How to Service your own A/C with pics

[spegull03]

Did the temp split, and it was only a few degrees cooler coming out of the vents. It couldn't keep the house below 86 degrees, so someone is coming out to service it. Hopefully they bring lube

[freonr22]

for any one, whether you have a/c or not,

Originally Posted by icsam

I installed a gable fan in my attic just like this one a few years ago. really helps cool the house. it's got an automatic thermostat set to 100 degrees. so as long as it stays that temp. up there, all that hot air gets blown to my neighbor's LOL.
prolongs the life of your roof too.

heck even a $20 square box fan, place in the middle of your attic, will lower your attic temp 30 degrees, house temp 10 degrees

[spegull03]

Originally Posted by spegull03

Did the temp split, and it was only a few degrees cooler coming out of the vents. It couldn't keep the house below 86 degrees, so someone is coming out to service it. Hopefully they bring lube

apparently my "superheat" is too high, caused by a faulty TXV? Is this TXV something I can switch out myself, or does it involve pressurized refrigerant lines and what not?

[freonr22]

Cannot do yourself. Warranty ques

[freonr22]

Could be debris ie blockage

[freonr22]

On phone. Should be $250-400

[spegull03]

They are supposed to be calling shortly with a quote, he said at least $400 on top of the $250 diagnostic

[freonr22]

Exp vlv $100 cost 3 hrs @ $85

[Joewy]

TXV's rarely fail. When they fail they dont provide any cooling at all. Most A/C units dont have them anyways. Mainly checkflo raters expecially if it is a heat pump. If the guy charged $250 to figure out what is wrong he is either a thief or very stupid.. id call someone else. Where are you at? Perhaps someone here is near to you.

[spegull03]

I'm in Folsom. The $250 was for the $80 dispach charge plus refridgerant and labor. I called 5 places and they all had the same dispach charge but there guys could come out today. I would love to give business to a calgunner if there is one local.

[freonr22]

ok, @ pc now, its possible, there is a restriction in the line @ the txv. most units w/ txv are newer and 5 year warranty? also how about installing contractor? r22 (if it is) conntractors pay $230-250 -30 lbs, have them breakl down the bill, materials + labor @ the rate.

[spegull03]

I bought the house last year, so i have no idea how old the unit is. Maybe I can check my home inspection reports when I get home to see if its still covered

[Paul]

Originally Posted by lugar

Did you check the indoor air filter? One of my hats is as an HVAC mechanic and I've never seen a condenser that bad. Good catch.

I just had my 27 year old system replaced ... my condenser wasn't that bad! The "A" coil - the coil inside the house above the furnace did have about 20% of that level of junk. Apparently the previous home owner/renter ran the system without the filter.

[tbhracing]

Lancear15- Here is my A/C unit, exactly how I bought the house 7 years ago. I want to clean it, but its going to some extra work. Visual inspection from the outside doesnt show any build up. But thanks for the heads up.

Great...

[spectr17]

Don't forget to clean the coils on the back of your fridge too, they get dirty and make the fridge work a lot harder.

[Lancear15]

Originally Posted by tbhracing

Lancear15- Here is my A/C unit, exactly how I bought the house 7 years ago. I want to clean it, but its going to some extra work. Visual inspection from the outside doesnt show any build up. But thanks for the heads up.

Great...

I can't believe they permanently fenced it in... not much forethought by the builder I guess.

Not to difficult to work around. I would take a sawzall and cut the posts flush with the earth. On top of the posts still in the ground screw one of these on ,with the open end up of course. Screw it down to the post in the ground, set the fence back on top and screw in the side tabs of the simpson tie. Paint the cut ends of the post (to protect them) and the simpson tie to match, you could even pick a new color and paint the whole fence too.

[spegull03]

It hit 95* in my house last night, not fun. I even put a box fan in the attic but it didn't seem to help much

[glockman19]

Originally Posted by spectr17

Don't forget to clean the coils on the back of your fridge too, they get dirty and make the fridge work a lot harder.

Serviced the Fridge this weekend. had to clean the kitchen of the fine black dust/soot after cleaning. What a mess. I got out the air compressor bumped PSI to 120 and blasted away. Needless to say it runs quieter and cooler.

I cleaned airconditioning filters and have much better air flow. As the weather cools down I'll look to servicing my Compressor unit. With the Air running from mid afternoon through the night 3PM-7AM I am averaging 70KWh of electricity a day instead of my normal 30kwh. I'm not looking forward to the next bill.

[spegull03]

Can anyone in the Sacramento area recommend an A/C repair company? I am getting gouged by this company and I need help.

[freonr22]

Originally Posted by spegull03

Can anyone in the Sacramento area recommend an A/C repair company? I am getting gouged by this company and I need help.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...highlight=hvac

[Lancear15]

Originally Posted by freonr22

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...highlight=hvac

Be careful who you recommend, from the department of consumer affairs...

"The license may be suspended at a future date for failure to comply with an unsatisfied final civil judgment.

The license will need a contractors bond to renew active or reactivate."

"License Status -

This license is expired and not able to contract at this time."

Their business license is no longer valid and I have heard bad things about them.

[freonr22]

WOW!! I guess they moved onto just being the ffl, My sincerest apologies for not reading the entire thread/more research

[Bizcuits]

Well I do believe you've motivated me to clean out my unit. I had to replace the fuses this last Sunday and changed the filters over the 4th of July, but noticed it was really dirty when I changed the fuses.

Since the woman will be out of town, I think I'll drag my *** out there to do it.

[Bizcuits]

Originally Posted by spegull03

Can anyone in the Sacramento area recommend an A/C repair company? I am getting gouged by this company and I need help.

What is wrong with your AC? Is it just blowing air while the main unit outside doesn't run? Odds are it is just your fuses. Open up the disconnect box outside, remove the fuses (very easy) then head up to home depot. New fuses are about $10-15 bucks.

[Lancear15]

Originally Posted by Bizcuits

Well I do believe you've motivated me to clean out my unit. I had to replace the fuses this last Sunday and changed the filters over the 4th of July, but noticed it was really dirty when I changed the fuses.

Since the woman will be out of town, I think I'll drag my *** out there to do it.

The fuses wont blow unless there is a problem. You should check the amps the compressor is drawing, if it is in a normal range(need to check manual to see what normal is), check the amps on the fan... something has to be wrong for it to blow the fuses.

[AndrewMendez]

Great write up, and pics too! I spent the last hour doing this, and believe it or not, mine was worse then yours! It is at least 15 years old, and I don't think anyone has done it! Thank you!

[Lancear15]

Originally Posted by ANDREWMENDEZ

Great write up, and pics too! I spent the last hour doing this, and believe it or not, mine was worse then yours! It is at least 15 years old, and I don't think anyone has done it! Thank you!

Sweet, that was my intent when taking the pics. I knew this was something every home owner should do, but might know it, or know how. Glad to help.

[caoboy]

Would this work for ac units on top of the house? Mine is on the roof.

Also, anybody have tips for getting rid of smells coming from the vents when the ac unit first turns on? This is like a daily thing here.

[Clinton]

Originally Posted by caoboy

Would this work for ac units on top of the house? Mine is on the roof.

Also, anybody have tips for getting rid of smells coming from the vents when the ac unit first turns on? This is like a daily thing here.

Yes, packaged AC units (like your roof unit) need to have the coils cleaned too. Drag a garden hose up there and clean it.

What kind of odors are you getting out of the ductwork?

[caoboy]

It is a musty moldy odor type smell. Hard to describe, other than that. You can smell it every time the ac turns on for the day. Once it runs for a bit, you can't smell it anymore, the air smells 'fresh'.

[AIMSMALL]

Great thread! I think I can do the cleaning part no problem but I have a bigger issue.
The central air system doesn't turn on at all, I replaced the thermostat last summer and it worked fine but now the heat and the air doesn't turn on anymore what should I check? If there's anyone in the San Diego/ North county area that can fix this please PM me with your info. Thanks!

[GP3]

I did this last week.

It looked clean, but it was far from it.

A ton of silt came out.

Thanks again for this thread.

[1_Grendel]

There is some good advice and advisers here. I was astonished to see the words superheat and subcool let alone the recommendation to find the “cause” of a blown fuse.
Educating customers on how they can maintain their equipment is a sure fire way to keep a customer.
Keep up the good work

[TNP'R]

I wanna know why A/C's are mounted on the roofs out here.Back in the east I never seen any mounted on the roofs.

[Joewy]

Because it is generally the cheapest way to do it and rain and snow are rare to non existant so leaks can take a long time to show up.

[TNP'R]

Originally Posted by Joewy

Because it is generally the cheapest way to do it and rain and snow are rare to non existant so leaks can take a long time to show up.

Oh gotcha.

[Hickok 45/70]

Thanks for the information. Everytime I try to repair mine, I screw it up more.

[socalsteve]

another handy thing is to keep a couple of spare fuses habdy.

One day this week when I got home my air conditioner wasn't working.

I changed the fuses loceted behind the panel - where the original poster shows the on off connection.

Luckily for me it wasn't a Sunday night before a three day weekend.

I was able to get some at Hm Dpt but from now on I'm going to keep a new package (only $3.50 for two) in the garage.

[chesterthehero]

fuses generaly dont blow "just cuz".. something somewhere is failing/over amping

[freonr22]

I have replaced over 100 fuses in 20 years, "that just went" .... but I agree. If it doesn't blow shortly after replacement, you should be good to go.