The Pub Discussion Board

Eric Storm · 2016-07-17 22:06:46

I have a problem, and I'm hoping someone who visits this board might have an idea.

Our air conditioner is 10 1/2 years old. It has been maintained annually. Most recent maintenance was in April of this year.

For the last... month? About that... we have had the problem of the unit freezing up repeatedly. It sometimes does it once a day for several days, then it'll go for a while without, then starts up again. I know how to fix freeze-up (turn it off and wait an hour), but it shouldn't be doing this, should it? Not to mention the temperature inside can go up three to four degrees in that hour alone...

The filter is not the culprit, as this has happened with a dirty filter, a clean filter, and everything in-between. (And by clean, I mean "installed the day before" level of clean.)
The equipment has been checked by a technician, and is working properly. Proper pressures, the coils are not unduly dirty (they were cleaned during maintenance, anyway), all the components seem to be functioning according to spec. The air temperature coming out of the vent is the required 15+ degrees colder than the air going in. (Lately it has been hovering around 18 degrees colder).

This unit CANNOT keep up with the Florida heat. The temperature in here gets up to 83 some days, even though the thermostat is set to 78. (It USED to be set to 75, but since it's not getting anywhere near that, I upped it to maybe save a teeny bit of electricity.) The AC in this house is a retrofit: the house is nearly 60 years old and was not designed with central air in mind.

Does anyone have any clues as to why the unit keeps freezing up? I don't want to buy a new unit if I can avoid it. The cost would be astronomical.

Anyway, hope someone has some advice or suggestions. Thanks in advance,
Eric Storm

Lacy69 · 2016-07-19 01:56:44

Yes Eric the AC unit is past its prime. I am living in Colorado Southeast part of the state and am seeing 100+ each day. I am running two small ac units just to barely keep up. The problem is i think what is happening is the coils are freezing and that is a good sign of the unite slowly dying. I went to Fingerhut.com and got one that i make monthly payments instead of all at once. Other than that, That is what i see happening with your AC, Sorry could not be much more help than that.

Eric Storm · 2016-07-19 03:10:57

Well, I know the coils are freezing... that's the nature of the problem. But the question is, WHY are they freezing? They say that the two primary causes of this problem are dirty air filters and a lack of freon in the system. Both of those things have been ruled out in this case.

I mean, really, the coils don't actually DO anything except sit there and let air blow over themselves. Other than developing a leak, it's not like they can "wear out"...

But believe me, I'm well aware this POS is past its prime.

Thanks, anyway,
Eric Storm

PS: Used to live in SE NM, so believe me, I know all about the 100+ degree days. But at least there, I could run a swamp cooler if I had to. That's not an option here.

Barbarian3165 · 2016-07-19 07:09:36

theoretically, the radiator could be plugged up with gunk or the fan blowing over the radiator could be failing or not running at the speed it should be. But I'm not in the AC business, but I know someone that used to be. Fins on the radiator could also get bent, but unless that happened when it was installed or something big hit your air conditioner recently then I'd doubt that. Some minor damage during installation/shipping of the unit showed up on my AC about two or three years after it was installed, we had documentation of the damage and got a new unit at a reduced rate because of it.

Eric Storm · 2016-07-19 18:53:11

The air handler has been checked for cleanliness already. (It was also cleaned in April, during annual maintenance.)

I would imagine any damage to the unit would have shown up before now, since the unit is 10 1/2 years old, and been examined 10 times (once yearly) since it was installed...

As to the fan running at proper speeds... they checked that when they came out to fix the problem the first time (my thermostat has the ability to give them all sorts of diagnostic info, and CFM is one of the things it shows them.)

Like I said, by all verifiable standards, there is nothing wrong with the air conditioning equipment itself.

But thanks for at least offering suggestions...
Eric Storm

The Pub Discussion Board

#1 2016-07-17 22:06:46

Anyone out there work with air conditioning units?

#2 2016-07-19 01:56:44

Re: Anyone out there work with air conditioning units?

#3 2016-07-19 03:10:57

Re: Anyone out there work with air conditioning units?

#4 2016-07-19 07:09:36

Re: Anyone out there work with air conditioning units?

#5 2016-07-19 18:53:11

Re: Anyone out there work with air conditioning units?

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