air-con problem

[overherebc]

Need opinion from someone as I know diidly squat about air-con.

The bedroom unit has started playing up.

It blows cold air fine for a while, room gets as cool as before but then the compressor switches off until the room gets quite warm ( too warm ) then it comes back on again. Previously it kept the room cool continuously ( compressor on-off regularly ). Had the compressor and gas checked and internal unit cleaned and later on awitching on it reverted to the same problem.

My thoughts.

The internal unit, in the room, must have a temp' sensor, for the air being drawn in, that is failing/faulty or the compressor has a sticky on off switch/relay.

Any expert opinions out there?

Edited January 6, 2020 by overherebc

[ezzra]

Seems like ice is forming on the cooling radiator and blocking the cold air flow and when it melt it working again, if this is the case a professional good washing down  of the coil yen ( the inside unit) is in order and while doing that wash the outside unit and you will have no problems for couple of years to come..

Edited January 6, 2020 by ezzra

[Kwasaki]

I have same problem and water splashing out sometimes, so had a gas level check which was ok.

Had already cleaned it myself and air-con said ok.

Just got him to check for blocked water outlet pipe whatever it's called.

He turned off at breaker switch and switched back on reset the remote.

He said change the settings every now don't keep it set on just one and then and it should be ok can't find anything else wrong.

It's be ok since touch wood and no nighttime unexpected cold showers. ????

[overherebc]

43 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

I have same problem and water splashing out sometimes, so had a gas level check which was ok.

Had already cleaned it myself and air-con said ok.

Just got him to check for blocked water outlet pipe whatever it's called.

He turned off at breaker switch and switched back on reset the remote.

He said change the settings every now don't keep it set on just one and then and it should be ok can't find anything else wrong.

It's be ok since touch wood and no nighttime unexpected cold showers. ????

Thanks.

No excess water or icing, Drain tube is clear and it keeps the bed of chilli plants nicely watered ????. Local repair guy said could be pin-hole leak on gas system so will leak test exchanger and system using a water tank. Reckons 1 day job.

I'll update.

[SteveK]

After about 18 months my air con is nowhere near as cold as it used to be. Do I need to find a local air-con guy or is there something I can do myself? Sorry to hijack the thread with this question.

[johng]

2 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Do I need to find a local air-con guy

Try to find a recommended local guy  ask your neighbours who they use...it quite possibly is just very dirty..but cleaning it yourself is a bit of a pain  and there is the possibility of breaking something..so get the "professionals" in at least for the first time  watch how they clean it then decide if its something you think ( or want)  you can do..there is also the posibitly that the gas has leaked out..then its definitely not a D.I.Y job !

[overherebc]

7 minutes ago, SteveK said:

After about 18 months my air con is nowhere near as cold as it used to be. Do I need to find a local air-con guy or is there something I can do myself? Sorry to hijack the thread with this question.

That makes me think of low gas problems. First thing to do is get it topped up.

[Beggar]

Perhaps your aircon allows to retrieve error codes. At my older DAIKIN I can do this with the remote control. Allowed me to find a problem not one of several aircon servicing companies found. 

[tifino]

1 minute ago, Beggar said:

Perhaps your aircon allows to retrieve error codes. At my older DAIKIN I can do this with the remote control. Allowed me to find a problem not one of several aircon servicing companies found. 

didn't have any remote idea?

[Beggar]

1 minute ago, tifino said:

didn't have any remote idea?

They did not even know that this can be done with the remote control. I found it out with the help of Google. 

[bankruatsteve]

You might have "Eco" setting selected.  That setting allows temp to vary more than in normal mode.

[Kwasaki]

21 hours ago, SteveK said:

After about 18 months my air con is nowhere near as cold as it used to be. Do I need to find a local air-con guy or is there something I can do myself? Sorry to hijack the thread with this question.

You can take out the filters and clean them yourself and hoover the inside, the only time I use the expert guy we found is for breakdown and maintenance checks.  

Edited January 7, 2020 by Kwasaki

[casey1]

There are a couple of very good American You Tube videos on how to really self clean your air con units..They all work and and are built in nominally similar fashion...which means they all come apart relatively straightforward ...no more than half a dozen screws in all the ones I have done since watching and learning how to do.. I have cleaned aircon units in three different countries and almost all have been the same... clogged fins clogged fans and general build up of dust dirt and grime...Takes no more than an hour to do if you organised , first one I ever did took me three hours as I stumbled and learnt my way through....

 

I have yet to see anyone whom ever has a cleaning regime for their aircon ... business or private and sadly they are very badly neglected in terms of cleaning which leads to less cooling and increased energy costs....I have yet to come across one that has lost gas..... so my opinion for what it is worth is clean the <deleted> properly first before any assumptions of low gas...

[liddelljohn]

Defo needs a good filter  and body clean of dust and crud ,, may need re gassing ,, thats normal I find my 3 aircons need it once a year if used all the time .

[albertik]

I encountered the same situation and what I decided was that  after being hot all day, the cooler air felt great but after several hours my body became adjusted to the cool air so now I am feeling hot again. When it is 95 degrees, 80 degrees feels almost cold. Later when the body adjusts 80 degrees now feels hot

[casey1]

11 minutes ago, liddelljohn said:

Defo needs a good filter  and body clean of dust and crud ,, may need re gassing ,, thats normal I find my 3 aircons need it once a year if used all the time .

I'd be changing your aircon gas company, there is simply no excuse for gas leaking other than poor workmanship; plain incompetence or maybe intentional... stop and think about it, understand it is a closed loop system... there is no rational reason for gas to leak, period...

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, casey1 said:

it is a closed loop system... there is no rational reason for gas to leak, period...

What do you think that loop is made of?  It is normal material not from on high.  There is vibration damage every time the unit cycles and pin holes do develop and connections do fail.  They should be infrequent but they do happen. 

[casey1]

10 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

What do you think that loop is made of?  It is normal material not from on high.  There is vibration damage every time the unit cycles and pin holes do develop and connections do fail.  They should be infrequent but they do happen. 

Yes but what do you think design life of aircon unit is..... 10 years would be commeasurate with most whiteware appliances and other major household items....so to be topping up with gas, and let's be pessimistic here and say half lifespan of 5 years is indicative of poor workmanship or plain old making income happen....to the detriment of owners pocket...

My business has undersized ( for room size) air-con working flat out beside a busy road ie lots of vibrations dirt and crud and works perfectly at its rated capability without the need for a top up in over 5 years....

[casey1]

26 minutes ago, casey1 said:

Yes but what do you think design life of aircon unit is..... 10 years would be commeasurate with most whiteware appliances and other major household items....so to be topping up with gas, and let's be pessimistic here and say half lifespan of 5 years is indicative of poor workmanship or plain old making income happen....to the detriment of owners pocket...

My business has undersized ( for room size) air-con working flat out beside a busy road ie lots of vibrations dirt and crud and works perfectly at its rated capability without the need for a top up in over 5 years....

sorry I didn't explain a sentence very well....lets be pessimistic here and say half lifespan of 5 years....let's say that is the lifespan ...so to be topping up annually is 5 times more than should be expected.... something is not right then .... so either grossly incompetent workmen... or they are ensuring repeat work to their benefit and owners cost... a common problem around the world in many trade industries where the clients are none the wiser and rely on their service people's expertise....caveat emptor i think is the latin phrase that could be applied....

[Chrysaora]

Again, lots of replies with no substance at all.  Call an AC guy, have your drains cleaned, and make sure they top up the coolant which is likely low.

 

 

[CGW]

On 1/6/2020 at 12:08 PM, SteveK said:

After about 18 months my air con is nowhere near as cold as it used to be. Do I need to find a local air-con guy or is there something I can do myself? Sorry to hijack the thread with this question.

Has it been cleaned, as dirty as the air is now I wash the outside unit every couple of weeks - filthy! service every six months.

 

[liddelljohn]

4 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

What do you think that loop is made of?  It is normal material not from on high.  There is vibration damage every time the unit cycles and pin holes do develop and connections do fail.  They should be infrequent but they do happen. 

they need a thorough clean once ayear I said MAY need re gassing , not often maybe  once in 5or 6 years seals wear and leak ...

[sometimewoodworker]

14 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

they need a thorough clean once ayear

at least

 

14 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

MAY need re gassing , not often maybe  once in 5or 6 years seals wear and leak

no reason for that unless a poor install, mine were 20 years plus and 10 years plus, no fill needed

[MJCM]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:21 PM, sometimewoodworker said:

at least

 

no reason for that unless a poor install, mine were 20 years plus and 10 years plus, no fill needed

True, I had the guy who installed our Air-con's come afterwards to clean our air-cons at regular intervals and he always charged us extra for re-gassing, then one day this guy wasn't available to clean them, so we called someone else and he said there was NO need to re-gas the system, and guess what this guy is doing our air-cons ever since and also since then no extra pay for re-gassing.

 

IMHO just an easy way for them (read Scam) to get extra money.

Edited March 7, 2020 by MJCM

[mogandave]

It has been my experience that by running the units on “fan” mode for a couple hours a week to dry it out completely, keeping the filters clean and making sure the units drain correctly, I don’t need to have the “full” cleanings done. 

As others have said, the units should not require the gas to be topped up. If your unit is freezing over, it’s low on gas. If it’s low on gas it’s leaking. If it’s leaking, get the leak fixed.

 

 

[Chrysaora]

12 minutes ago, mogandave said:

It has been my experience that by running the units on “fan” mode for a couple hours a week to dry it out completely, keeping the filters clean and making sure the units drain correctly, I don’t need to have the “full” cleanings done. 

As others have said, the units should not require the gas to be topped up. If your unit is freezing over, it’s low on gas. If it’s low on gas it’s leaking. If it’s leaking, get the leak fixed.

 

 

You're on the right track, but since I am the resident expert, I will give more advice.

 

Don't run the AC (once it is working again) on anything but high fan.  

 

Think about it, you'll get it.

[CharlieH]

Inflammatory remark and response to it, removed.

[Chrysaora]

On 3/7/2020 at 5:38 PM, MJCM said:

we called someone else and he said there was NO need to re-gas the system

That's due to the fact he has no freon or he forgot to bring it.  

 

You need freon.  Really, you need a new compressor but what the hell, roll the dice.

[Chazar]

quite often you  get a build  up of  cruddy slime in the drain tray inside the aircon, this  sludgy <deleted> also will  block the drain  pipes, its  like thick jelly, when this  happens it  will start to drip  on the floor as the drain is partly/fully  blocked or slow to drain due to this  jelly  build  up.

I strip mine  down  twice a  year, you can actually  clean them without a pressure  washer just use  an electric garden sprayer, thats strong  enough, you can also buy the wrap around bags the aircon guys  use to catch the water from your cleaning. Outside I jet wash the main unit I also stick a hosepipe down the  drainpipe inside and full  force  blast the crud out, then tip down some  bleach to clean it  out also.

 

[Susco]

14 minutes ago, Chazar said:

quite often you  get a build  up of  cruddy slime in the drain tray inside the aircon, this  sludgy <deleted> also will  block the drain  pipes, its  like thick jelly, when this  happens it  will start to drip  on the floor as the drain is partly/fully  blocked or slow to drain due to this  jelly  build  up.

Pouring some bleach in the drain tray now and then prevents the build up.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Susco