Got a central air conditioner that turns on and off every few seconds or minutes? This is called “short cycling” (because normally the AC has a regular on and off “cycle” that varies with the outside temperature.) Short cycling wears out the outside unit’s compressor. That’s bad because the compressor is so expensive that, if it breaks, many homeowners usually just replace the entire outside unit. So, what causes short cycling? There are 3 common causes: We’ll discuss these problems in detail in this article. Or if you live in the metro Atlanta area and you ready to get this fixed now, schedule a repair with Coolray ASAP. Your AC compressor has a device called “low pressure control.” Basically, it can shut off the compressor when you’re low on refrigerant. And if you’re low on refrigerant, that means you also have a refrigerant leak that needs repairing. If not repaired, you’ll have to keep paying for a contractor to add more, which can get pricy.

See our answers to FAQs about refrigerant/Freon. An AC that is too large (oversized) cools your home too quickly, so it shuts down and starts up frequently. This causes several problems, including: If your AC is relatively new, try to get a refund and have a professional installer perform a Manual J Heat Load Calculation to find the size that’s right for you. The temperature around the thermostat determines how your AC runs. So if the thermostat is too close to an air supply vent, it gets a blast of cold air when the AC turns on. This signals to the AC to shut off (because the thermostat now think your whole home is cold). Then the ambient (surrounding) heat around the thermostat warms it up, causing the AC to turn back on. Then the cold air hits the thermostat, turning the AC back off. This is why the AC is short cycling. Luckily, this is a relatively simple fix – just find a better location for your thermostat. A professional air conditioning company can help you do find the best spot.

There are other issues that can cause your AC to short cycle, but these 3 are some of the most common ones. Want this problem fixed ASAP? If you live in the Atlanta area, schedule a repair with Coolray. Coolray is your Atlanta-area home comfort expert with specialists in heating, air conditioning, air quality and plumbing. We’d be happy to help – just contact us online.Short on-off cycling of air conditioner or heat pump compressor/condenser unit diagnosis: What causes the A/C or heat pump fan condenser unit to keep cycling on and off rapidly and how do we fix it? Here we explain the common causes of compressor unit short cycling. This article series explains how to diagnose an air conditioner or heat pump that is not cooling: this article explains Joe said: short cycling air conditioner compressor diagnosis: I have the same problem as Mathew: my A/C compressor cycles on and of every ~10 seconds. I is about 5yr old. What can we do to fix this system. Matthew said: short cycling air conditioner problems: Our air conditioning compressor cycles on and of every few seconds or minutes.

What can we do to fix this systems not even a year old This was an interesting article. My central AC works perfectly during the night, but short cycles 5 seconds on, half second off on hot days. Any thoughts as to what would be causing this? 2016/09/12 Linda Jackson said: Our Trane Ac unit keeps cycling on and off about every 10 seconds. York 3 ton heat pump. mini split unit air conditioner troubleshootingHeatpump kick on and right back off? used wall unit air conditionersSuper heat is perfect!! charging an air conditioner at homeI'm lost plz help! Unit is jumped and and cools great great pressures, but kicks off as soon as it kicks in when wired properly? (mod) said to Joe and Matthew, Mike, Linda and others (re questions just above):

An air conditioner or heat pump that is cycling off and immediately back on or cycling off/on every 10 seconds is abnormal and is likely to damage the equipment. I would turn the system OFF while waiting for repair, as I worry that more components will be damaged. I suspect this is a control board or relay problem, possibly related to operating temperature or pressure but that's as far as I can get. Short-cycling on and off of an A/C compressor unit every few minutes (say 1-5 minutes) sounds to me like a diagnosis and repair are needed. A second sort of "short cycling" of the compressor also suggests that diagnosis and repair are needed: if an air conditioner or heat pump compressor runs for a very long time (i.e. the cooling system is not able to reach the indoor set point on the thermostat) and the the compressor shuts off for just a few minutes, then re-starts, I suspect trouble. Causes include lost refrigerant, ice-blocked cooling coils, thermostat not working properly (blocked, in sun, in airflow, dust-crud clogged).

But if someone is turning the system on and off quickly, the compressor may have a hard time re-starting against the pressure on its outlet side. A starter capacitor addition or replacement might fix the problem. If your A/C compressor is showing this symptom but works OK if you leave it shut off for 30 minutes or longer, that may be the trouble. We have also see or a damaged compressor internal refrigerant valve causing high head pressures; In sum, you need a service call from a professional to correctly diagnose and repair the problem. Ask the service tech what she/he found and let us know - what you find will help other readers. Overall: I'd like to see a compressor/condenser unit ON cycle time of 10-20 minutes. The length of time before the next ON cycle of the compressor/condenser unit isn't standard but it ought to be more than 5 minutes, perhaps 10 or more. The rate of heat gain, air leakage and other factors determine how quickly a cooled space heats-up again once the cool air flow stops.

If an A/C or heat pump compressor/condenser unit is on about half-time and is cycling on/off say 3 times in an hour in hot weather while cooling a residential building with typical insulation, air leakage rate, and heat gain rates for its climate, that's probably normal. In very hot weather an air conditioner or heat pump system may run continuously or nearly continuously as long as the indoor thermostat is calling for cooling. It's possible for a residential air conditioning system to be operating normally when a compressor shuts off, then turns back on depending on the system's controls. That's so if the "off" period is long - perhaps 10-15 minutes depending on weather conditions and system capacity. In moderate heat, 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off would not be abnormal but in my OPINION it's close to the edge. A compressor motor that is cycling on and off rapidly is going to be damaged by that condition and depending on the system design, it may also ultimately have trouble re-starting against high head pressure in the system.