Ice on outside AC unit?
Question:Our air conditioner fan was blowing, but not cooling.
My roommate looked outside, and the part of the AC that's
outside has ice on it. I assume we need to wait for the ice to
melt before turning the AC back on again. (This is a central
air conditioning unit - and we did check the filter - it's fine).
What causes ice on the outside part to build up?
Are there any websites that do a good job of explaining to
an average homeowner how AC works?
Answers:
first off what is the tstat set at. if it is below 70 your ac will freeze. it should be set no lower than 70 . heres what to do check your air filter make sure it is clean if you hold it up to the light and cant see any light then it needs to be replaced even a fine film of dirt may cause it to freeze. also see if the fan is running. if the fan is not on when the ac is on then replace evaporator fan motor. \
contact me and i will talk it through in further detail.
Needs to be recharged.
Check inside where the filter is. if you take the filter out you will see coils. Make sure the are clean.
This is caused by either not enough air flow through the coil that is on top of your furnace or your low on refrigerant. What happens is that when there is not enough airflow, there is not enough warm air going over the coil to evaporate the refrigerant in the coil. This will lower the temperature of the refrigerant.Since condensation builds up on the coil, if temperature of refrigerant drops below 32 degrees, the condensation freezes. When you are low on refrigerant, the boiling point of the refrigerant drops, if it drops below 32 degrees, again it will freeze. It might not freeze on very hot days, because pressures are higher, therefore temperatures are higher. But, that is meant to be a closed system. If it is low on refrigerant, you do have a leak. Has anyone serviced the unit recently? There are also 2 caps that are on the copper tubing going to the codenser outside, These should be on tight. Some leaks, stem from leaking schraeder valves with a loose cap.The leak will still need to be repaired. If it's re-filled with refrigerant only this will continue to happen.Should be serviced by a professional. try howstuffworks.com If you need more help.
More than likely if the entire outdoor unit is frozen up you have a bad condenser fan motor. You need to turn on your A/C, and go outside and see if the fan is turning on the unit. If it is not, call a repair man. You can take the panel off, and see if the contactor is pulled in. If it is, and the fan is still not turning, then you have a bad capacitor, and they are not expensive to replace, but I would let somebody who knows what they are doing do it, because they store electricity, and can hit you with up to 440 volts if you are not careful. If all that is fine, the only other thing it cans be is low on refrigerant, which means you have a leak in the refrigeration system, and that can be a problem that can lead to having to change your unit out. Good luck. I have been doing air conditioning work for 5 years now. I run into this probelm a lot. It could go either way. Easy and inxpensive, or hard and expensive. I wish you the best.
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