HVAC question

martinslanding

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Posts
2,972
Likes
26
Points
251
Location
eastern half of ND
Came home this weekend to find the central air unit froze up…outside unit was running but inside blower was not. The outside of the furnace had ice on it. I shut everything off, I am assuming the a-coil is frozen.

My question is how long does this typically take to thaw out, and once thawed can I just turn it back on or is there anything that need to be reset? Both outside and inside units are TRANE, probably 15 years old

thanks in advance...
 


dust in the wind

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Posts
2,570
Likes
29
Points
246
Location
somewhere else
Mine froze up (new house). I opened up the inside unit and it thawed out pretty quickly. In about 4 hours most of it cleared up. I did let it sit overnight as there was still some ice around the drain area.

In the morning I put everything back together and turned it all on. It worked Ok until it froze up again. The builder had the HVAC guy come out and the outside unit was just a little low on refrigerant. Could have happened on install.

He topped it off and it's been running good since.
 

martinslanding

Founding Member
Founding Member
Thread starter
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Posts
2,972
Likes
26
Points
251
Location
eastern half of ND
you're effed

I didn't mind sleeping in the humid, tropical atmosphere...however the dogs were pretty pissed they couldn't lay in front of their cool vent in the entryway..

yes, from what I have figured out the outside unit is either low on refrigerant or the filter was dirty...and my filter was very dirty
 

johnr

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Posts
19,995
Likes
3,590
Points
803
Location
Dickinson
Mine did the same thing, however I had a buddy in the refrigeration business come over and check it out.
of course by the time he came over everything had "de-iced".

Been in my house for over 10 years, never had this happen before, not sure why it did this year.
 


MuskyManiac

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Posts
3,660
Likes
195
Points
313
Location
Grand Forks, ND
Shouldn't be icing up. Make sure your condensation drain tube is clear. They tend to get a lot of gunk build-up on the inside.
 

thriller1

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 9, 2015
Posts
1,018
Likes
5
Points
191
I have to say that all of the above is very good advice. I came home from the lake this weekend to a balmy 81 degrees inside the house. The fan on the central air unit was working but the compressor wasn't kicking on and the system was not froze up. I researched as much as I could to remedy the problem myself. Some of the info was to make sure the condensation drain tube was clear as well as making sure the "drain tray" was emptied. Apparently, some of these units have a switch to shut the system off in the event the tray fills up with water causing overflow that will cause water damage. All of the research online indicated that my "run capacitor" was not working. After a quick trip into Fargo for a $9 run capacitor I am happy to say that seemed to be the culprit.
 

martinslanding

Founding Member
Founding Member
Thread starter
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Posts
2,972
Likes
26
Points
251
Location
eastern half of ND
I have to say that all of the above is very good advice. I came home from the lake this weekend to a balmy 81 degrees inside the house. The fan on the central air unit was working but the compressor wasn't kicking on and the system was not froze up. I researched as much as I could to remedy the problem myself. Some of the info was to make sure the condensation drain tube was clear as well as making sure the "drain tray" was emptied. Apparently, some of these units have a switch to shut the system off in the event the tray fills up with water causing overflow that will cause water damage. All of the research online indicated that my "run capacitor" was not working. After a quick trip into Fargo for a $9 run capacitor I am happy to say that seemed to be the culprit.

In my research I have found that on compressor issues sometimes the coils on the outside unit get dirty…a quick power washing of the outside unit can also remedy this problem. In my case I believe it was my filter, turned the air on at noon today and seems to be working…if it freezes up again I will assume the refrigerant is low
 

thriller1

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 9, 2015
Posts
1,018
Likes
5
Points
191
Power washing the coils was actually the first thing I tried with no luck. I am monitoring in closely and still seems to be cooling. Just a heads up that I went to Dey's in north Fargo for the part. It was $9 there versus the $20-$40 everywhere else.
 


bowcarp

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 15, 2015
Posts
670
Likes
163
Points
220
Location
was Minot now S.D.
fastest way to thaw it out turn stat to off , fan to on position , has it been serviced in the 15 years , since it was froze up the compressor was running , things to check after its thawed is the filter clean/changed , is the furnace blower clean and running up to speed , if a 90% style furnace is the secondary heat ex changer clean or plugged , is the a-coil clean or plugged , if these check out odds are there is a charge problem refrigerant doesn't get old or wear out there is probably a leak how bad any ones guess could be a matter of a few ounces or pounds , if pounds they should be able to find the leak odds are it will be in the a-coil
 

martinslanding

Founding Member
Founding Member
Thread starter
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Posts
2,972
Likes
26
Points
251
Location
eastern half of ND
fastest way to thaw it out turn stat to off , fan to on position , has it been serviced in the 15 years , since it was froze up the compressor was running , things to check after its thawed is the filter clean/changed , is the furnace blower clean and running up to speed , if a 90% style furnace is the secondary heat ex changer clean or plugged , is the a-coil clean or plugged , if these check out odds are there is a charge problem refrigerant doesn't get old or wear out there is probably a leak how bad any ones guess could be a matter of a few ounces or pounds , if pounds they should be able to find the leak odds are it will be in the a-coil

Thanks...unit was last serviced in 2008. I got the unit to cool again...however it ran all day and could only bring the house temp down to 76, the filter was very dirty I did change that, it's a Trane with the accordian style aprilaire filter...not really sure how to get at the a-coil to see if it's completely thawed, just hate to call a service guy if it's a simple do it yourself fix
 

bowcarp

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 15, 2015
Posts
670
Likes
163
Points
220
Location
was Minot now S.D.
hate to say it but you should have it looked at , cleaning trane condensers is a pain need to get the covers off light touch with a torch to turn the junk to ash , other wise the cotton and whatnot will just pack into the tinsel fin if just a hose and water is used , as far as accessing the a-coil how easy it is to get at depends on who built the tin some are easier then others , then it depends on the line set routing how far it will let the coil be slid out for cleaning
 

Gator

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Posts
34
Likes
0
Points
76
Location
Minot
Thanks...unit was last serviced in 2008. I got the unit to cool again...however it ran all day and could only bring the house temp down to 76, the filter was very dirty I did change that, it's a Trane with the accordian style aprilaire filter...not really sure how to get at the a-coil to see if it's completely thawed, just hate to call a service guy if it's a simple do it yourself fix
Three things cause freeze up.
low refrigerant
bad metering device
lack of air flow inside
the last on you can check yourself ,if the coil is done dripping water and for sure thawed out turn the blower on and see if you feel air coming out of the vents. If not check your filter, return grills, and supply damper, if all are good you may have a plugged a coil. if it didn't freeze up again but doesn't cool you may have a leak that developed.
 

Recent Posts

Friends of NDA

Top Posters of the Month

  • This month: 159
  • This month: 135
  • This month: 119
  • This month: 110
  • This month: 105
  • This month: 87
  • This month: 84
  • This month: 76
  • This month: 75
  • This month: 75
Top Bottom