On hot summer days, a properly functioning air conditioner is the key to comfort in the house. However, it happens that the device turns on and makes the usual noise, but the coolness is not felt. This situation can be caused by several reasons, from simple to more complex. Understanding these factors will help in taking timely measures and restoring the efficiency of the system. If you are faced with such a problem, specialists in air conditioning repair in Fair Oaks, Alpha Mechanicals, are ready to come to the rescue and ensure a comfortable climate in your home. In this article, we will analyze the causes of air conditioner malfunctions.
How to Determine That The Air Conditioner Is Not Cooling The Air?
Before looking for a breakdown of the air conditioner, it is worth making sure that external factors do not affect the operation of the equipment:
- Operating time. The air conditioner does not create coolness instantly. It takes 10–30 minutes. Cooling time varies depending on the power of the equipment, the size of the room, and the difference in temperature outside and the one you set on the air conditioner.
- Equipment power. A deliberately weak air conditioner will take a long time to cool a hot room. Especially if the room is heated all day under direct sunlight, or has a lot of glazing.
- Insulation of the room. Pay attention to heat inflows. Frequent opening of doors, windows, ventilation. Try to use curtains and blinds on window openings.
- Heat-generating equipment. Industrial equipment, machine tools, refrigerators, grills, bakery ovens, etc. generate a huge amount of heat. If such equipment is added to the room, do not be surprised that the air conditioner can no longer cope.
If the air conditioner is selected correctly, there are no heat leaks, and no additional equipment has been installed, it is time to run diagnostics by measuring the temperature of the incoming and outgoing air from the air conditioner.
If the air conditioner is in good working order, the temperature difference at the “inlet-outlet” is 44–59 °F. If the difference is less than these values, then your split system really does not cool well.
Reasons Why The Air Conditioner Does Not Cool The Air
The reasons why the air conditioner does not supply cold air to the room can be divided into 3 main groups:
- Air conditioner settings (settings and parameters can often be set incorrectly).
- Lack of maintenance (the air conditioner may be in good working order, but there is not enough freon in the system, or the filters and heat exchangers need to be cleaned).
- A faulty element (in this case, the fault is caused by a broken component).
Checking The Settings on The Remote Control
The first thing you need to do is check the air conditioner settings. Pay attention to the mode in which the air conditioner is turned on. The “MODE” button on the remote control and the icons on the remote control screen are responsible for this:
- “sun/HEAT” — heating mode;
- “droplets/DRY” — drying mode;
- “wind/FUN” — ventilation mode;
- “snowflake/COLD” — cooling mode;
- “AUTO” — automatic mode.
If the air conditioner is turned on in the heating, ventilation, and drying mode, it will naturally not cool. You need to be careful with the AUTO mode, since the air conditioner starts according to the presets specified by the manufacturer. Usually, the conditions are as follows: the room temperature is above 75.2 °F — the air conditioner operates on cooling, at a temperature below 64.4 °F — the air conditioner will start on heating.
You need the COLD mode, since it is focused on cooling the air. There are also nuances here. Often, the user tries to start the air conditioner with a temperature value that has already been reached in the room. For example, the room is 71.6 °F, and the remote control shows 73.4 °F — the air conditioner will not start cooling, since the sensor understands that the temperature is below the set value, so cooling is not required.
Lack of Maintenance
You may have noticed that after 3–5 years, the air conditioner does not cool as before. What is the reason for the decrease in performance? There may be several reasons.
- The filters in the indoor unit are clogged. Animal hair, hair, dust, etc. easily clog the coarse and fine filters of the air conditioner. Because of this, the radiator does not give off cold to the air well, which leads to weak cooling. The solution is simple: regularly clean the filters of the indoor unit.
- The heat exchanger (radiator) of the outdoor unit is dirty. During operation, the air conditioner passes huge volumes of air through the heat exchanger, as a rule, not the cleanest. Copper heat exchangers have rather small lamellas, which are easily clogged with poplar fluff, dust, etc. When the heat exchanger is dirty, the performance of the air conditioner drops, since the efficiency of heat removal decreases. Flushing the heat exchanger, preferably under pressure, will help fix this problem.
- Freon leak. A fairly volatile refrigerant, freon, circulates through the freon pipeline, and a microcrack is enough for it to evaporate from the refrigeration circuit. The standard refrigerant leak is 6-8% per year, even if the system is sealed. It is important to distinguish whether a standard leak has occurred or a violation of the integrity of the copper line. This can be understood by the temperature on the heat exchanger fin or by the pressure in the system. If the difference from the standard indicators is insignificant, then refilling will be enough. In any case, you can contact Alpha Mechanicals, an air conditioning repair company in Fair Oaks for help.
Malfunction of One of The Air Conditioner Units
The air conditioner is a complex and multi-component device. Here are the components that are most vulnerable to breakdowns, due to which your air conditioner has stopped cooling.
- Indoor/outdoor unit fan.
- Four-way valve.
- Compressor.
- Temperature sensors.
- Pressure sensors.
- Capillary tube.
- Control board.
Conclusion
Malfunctions of the air conditioner, when it functions but does not cool the air, can be caused by various factors, from dirty filters to serious technical faults of the air conditioner components. Regular maintenance and careful attention to the condition of the system will help prevent many of them. However, if the problem has already arisen, do not postpone its solution. Contacting Alpha Mechanicals, air conditioning repair professionals, guarantees prompt detection and elimination of faults, providing your house with the desired coolness and comfort.
