Repairing Your Air Conditioner: Frequently Asked Questions

There are four main types of air conditioners to choose from for your home. They are split air conditioning systems, heat pump systems, packaged air conditioning systems and ductless mini-split air conditioning systems. All of these systems are designed to be simple to operate. But just because they are simple does not mean that they are easy to fix. You should know how your air conditioning system works so that you can do proper maintenance on your unit, but leave the repairs to the experts.

ðŸ”¨ 1. How do air conditioners work?

Air conditioning systems always have a condenser and the evaporator. Usually the main condenser unit is located outside your house as a stand along component on a concrete slab. The evaporator component is a coil that is inside your house in the main duct junction above your furnace. All air conditioners work by converting chemicals from a gas to a liquid and back again. That process involves taking the fluid which arrives as a cool, low-pressure that a compressor squeezes to pack the molecule of the fluid closer together. This increases the energy and the temperature of the molecules as it becomes a hot, high pressure gas that flows into the condenser.

This starts to cool the gas and it begins to change from a gas to a liquid under high pressure. Then that liquid goes into the evaporator where it begins to evaporate into a gas. This extracts heat from the air around it and starts creating a cool, low-pressure gas that will reduce the temperature in your house before circulating back into the compressor to start the process all over again.

Sounds simple, right? The problem is that both the air conditioner evaporator and the condenser are sealed. You could get it open, perhaps, but what good would that do you? You still wouldn’t know what went wrong with your air conditioning system or how to fix it. That is why you should call a professional air conditioning repair service for almost any maintenance other than routine cleaning. Your air conditioner needs to be professionally inspected and adjusted before the beginning of every cooling season. You can, and should, however follow all manufacture’s directions about installation and maintenance and make sure that your unit and the are around it is clean and well-groomed.

ðŸ”¨ 2. What can go wrong with your air conditioner?

There aren’t many things that can go wrong with the modern air conditioning systems that can’t be avoided by good cleaning and regular inspection and maintenance. But if they are installed in an area that is too large for their air conditioning output, that would be a big mistake. Each air conditioning unit is sized for the minimum and maximum area that it can reasonably cool on a regular basis. Any deviation from these standards will cause problems with the system and you will not get the desired results or peak efficiency from your unit.

ðŸ”¨ 3. What else can go wrong?

If you produce more heat indoors either from having more people or appliances or because of changes in the house, the air conditioning may not be able to keep up. It is also possible for the air conditioning refrigerant to leak out of the system. That will lower the capacity of your system and it won’t be able to keep up when you really need it the most. Another common problem is when the airflow to condenser coil gets reduced. This reduces the ability to keep heat outdoor and ultimately your system will not be able to keep up, especially when it gets really hot.

Here are some other signs that your air conditioning system is in trouble and that it may be time to call your air conditioning repair person:

Air conditioning unit does not come on at all
Fan doesn’t run
Fan runs, but compressor does not
No cool air is coming into the home
Unit leaks water inside
Ice forms on the unit and condenser
House gets dusty when the unit runs
Circuit breaker trips when the air conditioning is turned on