Anybody know anything about air conditioning?

[SouthtownKid]

Still brutally hot and oppressively humid, and yesterday, the a/c unit in the room starts making a cracking noise. Still making the blowing at full blast sound, but no air comng out. I open it up, and under the filters there's a sheet of ice covering everything. I've thawed it out and soaked up the ice water out of it as much as possible, but am obviously hesitant to try turning it on again. Anyone ever experience this? Is this a freon leak or something, or is it something I can fix myself? Am I risking electircal fire or anything by trying? We're probably going to move in a couple years, so I'd rather not buy a new unit.

 

[famicommander]

Sounds like maybe the compressor is kicking (which is the noise you're hearing) but the fan motor is out, so all that humidity in the air is staying inside the unit and freezing.

 

[ggallegos1]

It should still work once everything is thawed out, they freeze when there's not enough warm air flowing. There's either dirt in your air filters, air compressor, or coils.

Turn on the fan to defrost the whole system, clear out the filters, and check the vents for any obstruction. Then turn on the AC and see if it still freezes. If it does, turn off the AC and use the fan to defrost, while calling an HVAC repair tech.

 

[SouthtownKid]

Gracias. fellas.

 

[fake]

What GG said. This happened in July to my central air unit. I was running it too often because I was trying to dry a shitload of wall paint and what you described is essentially what happened to the giant contraption in the attic.

 

[Heinz]

They can also freeze up when the coolant level is low. I had an old wall AC that did this, fan going full tilt, compressor definitely doing it's job but when there is not enough coolant in the line the pressure drops accordingly causing the coils to drop below freezing point. Mix that with moisture in the air and you have an ice block!

Clean the coils, ensure the fans are working and failing that you have a coolant issue.

 

[wataru330]

Is it a mini-split, window unit, or central air system?
@IDCHAPPY

 

[lithy]

Just repeating some of what has been said already and I'm no expert but here is my experience with icing over on chillers for beer and walk in refrigerators. It's not totally unusual.

I'd say you're fine to defrost it, make sure it's getting clean air flow, clean condenser fins (the aluminum things, don't brush them, they will bend, they make cleaning sprays), clean filters, make sure fans are running, etc. And then start it up again.

But if it does freeze up again, it could be low on refrigerant, like Lach said. At that point, you probably need a tech to find and fix the leak and refill the system with the right amount of refrigerant.

Good luck, it's 70F here all week :o

 

[racecar]

Shut it off let it melt and restarting it the next day , my old Samsung refrigerator does that the condensation get freezed up and it need to be unplugged, thawed and restart the next day.

While you are at it and the ac is shut off completely you can clean the coils with some compress air it will help with the air flow , just YouTube it .

 

[Heinz]

Good luck, it's 70F here all week :o

I'm confused.

 

[prof]

I'm confused.

Lithy probably runs hot. Not an uncommon phenomenon among midwestern Americans.

 

[NeoSneth]

You can get the same issue with low Freon or coolant, but the clicking noise does suggest a compressor issue as others mentioned.

 

[Neo Alec]

That's happened to me from not cleaning the filter.

 

[lithy]

I'm confused.

It's about 21C.

 

[Heinz]

It's about 21C.

Better switch on that AC oof gonna be a swelter

 

[lithy]

Better switch on that AC oof gonna be a swelter

In case it wasn't clear, I was gloating to STK over the mild temps and lack of AC needed.