If the air conditioning coils in your home's unit have fallen victim to ice buildup, you'll have trouble getting your house properly cooled. Incorporating the aid of an air conditioning specialist can sometimes be costly, so before placing that call, make an effort to tackle this job on your own. Fortunately, provided the problem isn't indicative of something more serious, you can take care of the issue in just a few simple steps. Step 1 - Prep Your Air Conditioner Before proceeding to remove the ice from the coils, you will need to turn off your AC unit and disconnect it from its power source. Allow it to sit for several minutes, and you'll be ready to give the surrounding area a good looking-over. If you find any leakage or stains on the unit, your air conditioner will likely need to be looked at by a repair specialist. Leaks are often caused by low refrigerant levels and should only be tackled by someone well-versed in these machines. If you're find nothing out of the ordinary upon inspection, you may proceed with the next step.

Step 2 - Allow the Ice to Melt Keep the device turned off and disconnected to allow the ice to melt naturally. If it is warm enough for your AC to be active, this shouldn't take long. Step 3 - Clean Your Coils Now that the ice buildup has melted away, it's time to give the coils a good cleaning. Start by donning a pair of gloves and spraying the formerly ice-laden coils with a commercial coil cleaner. which ac unit should i buyNext, use a scrub brush or expendable toothbrush to administer a vigorous scrubbing, making sure to purge any caked-on dirt deposits. how much would an ac unit costExcessive dirt on your coils is a major cause of ice formation, so when performing this step, make a point of being very thorough.car ac repair how much

Once the coils have been successfully cleaned, spray them with a warm water-filled spray bottle in order to remove any remaining traces of the cleaner. Take a clean cloth and wipe the freshly cleaned coils dry. Do not reconnect your AC unit to its power source or proceed to reuse the device until all the moisture is gone. Step 4 - Keep Your Air Conditioning Coils Ice-free Preventing ice buildup in the first place is the best way to ensure your AC doesn't run into frequent problems. Assuming your unit hasn't sprung a leak, the best way to avoid frozen coils is to abstain from running the air when the temperature is cool outside. Additionally, take care to give the coils periodic cleanings in order to avoid ice formation caused by excess filth. Pros and Cons of Using Radiant Ceiling PanelsSometimes you may notice that your air conditioner freezes up after some time of operation. When this happens, the cool air will not be discharged properly and eventually a huge block of ice may built up on the evaporator coil.

You will notice that there is less airflow coming from the air ventilation as ice began to clog the air movement. More condensation can be seen at the drain pan. At the same time, the room is no longer cool. This means that it is time to investigate the causes of this problem. Here are some possible causes. When air flow or air circulation from the unit to the room and vice versa is restricted, the exhange of thermal energy between the air conditioner and the room is restricted. As a result, most of the cool air continues to stay around the evaporator coil and fins causing the temperature around them to drop. As a result, ice is formed and gradually more ice began to built up and eventually causes the air conditioner freezes up. Air Filters at the return air of the equipment must be serviced regularly by taking them down and wash with water and soap. These filters are used to trap dust and other bigger contaminants from going into the evaporator fins. Hence, cleaning them at least one or twice a month is highly recommended.

In many cases, users will not even clean them once a year until this problem begin to surface.Evaporator coil and fins that are located after the air filters can also be clogged up due to dirty filters. In this case, you will need to clean them by using a spray type coil cleaner. The other alternative is to get the technicians to come and take down the entire evaporator for cleaning. This will be more costly. Therefore, regular maintenance of the evaporator coil and air filters will go a long way in ensuring that your air conditioner continues to function properly.Fan or blower at the evaporator unit may not be functioning. When the unit is on, check that there is air flow coming out of the equipment. Otherwise, the fan may be damaged. In this case, the fan motor may have burnt or some loose connections may have occurred. Get a technician to check if this is the case.Check that there is no blockage of air around the evaporator by ensuring that things are not placed too near to the evaporator.

One other step you can do is to check the set temperature of the air conditioner. Make sure that it is not set lower than 70 °F. When the refrigerant in the system is low due to leakage over time, there will be a decrease in the saturation point temperature of the system. When this happens, it will take a lower temperature for all the refrigerant liquid that has been compressed by the compressor to become vapor in the evaporator. This means that the operating temperature of the cooling coils has now dropped compared to the original design. This lower temperature will cause moisture collected from the air to quickly becomes ice on the evaporator when the temperature goes below below 32 °F.These moisture that is supposed be cooled to a level which becomes water and drips to the condensate drainage pan is now stuck at the evaporator coils and fins forming ice around them. When this continues on, eventually a block of ice is formed on it. When you see the ice being formed on the evaporator, off the unit and wait for the ice to melt.