the fins towards the outside.
Then, using a
dampened cloth/rag, wipe away any excess debris found inside the
air conditioner that is within reach, including any debris,
making sure the air conditioner drains remain open. Use a
scrubber brush to brush away debris when necessary, but be
careful in using it.
Allow the air
conditioner to dry, and during this time, and after consulting
your manufacturer's instruction manual for any particular motor
lubrication instructions, if permissible, lubricate the motor of the air
conditioner.
Put into place
and secure with any fasteners the fan, air conditioner grille, any
other metal casing you may have taken apart from the air
conditioner.
Also, make sure
the coils in the inside unit of the air conditioner are free of
debris.
Unfasten and
remove the
grille covering of the inside unit of the air conditioner to gain access to the filter
thereof.
Then, in one hand,
while outside of the house, take
a garden hose and shoot water from the hose at the filter while
holding it stretched out with the other hand. Caution: The
water will increasingly add weight to the filter and you don't
want to add more water weight than you have to (since it will
unnecessarily wear out the filter), so it is imperative that you
shoot water at the filter to force out any "wall" of debris
found on the filter, constantly moving the water shoot-out until
the whole filter has been covered with water (do not keep the
hose aimed only at one part of the filter). Then, turn off
the hose, and gently and carefully hit the filter against a
sturdy clean board or wall to get rid of the excess water that
has added weight to the filter in the course of shooting out the
debris with the hose.
Alternatively, if
you find that the filter is too old, too dirty and otherwise you
desire not to have the same filter in your air conditioner, you
can easily have it replaced by buying a cut-to-fit filter
replacement from a home improvement store,
an appliance store or even online. If you really want to
save money in the long run, you may choose to buy the filter in
a bundle of rolled-up filter, and all you would need to do then
for each occasional replacement is cut-to-size a filter from
this bundle.
At this time, if
the instruction manual of your air conditioner's manufacturer
speaks of lubricating the blower unit of the inside unit of the
air conditioner, go ahead and lubricate the ports of the blower
unit designated for oil.
Put the filter
back into place.
Then, put into place
and secure with any fasteners the air conditioner grille that
goes after the filter.
Reconnect the
electrical power to the air conditioner. Turning it on, setting the appropriate
thermostat settings and giving it about a half an hour, the air conditioner should start blowing cool air.
Aside from feeling the cool air as a test that the air
conditioner is properly working, after letting the air
conditioner on for about ten minutes at most, you should find
that of the two pipes that connect to the outside condenser
unit, one pipe feels cold and the other feels warm (of course,
you must slide back any insulation covering around the pipes to
properly detect this sense).
If the above does
not work, it is very likely that your air conditioner is in need
of specialized repair or actually a refrigerant recharge; consult your manufacturer's instruction
manual for repair options and, if need be, contact a repair
technician specializing in central air conditioner repair and
refrigerant recharge.
TM
