Central Air Unit Not Cooling House

[BrendanMowgli]

I have 2 units- one upstairs and one downstairs-

The upstairs is blowing- I feel the air blowing- the thingamabob outside (can't think of the name) is operating, but no cold air. I did notice that there's no water being pumped out.

I hear its the compressor, but hopefully it's something else. Is there a few other checks I can do before I call the rapis- I mean the HVAC guy?

Thanks!

[Raining Inside]

Originally Posted by BrendanMowgli

I have 2 units- one upstairs and one downstairs-

The upstairs is blowing- I feel the air blowing- the thingamabob outside (can't think of the name) is operating, but no cold air. I did notice that there's no water being pumped out.

I hear its the compressor, but hopefully it's something else. Is there a few other checks I can do before I call the rapis- I mean the HVAC guy?

Thanks!

Apparently there are no AC repair folks here.

[Xelebes]

PM 240_glt, he's an HVAC installer. Should know what you are asking.

[KevinFromTexas]

That definitely sounds like a compressor issue. Does the compressor kick on? If not, it's probably gone out. It could also be out of freon. If it's out of freon, that would be a cheaper fix. Either way, you probably need professional help.

[Jasonhouse]

^Hopefully he has lucked into a fixable line leak... Surely it's been fixed by now... I wonder what happened?

[KevinFromTexas]

Apparently line/joint leaks are very common with a/c units. We have window a/c units in our house, and we usually go through a new one about every other year. Our problem has been that our a/c units freeze up with a solid wall of ice on the air intake on the inside facing side. This typically happens when the air is more humid. Naturally the condensation that forms on the copper lines and air intake fins either drips down and runs off or else in dry conditions will evaporate into the air. But once the air humidity rises, the condensation (water) on the grill and lines will freeze. Once that happens the ice expands and breaks the freon lines. And of course once that happens they leak out the freon gas.

Our neighbor is actually a professional a/c repairer. He says it's very common that a/c units leak freon. In changing weather the lines can expand causing breaks in the seals causing the gas to leak out. I'm not really familiar with central air, but I would imagine it's a similar situation.

[The Chemist]

Yeah, if the compressor is running but not blowing hot air, it is likely the unit is out of refrigerant (the stuff that carries the heat out of your house and makes your house cool). My girlfriend had the same problem with the AC unit at her place this summer.