Central Air – Service Needed

Can anyone recomend a central air conditiner service in St Paul? My system is running non-stop, not putting out much cool air and is leaking water under the system in my basement.

HELP!

-J.

Make sure the drain tube isn’t plugged up. Also, does there appear to be ice forming on the unit anywhere?? Mine was doing this once, I had to shut it down for several hours, let thaw out then she started running again.

I know a guy who works on the commercial of this business. I’ll ask him if he is looking for any side jobs.

This is a no brainer but make sure you have a new filter in the furnace. A clogged filter can restrict air flow. We just had Superior heating out of anoka install a new conditioner for us and thought the service was good. They where here on time, price seemed fair and the new unit works. Dont have ther number on me but you should be able to find them on the net.
Turning off the AC and letting it thaw out might help also. We limped ours by for a few years by doing this. It is amazing to open up the duct work and see a solid chunk of ice sitting on top of your furnace.

I noticed that my AC was running all the time a few weeks back. I did what Mike suggested, looked at my Filter and it was Dirty! I forgot to change it this Spring
Works fine now. Did not see water dripping htough?

Mine was doing that about a month ago,They put in more cooling agent,he said it holds 8lbs,he added 6lbs to it.I did change my filter about a week before I called him.

Jon,
As others have mentioned, check the drain hose/tube for any clogs, if water backs up it can freeze the A-coil and will need to thaw completely to work correctly.(had this happen on my first unit). Clean filter and correct charge are also factors, and I have seen a faulty/bad relay or fuse cause the compressor to fail to run, causing no cool output. I’m sorry I don’t have a St Paul firms number for you.

dave

feel the air coming out of the condensing unit outside, if the air is not HOT coming out i would have to say a dirty condenser is the problem. Vaccum any debris out fist then use a hose and clean it out good so the condensing unit can dump all the heat. (Turn the air off before you do this)

Yep I would check the filter first, is the squirrel cage blower clean, how about a worn belt, slipping?, if water is leaking out check the drain, look at the large pipe (coppper) coming off the A-coil does it have ice on it if so the oil is iced up, leave the inside fan “on”, check the inside fan to see if it blowing? and the A/C off this will deice the coil. After that is done, go outside pull the “disconnect” out or turn the breaker off or both, wash out the condensing unit with hose. Turn the power on, turn the stat on to A/C, see if the “COMPRESSOR” starts and the condensor fan comes on, the big line should start sweating after a bit and the small line should get warm to hot outside, if the compressor does not start you might have blown start capacitor, the condensor fan will run without the comp. being on.

Hope this helps

It is hard to STOP A TRANE , right 18fisher

I should have known i’d see that comment KLH
One more thing, if the air coming from the outside unit is HOT that means that the condenser coil (outside) is dirty if it is cool or about the same temp. as the ambient that means you are not removing much heat from the house. and could be a refrigerant issue. First check the maintenance items (fan blowing,dirty filter,drain isn’t plugged)
after that you will have to have someone come out that knows how to work on them. I might know someone!

Company man

You have a PM!

Alot of good advice here: check filter, wash outside condenser, check that hose isn’t plugged, turn off condenser if it is iced up, if all this doesn’t cool the house than it may be freon is low.
Also, Don’t turn the t-stat below 68 degrees or that can freeze it up also!

Ok, changed out the filter. It was dirty, but not too bad. I don’t have a floor drain in the room with the heat/air unit. So the water collects in a plastic box with a pump. The tube that ran from the pump was clogged. Cleaned that out and no more water on the floor! I also sprayed off the condenser outside.

The unit still runs non-stop and the air output is not very cool. It’s getting the house down to about 78 degrees. I’m thinking that I still need to have the system checked out and possibly have some Freon added.

Air conditioning – one of the greatest inventions of the 20 century!!

-J.

Spend a little more time fishing and you’ll forget about the heat. Heck in just a few short months you’ll be playing with the furnace.

If your getting condensation from the drain, you do not need refrigerant. You have done all you can and it just cant keep up with all the humidity. It will usually take 3-4 hours for the evaporator to remove the humidy before it will cool the house.

Depends, You will get condesation for a while from your a-coil. once it starts to freeze up, thats about it.

Yes, you can get some water drainage with a leak or restriction. Depends on how long its been running. It doesnt take long to freeze up if you have a leak and the location of the leak will have an impact.

Would like to drive down and help you Jon but I have been busy . I’m headed to a job in Buffalo after work..

Just had that problem last night. We unhooked the drain hose and blew through it to see if it was clogged. It wasn’t. Next we unscrewed the 90 degree bend the hose was hooked to and found a junebug clogged in there! Removed the bug and it stopped the leak. Try that!

Also check to see if all you vents are open and all the cold air returns are not being blocked!

I have a 13 year old “super high efficiency” Carrier. Our split level house got up to 80 yesterday (temp set for 74). There is water running out of the drain hose – does that mean coolant is not needed? The screen outside of the unit is clean along with the furnace filter but it doesn’t exactly shoot out colde air with force. Is it time to replace the unit or can anything else be done?

Did you turn it on when you got home? Its best to turn in down than off during the day when your not home. I keep mine at 76 all day when not home then bump it down to 72 when I get home.

Do you have much shade? Split level homes can be tough to keep cool in extreme heat. Also check to make sure all your dampers(in the ducts) in the basement are open.

Derek,

I leave it set at 74 pretty much all summer, but with these 90+ temps, the AC can’t keep the temps down to the desired temp of 74 (gets to about 76-78). I have been pretty much closing the vents in the basement and leaving the mid and upper levels open. Also have ceiling fans running as well. Am I going about this the wrong way?

Sounds like your doing what you can. Make sure your ceiling fans are turning counter clockwise to pull the heavier cool air up from the floor and circulate. With these hot temps your system just cant pull the house temp down that far. Every home and a/c system has its own personality and ofcourse windows (leaving blinds closed) and keeping the lights off will help.

Also if you have some long runs in the duct work, you might consider installing a booster fan. They go right inline with the duct work and will get you more air volume upstairs. They are inexpensive and easy to install..

I have my ceiling fans going the “normal” way thinking that it would push hot air down. I’ll “reverse” them when I get home tonight. Thanks.

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Make sure your ceiling fans are turning counter clockwise to pull the heavier cool air up from the floor and circulate.

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This is debatable. Pulling the cold air up may help air circulation but forcing the air down and creating a “draft” actually makes you “feel” 6-8 degrees cooler.

Also, check with the fan company about which rotation is up and down…they can be different between manufacturers.

Got ‘er all fix up last night. Good guy from the site here stopped over and squeezed in one last job for the day! Fixed a possible leak and charged up the system.

Looks like I’ll get plenty of use out of it, the next few days look to be HOT!

-J.

Looks like I am going to have to follow this advise as well. I have noticed the last few days I leave for work and set it at 78 and when I get home it is 81. It is almost 4 yrs old now. I sprayed it down this morning and changed the filter lastnight. I haven’t checked for fluids or the hose yet. Will try that tonight.

This site is great for advice.