DCC Appreciation Thread...

Cotton said:
Fucking A/C froze up again. The guy told me if it happened again it is most likely a freon leak. So, they have to pressurize the line and then find it. There is no telling how much this is going to cost. :budd
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Some older units have minor leaks and just have to be filled every couple years.
 
I have them coming first thing (I hope) in the morning, so we will see. The on call guy said he couldn't guarantee it obviously, but he would try to get me pushed up ahead of the calls that are just to service units.
 
Cotton said:
I have them coming first thing (I hope) in the morning, so we will see. The on call guy said he couldn't guarantee it obviously, but he would try to get me pushed up ahead of the calls that are just to service units.
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Did you ask the AI about it? It's really good about problems like that, coming up with things to try that you might not think about.
 
Chocolate Lab said:
Did you ask the AI about it? It's really good about problems like that, coming up with things to try that you might not think about.
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Will I need to tell it what day it is first? Sorry, I'm hot and irritable. I have not, but it doesn't hurt to ask it.
 
Grok pretty much said what I already knew. Make sure all vents are open so as to not restrict any airflow, to check the return air, and to check the air filter. It also said if I just had the freon charged 2 weeks ago and it is low (which I can't say with a doubt it is low, but I'm pretty damn sure) the it is either a leak or a metering device out, which is what the A/C said when he was here.
 
Thinking about it I may have confused things. :lol The A/C people have been to my house once, but I did have the morning where I fooled myself into thinking the outside unit was on when it wasn't. Seating the disconnect fixed it that time. But, this time I know without a doubt the outside unit was running and I could see the frost on the line coming in so I know for sure it was frozen up. What I don't know is if there is a freon leak or that metering device.
 
Left the A/C off for a bit to let it thaw until there was no more moisture dripping out of the condensation line outside and now it is blowing cool air and has dropped a degree in the house. There were two vents in the house that were closed which Grok said could restrict air flow and cause it to freeze, so I have no idea if that were it or not. I would imagine if it were low on freon it wouldn't blow cold air, right? So, I'm going to go ahead and have the A/C people come out because something caused it to freeze up. I just hope it doesn't freeze up again overnight or even sooner.
 
Cotton said:
Left the A/C off for a bit to let it thaw until there was no more moisture dripping out of the condensation line outside and now it is blowing cool air and has dropped a degree in the house. There were two vents in the house that were closed which Grok said could restrict air flow and cause it to freeze, so I have no idea if that were it or not. I would imagine if it were low on freon it wouldn't blow cold air, right? So, I'm going to go ahead and have the A/C people come out because something caused it to freeze up. I just hope it doesn't freeze up again overnight or even sooner.
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No oddly enough the low on freon causes it to get too cold which is what causes the freezing. That freezing on the condenser coils (the inside air handler) then restricts airflow.

I doubt two vents being closed would restrict the airflow that much to be honest. But I don't know how your system is set up so who knows. Have you ever pulled the panel off the side of your airhandler and looked when it stopped working? It's usually like a giant ball of ice in there when the freon is low. But restricted airflow or a fan not functioning properly can also be a culprit. Basically the name of the game is moving enough warm air over those coils so they don't freeze.

They should be able to throw their gages on it and see if the freon levels are low or normal. I'm not an expert but it feels like that's an easy diagnosis. Worst thing with a 5 year old unit is it's probably just out of warranty. I feel like 5 years is the normal warranty?

Also my understanding is there is usually a visual sign of where the leak is coming from. May be different with the new Freon but my AC guy said you can see what kind of looks like oil when it leaks. Especially if it leaked that much in just 2 weeks.
 
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Cowboysrock55 said:
No oddly enough the low on freon causes it to get too cold which is what causes the freezing. That freezing on the condenser coils (the inside air handler) then restricts airflow.

I doubt two vents being closed would restrict the airflow that much to be honest. But I don't know how your system is set up so who knows. Have you ever pulled the panel off the side of your airhandler and looked when it stopped working? It's usually like a giant ball of ice in there when the freon is low. But restricted airflow or a fan not functioning properly can also be a culprit. Basically the name of the game is moving enough warm air over those coils so they don't freeze.

They should be able to throw their gages on it and see if the freon levels are low or normal. I'm not an expert but it feels like that's an easy diagnosis. Worst thing with a 5 year old unit is it's probably just out of warranty. I feel like 5 years is the normal warranty?
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The coils in the air handler in attic are so far back in the unit I can't see them. Everything I have read talks about how the unit is built to balance between airflow output and return inflow. Grok said even a couple of vents being closed could cause that balance to be off and cause it to freeze. And, it went out of warranty 4 months ago, of course.
 
Cotton said:
The coils in the air handler in attic are so far back in the unit I can't see them. Everything I have read talks about how the unit is built to balance between airflow output and return inflow. Grok said even a couple of vents being closed could cause that balance to be off and cause it to freeze. And, it went out of warranty 4 months ago, of course.
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Yeah depends on the setup. So mine has an overflow for example that dumps the air back into the intake if pressure is too high. I'm not using a proper term on that. But my setup is a little different since I have zoning with dampers. So sometime a unit is blowing out two zones and sometimes that same unit is only blowing through one zone. So you can see if it was that easy to freeze up a system like that would always freeze when running only one zone.

By the same token, if you have anything blocking your intake vents (like furniture or boxes or whatever) you restrict the airflow on the opposite end and have the same problem.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Yeah depends on the setup. So mine has an overflow for example that dumps the air back into the intake if pressure is too high. I'm not using a proper term on that. But my setup is a little different since I have zoning with dampers. So sometime a unit is blowing out two zones and sometimes that same unit is only blowing through one zone. So you can see if it was that easy to freeze up a system like that would always freeze when running only one zone.

By the same token, if you have anything blocking your intake vents (like furniture or boxes or whatever) you restrict the airflow on the opposite end and have the same problem.
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I appreciate the conversation and the advice. So far it is cooling the house (it has now dropped 3 degrees) and I have been watching the output line going from the outside unit into the house and it has stayed cold and hasn't shown any signs of re-freezing, so hopefully it was just that air restriction. If so, I'm not going to be happy because the guy that put freon in it the time they came before is the one that suggested we close the vents in the bathroom because "how often and for how long are you in the bathroom at a time".
 
Cotton said:
I appreciate the conversation and the advice. So far it is cooling the house (it has now dropped 3 degrees) and I have been watching the output line going from the outside unit into the house and it has stayed cold and hasn't shown any signs of re-freezing, so hopefully it was just that air restriction. If so, I'm not going to be happy because the guy that put freon in it the time they came before is the one that suggested we close the vents in the bathroom because "how often and for how long are you in the bathroom at a time".
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Yeah that guy is an idiot but I'm invested now to hear what the guy who comes out says.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Yeah that guy is an idiot but I'm invested now to hear what the guy who comes out says.
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I'll update tomorrow after they are here. If it doesn't freeze overnight, I think (hope) it was that air restriction. I guess it could still be low on freon, but if it is then it should freeze overnight anyway. Ts & Ps it doesn't freeze up tonight.
 
Sounds like you found my luck.

Its just trying to remind you about that camping trip we had in the blast furnace.
 
Rev said:
Its just trying to remind you about that camping trip we had in the blast furnace.
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You talking about that trip to Colorado City when it was 110? Yes, that fucking sucked.
 
Cotton said:
I'll update tomorrow after they are here. If it doesn't freeze overnight, I think (hope) it was that air restriction. I guess it could still be low on freon, but if it is then it should freeze overnight anyway. Ts & Ps it doesn't freeze up tonight.
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Normally night time is when your AC gets a little break. But not when it's 90+ overnight like you all have.
 
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