A Beginner's Guide to Residential Air Conditioning Troubleshooting

I will try and provide the basics on how to deal with minor problems concerning your air conditioning. There are some areas of residential air conditioning which are ameable to basic trouble-shooting which you can handle rather than having to bring in a professional HVAC specialist to install or repair the unit.

These are the first steps in troubleshooting. If you determine that your air conditioner does not seem to be working properly, your first step is to take a look at the thermostat. The switch should be set to the cool setting, and the preferred temperature should always be lower than the temperature in the room. If you are using a programmable thermostat with batteries, make sure you have good working batteries installed. Then, turn the switch to the auto setting to make sure the blower is functioning. If you hear the unit come on, then the power is fine. If nothing happens, the power may not be connected, a control might be burned out, or a fuse could be blown.

After you've checked the power, made sure the selector switch is set to cool and the fan switch is set to auto, set the thermostat to far below the temperature in the room to prompt it to come on. You will want to check and make sure that the condenser comes on in addition to the blower. If it does not, check your circuit breaker. If your breaker is okl, take a look at the condenser. If your condenser features a large button, press it in as far as you can to reset the unit.

If you find that both the blower and condenser are running but the system is not cooling properly, place your hand on the largest copper line coming from the condenser. If the line is warm, there is a problem with the coolant fluid. If the line is iced over, you may have a flow problem. For a frozen line, turning the unit off and allowing it to thaw out totally might solve the problem. If you have performed residential air conditioning troubleshooting and are unable to remedy the problem, you should call an HVAC expert and have them do the repairs.

Copyright 2007 R. O. J. Taylor - All Rights Reserved

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