A/C Issues

[BIGREDIOWAN]

So my wife and I had to go on a pretty decent spending spree to finish up the final things we needed for the impending arrival of our two boys, just under 8 weeks to go. So I was a little pissed about the amount of money we spent, but I figured hey, it's no big deal as they need these things.

Well as I'm putting together the two swings we bought them I start to hear this hissing sound coming from the furnace room and I notice that it's fairly loud and not just some little noise. At about this same time I'm thinking to myself, "self, that a/c has been running a long time?" Now granted it was in the 90's here the past few days with heat index's in the 109 range, but it'll usually shut off every 15 minutes or so for about 5 minutes and then come back on. Well I open up the furnace room and notice that the hissing sound is coming from a small module looking thing that says, "compressed coil." First thing I think of...............**** THIS CAN'T BE GOOD! I put my leg next to the a/c vent and it feels like someone is pissing on my leg as no cold air is coming out of the vent. Wife called the repair guys, as I had to go to work, and they said it's most likely an evaporator coil and I'm ****ed.

So I guess this is going to cost me anywhere from $500.00 to $3,000.00 depending on if I have to replace the entire furnace or not. Pregnant lady is hotter than hell and not happy so someone might die here. Has anyone had a similiar experience to mine? How much did it cost you?

 

[holvy83]

treading on dangerous territory... all depends on who you can get out there to fix it, this time of year they are all running around with their heads cut off, so you may get bent over. Since it has been so hot it may just be getting over worked and needs a little care, but hopefully nothing major like replacing the whole unit. But you never know, my furnace is only ten years old and had a guy out to look at it this winter and he told me the way it got installed took a lot of life out my furnace so who knows... :bang

 

[Blackshirtsguru]

I had a problem with the coils freezing up, blowing out hot air.....it turned out to be a clogged drain plug. I was lucky and had a buddy who was good friends with an A/C guy. Ask around and see if your friends no of a person who won't screw ya to your knees!

 

[Blackshirtsguru]

I did find this about your coil situation.

# Evaporator coil or cooling leaks or holes: if an evaporator coil is leaking (or also if the condensing coil is leaking) you'll find out pretty quickly as refrigerant will be lost and the cooling system will stop providing cool air. You'll need expert diagnosis by an HVAC service technician.

* A lot depends on where the refrigerant leak has occurred and what caused the leak. If the cooling coil has a single point leak caused by some mechanical damage (one of our readers accidentally drilled a hole in his coil while trying to drill a drain hole in his air handler), it may be possible to find the hole and repair it using silver solder.

* If the refrigerant leak is in copper tubing anywhere in the cooling or heat pump system that is not too close to an evaporator coil or condensing coil, it should be possible to solder a repair, then evacuate and recharge the cooling system.

* If the refrigerant leak is in copper tubing in or close to the cooling coil (or in a condensing coil) a solder repair is hard to complete because the heat of the soldering process tends to de-solder other nearby connections. It might be possible if the technician is very expert and if s/he knows how to keep nearby surfaces cooled (we've used a wet rag).

* If the refrigerant leak is in an aluminum part, soldering aluminum is more tricky and may not be feasible. Ordinary procedures using a torch, for example, just melt the aluminum. Expert welders use inert gas welding methods.

* If the refrigerant leak is due to severe corrosion anywhere in an HVAC system we're not optimistic that a solder repair is possible. The conditions that caused a corrosion-related leak are likely to have thinned and weakened other parts. The cost of an attempted repair may be wasted.

* Replacement of the cooling coil (or condensing coil) is more often going to be recommended by your HVAC technician because of these difficulties.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Well it turned out ALOT better than we expected. It ended up not being the coil that went out, the guy we talked to over the phone obviously misunderstood what the issue was. The A/C unit outside had become extremely clogged from the cottonwood seeds blowing through the air this spring. That coupled with the heat over the past few days put the whole unit into overdrive and it couldn't keep up. I told the wife I needed to have regular maintenace done on our furnace and A/C every spring and fall so we don't have any issues. She didn't agree and the repair guy said right in front of both of us, "you know regular maintenace every six months would've prevented this issue." I laughed my a$$ off and the wife didn't think I was funny. Cost us about $130.00 to get it going again. Dodged a bullet on that one.................

 

[Overland Park Husker]

Well it turned out ALOT better than we expected. It ended up not being the coil that went out, the guy we talked to over the phone obviously misunderstood what the issue was. The A/C unit outside had become extremely clogged from the cottonwood seeds blowing through the air this spring. That coupled with the heat over the past few days put the whole unit into overdrive and it couldn't keep up. I told the wife I needed to have regular maintenace done on our furnace and A/C every spring and fall so we don't have any issues. She didn't agree and the repair guy said right in front of both of us, "you know regular maintenace every six months would've prevented this issue." I laughed my a$$ off and the wife didn't think I was funny. Cost us about $130.00 to get it going again. Dodged a bullet on that one.................

You can clean the AC unit fairly easily yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Well it turned out ALOT better than we expected. It ended up not being the coil that went out, the guy we talked to over the phone obviously misunderstood what the issue was. The A/C unit outside had become extremely clogged from the cottonwood seeds blowing through the air this spring. That coupled with the heat over the past few days put the whole unit into overdrive and it couldn't keep up. I told the wife I needed to have regular maintenace done on our furnace and A/C every spring and fall so we don't have any issues. She didn't agree and the repair guy said right in front of both of us, "you know regular maintenace every six months would've prevented this issue." I laughed my a$$ off and the wife didn't think I was funny. Cost us about $130.00 to get it going again. Dodged a bullet on that one.................

You can clean the AC unit fairly easily yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

What about the furnace unit???

 

[ohiohusker]

Well it turned out ALOT better than we expected. It ended up not being the coil that went out, the guy we talked to over the phone obviously misunderstood what the issue was. The A/C unit outside had become extremely clogged from the cottonwood seeds blowing through the air this spring. That coupled with the heat over the past few days put the whole unit into overdrive and it couldn't keep up. I told the wife I needed to have regular maintenace done on our furnace and A/C every spring and fall so we don't have any issues. She didn't agree and the repair guy said right in front of both of us, "you know regular maintenace every six months would've prevented this issue." I laughed my a$$ off and the wife didn't think I was funny. Cost us about $130.00 to get it going again. Dodged a bullet on that one.................

You can clean the AC unit fairly easily yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

What about the furnace unit???

BRI.......my Dad taught me this years ago. Hose off the A/C unit every so often. We have the same cottonwood seeds blowing around. It just clogs up the unit! I just use the hose on full force and spray all four sides of the unit. You wouldn't believe the s*** that comes off that unit. An A/C repairman verified this for us. (How's your wife??)

 

[Igetbored216]

BRI.......my Dad taught me this years ago. Hose off the A/C unit every so often. We have the same cottonwood seeds blowing around. It just clogs up the unit! I just use the hose on full force and spray all four sides of the unit. You wouldn't believe the s*** that comes off that unit. An A/C repairman verified this for us. (How's your wife??)

But be careful doing this; if you spray too hard the vents that let the air in come become bent and then you are SOL.

Cleaning your A/C unit / heat pump are highly recommended one to two times a year.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Well it turned out ALOT better than we expected. It ended up not being the coil that went out, the guy we talked to over the phone obviously misunderstood what the issue was. The A/C unit outside had become extremely clogged from the cottonwood seeds blowing through the air this spring. That coupled with the heat over the past few days put the whole unit into overdrive and it couldn't keep up. I told the wife I needed to have regular maintenace done on our furnace and A/C every spring and fall so we don't have any issues. She didn't agree and the repair guy said right in front of both of us, "you know regular maintenace every six months would've prevented this issue." I laughed my a$$ off and the wife didn't think I was funny. Cost us about $130.00 to get it going again. Dodged a bullet on that one.................

You can clean the AC unit fairly easily yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

What about the furnace unit???

BRI.......my Dad taught me this years ago. Hose off the A/C unit every so often. We have the same cottonwood seeds blowing around. It just clogs up the unit! I just use the hose on full force and spray all four sides of the unit. You wouldn't believe the s*** that comes off that unit. An A/C repairman verified this for us. (How's your wife??)

She's good, 31 weeks tomorrow and 7 weeks left. They are going to make her deliver 2 weeks early.