Why is my air conditioner turning on and off quickly...working but not working?
Question:Basically, the A/C unit where I live is not working. When it decides to turn on, it will turn on for about 15 seconds, then cut off, then turn on, off, on...for about two minutes. Then it won't work for awhile. Then when it gets too hot inside, it will repeat the above. My question is...do you think this is a thermostat problem (loose wiring connection) or do you think this is a problem with the actual unit or compressor (freezing over)?
Answers:
Your air conditioner is short cycling on safety lockouts. Contact a reputable company and have the machine inspected.
Not much to go wrong in a thermostat. Very likely your AC needs refrigerant or has control problems, maybe a bad motor, but only a pro can find out and fix it.
It usually take some time before it is freezing over. The thermostat has different settings and if the same thing happens in all the settings it is a bad thermostat, if air and fan work independently and run then for sure. Inspect the connections. Look at the air flow and the coils to see they are clean and free of crap.
Only an AC technician will be able to determine for sure, but the thermostat is good guess. The on/off settings may be too close together so when the "on" setting turns on the AC, it doesn't have to run long before the "off" setting registers the air as cool enough to turn the AC off. This should be something you can check and adjust yourself, but you may have to take the front or back panel off the unit and look for it. It will probably be a small dual sliding switch, marked + and - with dashes. If they're right side by side, try moving them further apart and see how that works. If that doesn't do the trick, you'll have to call an AC tech, unless somebody else here (FindHomeAnswers) has another idea.
ac has a delay switch that regulates intervals that the ac turns on and off. this switch may be bad. best to have an ac serviceman check it out because there are three other components that regulate the ac operation that can cause this also.
first check your thermostat batteries.
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