A/C not cycling during heat of the day.

16 years ago

Compressor is 3 years old. 2 ton I believe. Its a split setup with blower unit in well vented(fan assisted)attic. Filter is a washable type that I usually clean once a month or so.The reason for that is I have a hard time finding the correct size filter(odd size)

I live in northern Alabama and temps are now in the low 90's mid day.

I have a Honeywell programmable thermostat that is set for 78 during the day and cools to 75 in the evenings. Here as of the last few weeks I have come home to an 82+ degree home. Its started this late last summer but only happen on a couple of occasions

Last year I had a leak on the unit and it was a bad schrader valve.

I did notice yesterday when this happened that the line from the house to the compressor was frozen over.

I have been told its 2 things... I have a leak(low coolant) or coils need cleaning. Its blows pretty cool air so I doubt its a leak.

I guess Im just looking for thoughts. Im going to clean the compressor tonight and see how difficult the attic system will be to clean. I don't mind paying for the service but have been a mechanic/drag racer for many years and feel that it should not be that hard.

Ray

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Comments (5)

mr_havac
16 years ago
Sorry to disapoint you Ray, but the leaky schrader thing is the time tested universal lazy technicians short of freon diagnosis. Its so easy to blame them for a leak and then what happens many time afterward when you have the same problem again the story will be. "oh, it must have developed another leak somewhere in the system" If you filter isn't doing it job because of ill fitting you may wany to check the coil, blower wheel etc. and other components in the air handler. It doesn't make any bit of difference what you do for a living and for how long if you don't know how to reade a set of refrigeration guages. The actual name for a set of these guages is System Analyzer. They tell you a lot but you have to know how to interpret what its showing you. Good luck, and double check them schrader caps!
bigbadbowtie
Original Author
16 years ago
I did not mean for that to come across that I was able to do any type of HVAC diagnostics or repair. What I meant was I feel comfortable taking the panels off the units for cleaning. Sorry if it came across that way. Those gauges could have greek on them for all I know. :-)

The tech I used last year was highly recommended from a neigbor. He used a sniffer and checked pretty much the whole system from what I could tell. The only leak he found was at the valve on the compressor. That fix was done early last spring and it work flawless the rest of the year accept the 2 times(mid summer) it had issues like I am experiencing now.

Your saying its most likely a leak?? correct??
Attempting a cleaning would be a waste??
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pieinsky
16 years ago
""""I did not mean for that to come across that I was able to do any type of HVAC diagnostics or repair. What I meant was I feel comfortable taking the panels off the units for cleaning. Sorry if it came across that way. Those gauges could have greek on them for all I know. :-)"""
There's no need for being sorry!!! Clean it up and if that works you've saved some money and if it don't--call your AC man. All you've lost is some time and soap. MR HAVAC believes you should call in a plumber to flush the toilet when your finished. Bob Brown is his personal kicking boy and must have not said anything lately and Mr HAVAC was getting shakey and needed someone to unload on and you were it. By the way, MR.HAVAC does give great advice, some of the best on this forum, but save your being sorry for when he really-- really lites into you.
bigbadbowtie
Original Author
16 years ago
Update.....

I cleaned everything out and it was not all that dirty. Still had a freezup on the large pipe. I had tech out Friday evening but he was short on time as I caught him in between scheduled calls. He checked freon and said it was just above the point that a freezing issue would occur. He thought adding some might help.

It did not....

I did however notice somthing new this weekend that i failed to notice before. When the line froze I noticed that the compressor outside was on and the blower in the house was NOT. Can this be some type of pressure switch or ???.

Thanks
Ray
daddo
16 years ago
If the suction pressure is where it begins icing (usually 55# or below with R22), and the suction line is cold (not iced yet), then there is a problem with airflow across the coil. If the line is warm- it's usually low on freon.
You have a problem (as you mentioned) with the indoor blower motor not running which could be over amping due to a bad capacitor or worn bearings ect. The blower relay could also be bad. Some systems have a sequencer that causes these problems too. If the blower quits- the system will ice up.

A/C not cycling during heat of the day.

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mr_havac

bigbadbowtie
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A/C not cycling during heat of the day.

Comments (5)

mr_havac

bigbadbowtieOriginal Author

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pieinsky

bigbadbowtieOriginal Author

daddo

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bigbadbowtie
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