Air conditioners use gas coolant to cool the air in your home. Central air conditioners are designed to continually cool the home to the desired temperature of the homeowner. The coolants they use are supposed to last the lifetime of an air conditioner, but accidental damage, wear and tear, contaminants and other issues can spring up. In these cases, the air conditioner may need a charge of coolant after the issues are fixed. Determining the issue in advance, however, can help you avoid adding coolant to the unit if it actually doesn’t need it. The Thermostat The thermostat is the first place to look if you suspect that the air conditioner may have lost its charge of coolant. In addition, sometimes units merely need a reset to trigger the electronic elements of the system. To start, set the thermostat to around 85 degrees and wait half an hour or so, then adjust it to around 60 degrees and wait for the unit to kick on. If the house begins to cool, it was simply a reset. You can also reset the unit directly at the source or flip the breaker to the AC unit.

Additionally, inspect the thermostat unit itself by removing the plate cover to see if any of the components within are sticking due to humidity buildup or dust. The Vents If the vents are blowing room-temperature air, or warm air, rather than cold after you clean the thermostat and reset the unit, this is a sign that your coolant might be out of charge in the air conditioner. You check this by holding your hand in front of the vents and feeling for warm air. Give the machine at least 15 minutes to see if maybe it was just residual air coming out of the vent system as it makes its way throughout your home. If the air still isn’t cold, it is a sign that you could need to call a technician for a coolant charge. Frost Buildup The coolant used in air conditioner units is in gaseous form that can freeze elements it comes into contact with. Leaks are easily spotted because there will be frost buildup around connectors, such as where the coolant tank connects to the air conditioner. The buildup can also be on the surrounding hoses, tubes, fan motors and beyond.

If you have already reset the unit, checked the thermostat and verified that it’s still blowing warm air, it could that you have a leak and there is no more coolant in the system. Frozen components are proof that there is a leak and the coolant is escaping the system rather than cooling the air. Inspection Air conditioning units should be cleaned regularly to keep dirt and debris from building up within the machine. replace 3 ton ac unitAll units have filters, but the filters can become clogged over time. diagram of an outside ac unitAdditionally, outdoor units can have the covering panels come loose from wind during a storm, which will blow debris into the unit. control cabinet ac unitsThis can cause the fans to stop working, thus resulting in no air being pushed through the vents, or it can clog the air filter and reduce the air flow, which will lower the cooling effect the unit has on your home.

Before you automatically blame the coolant system, check your system for dirt and debris and give everything a good cleaning. If the unit still doesn’t push cold air after that, call a technician to recharge the system. Your central air conditioner works by performing a complex form of heat transfer with the assistance of a chemical refrigerant. When your refrigerant level runs low, the heat transfer does not take place and the unit, while remaining functional and blowing air, will not provide cold air. This is a sign that you should be recharging or refilling the air conditioner. Research what kind of refrigerant your unit uses. There are different types and recharging with the wrong one could cause problems much worse than simply not having a charged AC unit. While it is possible to acquire coolant and recharge the unit yourself by purchasing a commercial Freon kit, the rest of the functioning elements of air conditioners can seem dangerous and intimidating to an inexperienced person.

If you do not feel comfortable with a project of this magnitude, it’s a good idea to call an air conditioning expert. Refrigerant is toxic, and ingesting it can damage your health. Even while performing the check and removal of the old refrigerant, wear protective gear such as a mask, googles, and gloves. In some areas it is illegal to use refrigerants or do this kind of work on air conditioning units without the proper license. Note that just because refrigerant is available for sale online or in a store, it still may be against the rules for you, a layperson, to be the one handling it once it’s purchased. Check your local laws before attempting this project. Using your air conditioner’s manual, locate the compressor of your unit. It will look like a metal cylinder and have two lines coming off it. TIP: Before adding the coolant, use this opportunity to inspect the rest of the components and make sure they are clean and working. There are two reasons this is necessary: 1) it may be something other than the refrigerant that impacting the unit’s performance, and 2) if fresh refrigerant is added and the unit is powered on while another component isn’t functioning optimally, all kinds of general damage could occur far beyond a coolant or charging issue.

Locate the service valve inside your Freon kit. It will be the large connector valve found amongst the kit’s other contents. Plug the service valve into a compressor line (one of the lines you located next to the compressor earlier) in air conditioner unit. Follow the Freon kit instructions to attach the service valve appropriately. Your Freon kit also contains a small valve connector. That valve is called the tap valve. The tap valve must be plugged into the remaining compressor line to your AC’s compressor. You will find fittings on top of your air conditioner’s compressor. Follow the instructions in the Freon kit’s manual for the best results or if there is any confusion. To add Freon to the lines, you need to attach the Freon container to the two valves that you have just installed. Follow the instructions set in your Freon kit to secure the container between the two valves. Basically, the air conditioner will force the Freon into the unit. Now that you’ve finished installing new refrigerant to your home AC unit, you need to let the Freon flow in to it.