I know this is a car forum but this is the Misc section of the forum. Does anyone here know anything about Central Air in a home as far as problems that occur in a system and the fix? Let me know. If someone does I will explain the problem I am having at my home in the past week rather then do so now as it might be a waste of time even talking about it here. I thought I would give it a shot since I am striking out everywhere else I have checked on the net in finding someone else who experienced the same problem.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
Spit it out, man. I don't have central air, but I do have central heat... As with anything else its a process of elimination...... Did it work last year? Did you call a service tech? It might need a re-charge, mine did in another house. The guy came out and fixed it, it was ground based unit, I think it was around $125.00
Ok this is what is going on. My central air system blows cold air in my home and when it gets down to the temperture setting on my Thermostat say 72 degrees it shuts down as it should.
Problem is once it shuts down it trys to restart again within maybe 5 seconds and then within seconds it will shut down once more and then try to restart a 2nd time until it shuts down finally. Other then that it cools the house well. No freeze ups at the Evaporator. Air Filter is clean and Blower Motor turns on to blow the cold air. Wondering based on research if the Capacitor is going bad or Contactor in the outside unit.
In the process of elimination I replaced the original Honeywelll manual mercury Thermostat last night to see if I had a bad thermostat. Well today I found out it was not the thermostat. Cost me $40 plus around $2 and change sales tax no big deal. Where I go from here I have no idea being capacitors usally bulge when they are going bad from what I understand and will not turn the motor over to where the motor may hum but not start. The contacter where all of the wires plug in I understand they go bad but I have no idea if they have intermittant problems to cause the problem I am having. Both of these parts are in the outside unit as I opened the cover up to check them the other day after disconnecting the power to the system.
The outside compressor by the way is clean being I hose it down every other year to clean the fins. There is no freezeup happening either at the compressor or down in the basement at the Evaporator. Usually if it freezes up most would know you would need to add freon. I am just stumped here as I have checked plenty of places on the internet looking for answers but I keep coming up short. In the mean time I put a couple of window units in to keep the bedrooms cool. Lowes has 5,000 BTU units for only $100 and I had a 8,000 BTU from back in the 80's when I first started out in the apartment I had. Still works like new so I am not panicking do to lack of being cool. Probably good to have some window units as back ups anyway.
Any ideas are appreciated. Just to mention I have a gas hot air heating system. It is original to my home from 1985. The Comfort-Aire A/C system is original from 1986 and has given me good service all these years but I believe a component has failed or is failing.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
Last year we had a similar problem. We thought it was the thermostat. Sometimes the a/c would work fine, sometimes the fan would kick on but not the compressor. My a/c guy is like a friend, we have been using the same guy for almost 20 years. We call, he comes running. Well, he went up in the attic to check all the wiring. He found a wire with a small crack in it and splice in a new section. It's been a year and no problems. He used some kind of a scope to check wires/current and figured it out that there was some kind of short. Could be a ground wire for you? Or something like the problem I had.
I don't know anything about AC....but I do know I'd be a bit** without it.
Speedie that is why I right away started plan B when it went down. Cheap (Window Units).
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
You're getting a restart or start signal when you shouldn't be.....you could try a manual switch. You'd have to make a manual switch up, I doubt that you can buy one. But that would eliminate the thermostat circuit for a test, the thermostat on the wall is only the 1st step in starting the compressor motor. The start signal is incorrect, according to the thermostat. A weak signal will not have enough voltage to start the motor. Since it works well on the 1st start up, it sounds like a shorted/weak circuit. It sounds like its somewhere between the thermostat and the compressor motor.
Is the unit a 3-5 ton? 5 ton unit is BIG money. 1986 you've gotten your moneys worth, you can fix the old unit from now on out.
Before I'd do anything else I'd call a repairman, its what they do........if your C5 quit running you could not fix it.
I've never in my life lived in a home with air conditioning. In the Summa time it gets hot, so what? In the winter it gets cold, the only good times of the year are Fall and Spring. The last three places that I lived didn't have air you're talking 16 years. I haven't used my central heat in 2 years........to much money. Temps here go from 20 to 110.......50 to 60% humidity.
I have a swamp cooler, 1/3 the cost of air. Keeps the house at 72 with an outside temp of over 100. Heat, I have a oil electric heater and a pellet stove.......my heating bills are less than $100.00 a month. This months electric bill is $25.00. Water is slightly higher with the cooler on......about $32.00 My propane bill is about $600 every 18 months. Phone $40.00 with unlimited long distance. Gasoline $25.00 a month.
You people are all spolied and rich......I don't even use the air in my car.
Redwing, Right now the sytem is shut down. If I were to put the Thermostat on 72 degrees the A/C System would start up and run for as long as it would take to get the room down to 72 degrees like any A/C System should do. It will work fine up to that point and that could be for a good 1/2 hour of running. At the point of shut down is where the problem occurs when it trys to retart again within say 5 or so seconds for no real reason. Now if there were to be a Thermostat wiring problem going to the outside unit wouldn't one think that they would have the problem right from the get go when first starting the system? That isn't the case here so a week link in the Stat wiring doesn't seem to make any sense to me although it could be the problem. Don't get me wrong I will have someone come out to fix the unit. Matter of fact I know a fellow who does Air Contioning 3 blks away from me. Didn't want to bother him as of yet figuring I could fix the problem as it must be something minor. That and the fact I am not in a hurry being I have window units in where they are needed. I was telling my wife we will probably save some money on electricity having the window units in place being the whole central system doesn't have to run and you cool just the room that needs to be cool. Maybe Central Air really isn't the way to go although any room you walk in with it is as cool as the other rooms on the same floor. Since day one the 2nd floor was never as cool as the first floor. Have a neighbor right across the road who built after I did and I could never understand why he had 2 A/C Compressor units right next to each other outside the home. I guess he knew better at the time and decided on 2 zone A/C for his home that is right around the same size as my home around 2100 sq ft. Not that big of a home.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
It could be the mag-starter on the electric motor. When a compressor is cold, theres less pressure in it so a cold start is easier to start than a hot compressor. But when its hot and under pressure its harder to start. But yes get a service-man out there...... good luck with it. Thermodynamics, the upper floor will always be warmer........and your right only cool the rooms that your in.
Redwing to be honest with you I never got to doing anything more being we have window units in as I mentioned. I have been working on one of my collector cars a '87 SS Monte Carlo as I am starting to restore it slowing. I am getting ready to reinstall the headliner in it as I just spray glued the new material to the headliner board this morning being business was slow. Just got back from a automotive warehouse picking up some merchandise for resale. See I have no messages so I am going back out to reinstalled the headliner right now as I post here. I will get to the central air system sometime this week. Having the window units puts me in a better position as to which way to go with the central air unit being I can take my time in making a move whether to fix my problem or go brand new. If its a minor problem I will probably just fix what I have. I will let everyone know how I make out as soon as I find what the problem is.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
