Why Is My Air Conditioner’s Refrigerant Line Covered in Ice? Your outside air conditioning refrigerant line is covered in ice—which seems crazy in Arizona heat. Chances are, the indoor unit’s evaporator coil is frozen solid and cold liquid refrigerant is flowing to the outside unit through the refrigerant line (which is why it’s covered in ice). This is an evaporator coil. DO THIS RIGHT NOW: Turn off your AC and turn the fan setting to “On.” This will unfreeze the evaporator coil and prevent any damage to the compressor (a very expensive part you don’t want to replace). Now, let’s delve into what can cause an evaporator coil to freeze up and what you can do to ensure this never happens again. What causes the evaporator coil to freeze up An evaporator coil, a group of copper tubes, freezes when the refrigerant flowing through the tubes gets too cold, causing the moisture in the surrounding air to freeze. So what causes the refrigerant to get too cold?

Usually, it’s one of two things: Low airflow over the evaporator coil Low amounts of refrigerant What can cause these two problems? Let’s divide the possible causes into things you can solve right away and things you’ll need a technician to solve. Problems you can fix Clogged/dirty air filter—A dirty filter reduces airflow over the evaporator coil, causing it to freeze. Check the filter at least once a month. Closed supply vents—Don’t close supply vents (the vents that blow air out)—even in unused rooms. Closing vents reduces airflow over the evaporator coil. Blocked return vents—Ensure that furniture or curtains aren’t blocking the return vents (the grates where air gets sucked in).  Like closing supply vents, this reduces airflow over the evaporator coil. Problems a technician needs to fix Refrigerant leak— The main cause of low refrigerant is a refrigerant leak. The technician needs to evacuate the remaining refrigerant, and then find and—if possible—fix the leak.

Malfunctioning indoor blower— If the blower isn’t working properly, there may not be enough air blowing over the evaporator coil, causing it to freeze up. Dirty evaporator coil—Dirt blocks airflow over the evaporator coil, causing it to freeze up. Note: This list isn't exhaustive; it’s just a quick overview of common problems. Change the filter, and open and unblock any supply and return vents. If your evaporator coil (and refrigerant line) starts to freeze up again after doing these tasks, then you need a technician’s help.why is my outside ac unit not runningSometimes your air conditioner can appear to be running just fine, but still isn’t doing its job to cool your home. ac unit running but not cooling houseWhen this happens, there can be several possible causes that prevent your air conditioner from keeping you cool. hvac outside unit not running

We’ve listed a few below. Sometimes your air conditioner can appear to be running just fine, but still isn’t doing its job to cool your home. Ductwork is one of the most important components of your overall HVAC system. It is responsible for delivering the heated or cooled air, produced by your air conditioner or furnace, throughout your home. When your ductwork is cracked, bent, or poorly designed, the heated or cooled air your HVAC unit works so hard to create, cannot keep you comfortable. A thorough inspection and sealing of your ductwork may be necessary to fix the problem. If you notice your AC is running, but not always cooling, you might want to check yourthermostat settings. Most thermostats have an “auto” and “on” setting for the blower, and when set a certain way, can make your air conditioner seem like it’s not working properly. When set to “auto” the blower goes off and on according to the set room temperature. In the “on” position, the blower will run continuously regardless of the room temperature.

Often, the “on” position is used for homes with air cleaners and other filtration systems installed as part of their HVAC system. Especially as your unit ages, it will leak small amounts of refrigerant every season if it is not charged on a regular basis. Sometimes, your unit can leak too much refrigerant to be effective at keeping you cool. In other instances, the refrigerant can come into contact with moisture and freeze, which causes blockages and prevent your unit from cooling properly. To avoid this, it’s a good idea to have your AC serviced on an annual basis. Sometimes a stalled condenser coil can cause your unit to not blow cool air. The condenser coil is the part of the unit responsible for producing the cold air. A blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker can cause it to quit working while the fan will continue to run, providing the facade your AC is operating, as it should. A professional inspection if your AC will help to determine if this is the problem. When your AC isn’t keeping you comfortable, it’s best to contact a professional who can help you properly diagnose and repair the problem.

At Cool Today, our technicians are trained to fix your problem fast while saving your money. If you’re still having trouble, schedule service with us online today, or contact one of our experts to learn more about your air conditioning problems.We all attach a utility with every object we buy. One of the basic things we expect from an air conditioner is that it should give good cooling. Faster or slower, but it should cool well in order to get the temperatures down to comfortable levels. When it does not do so, we do not derive utility from the product and want to replace it. But these questions arise in several minds: “Why is it that my AC which was cooling well till a few months back is not cooling well now?”, “I bought a new AC but why is it not cooling well?” or “This AC used to work really well a few years back but is ineffective now”. There can be several reasons for the same, some of which can be technical faults as well. But here we would try to explain some of the reasons, which may not be fault in the AC itself.

One of the common complaints from people living in northern part of India during peak summers is that the AC is not cooling effectively or the compressor is not working. Unknowingly while installation of the AC, people do not realize that the outdoor unit (in case of split AC) or the outer part of the AC (in case of window AC) is directly facing the sun. All ACs have an optimum operating temperature (ambient or surrounding temperature) at which they can work most effectively. If the temperature increases beyond the optimum temperature, the efficiency of the air conditioner goes down and it can also reach a stage where the compressor stops working completely. At lower efficiency, it can also consume more electricity than that mentioned on the BEE label. Typically numbers on BEE label are in test conditions.: This happens because the job of AC is to take heat from inside the room and throw it outside. But if the heat outside itself is quite high, then it is not able to do its job properly.

Air Conditioners are designed to work at a certain optimum ambient temperature and beyond that they stop working. How much is optimum temperature? For most ACs it is about 46-48 degrees. Beyond which they can become less effective or may even stop working. These days some brands have models that can handle up to 52 or 54 degrees. Solution: The best thing that you can do is to avoid installing an AC in such a way that it faces direct sun or is in a place where there is lot of heat. And it is not necessary that heat can happen only in a city where the temperature goes high. It can happen anywhere if the ODU is in closed hot place. Also one can even use an AC with optimum temperature of 46 in a place where the temperature goes high. It would just need a place where the surrounding temperature is low. This can be achieved by placing plants around the AC or by pouring some water on it occasionally (although it can be cumbersome), or by any other creative idea. One of the common mistakes people make is that they buy AC just based on their budget and not based on the requirement of the room.

A small AC in a huge room will always find hard to cool the room in peak summers. Thumb rules for sizing ACs do not work always and one has to look at several parameters while sizing air conditioners. Certain cities are hotter in summers, which mean they require more cooling for the same size room as compared to cities where temperature is less. Some cities are more humid than hot and so the cooling requirement is less, but what is more important is humidity removal. Thumb rule of 1 ton for 100 sq ft (most commonly used thumb rule) does not work always and one should make sure that proper sizing is done before buying AC so that there are no regrets after the purchase. Yes aging not only impacts humans, but appliances too. With time efficiencies of most appliances come down. Cooling of an air conditioner reduces with time, or I must say with time it takes more electricity to give the same amount of cooling. As per ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers) an air conditioner reduces its efficiency by 7% in the first year, 5% in the second year, 2% every year in the following years, and this reduction peaks somewhere between 20-30% depending on how well the air conditioner is built.