Latest / Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast / What Causes AC Units To Freeze Up?

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What Causes AC Units To Freeze Up? · Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast

• 0:01
  Check A Pro Joe here on the Check A Pro radio show love
• 0:04
  talking home improvement I've got a home improvement expert here
• 0:08
  Nathan Shafer from Shafer Heating and Cooling hello
• 0:12
  Nathan how are you hey great how are you man I am living the dream it's so great
• 0:16
  to have you here on the program today you know questions come in to the radio
• 0:20
  program and this is a common question it's a common issue and it's happened
• 0:26
  to me before in the past with my air conditioning unit and And the question is,
• 0:30
  is what causes AC units to freeze up?
• 0:36
  Great question. Yeah, definitely a common one, especially this time of year.
• 0:39
  We get that one coming in quite a bit.
• 0:41
  So, you know, there's a list of things really that can cause the AC to freeze up.
• 0:46
  It could be, I mean, first thing to check first would be airflow, right?
• 0:49
  So if we don't have enough airflow moving across that indoor evaporator coil,
• 0:52
  it's going to get colder and colder. It's going to cause it to freeze up.
• 0:56
  So, uh, number one thing to check, uh, for you, uh, as the client is,
• 1:00
  Hey, is the air filter clean?
• 1:01
  Who's the last thing I, last time I changed it, it's out of sight, out of mind.
• 1:05
  It probably feels like it was last week, but let's face it. It might've been
• 1:08
  two months, three months, six months ago. So check the air filter.
• 1:11
  Let's make sure that's good and clean.
• 1:12
  Uh, it could be a cleanliness thing on the coil. So once again,
• 1:15
  causing airflow issues, uh, could be issues with the blower motor,
• 1:18
  uh, outside of that, outside of airflow and duct sizing and things,
• 1:23
  it could be, other things relating to refrigerant circuits.
• 1:25
  So things like metering devices, low on charge, maybe there's a leak in the system.
• 1:30
  Some people will kind of have that common thought process belief that,
• 1:34
  hey, it's been five or six years, it's probably time to add a little bit of charge to it.
• 1:38
  In reality, that system should not be leaking.
• 1:41
  That should be a tight sealed system.
• 1:43
  And so if there's no leak, we really shouldn't have to ever be adding refrigerant
• 1:47
  to the system. So, hey, yes, let's get it charged up and working correctly,
• 1:51
  but let's also check the system for leaks.
• 1:54
  And we've got the instruments and things to be able to do that.
• 1:56
  So those are some of the most common things. There's other things as well,
• 1:59
  but that's going to be some of your most common things.
• 2:02
  So airflow, low on charge due to a leak or metering device, restrictions,
• 2:06
  something like that, and refrigerant circuits.
• 2:08
  So lots of things that can cause that system to freeze up.
• 2:12
  Some people will top off their refrigerant every year.
• 2:19
  That's like you said, you're not supposed to do that.
• 2:22
  Some people avoid getting the repair done and they're putting a bandaid on it.
• 2:27
  It's kind of like having to put oil in your car or truck all the time.
• 2:31
  It's not supposed to be leaking.
• 2:34
  But you can still operate both the air conditioning system and the car or truck
• 2:38
  for a while like that, but it's not the right thing to do. It is important to
• 2:43
  keep coils, whether it's outside or inside, clean, the air filter clean.
• 2:48
  So I would guess that if everything's been running great with your five-year-old
• 2:55
  unit, but all of a sudden you're having a problem, then something's changed.
• 3:03
  Something's dirty or you might have a leak.
• 3:06
  Mm hmm. Yeah. And like you said, it's not that you couldn't keep,
• 3:10
  you know, quote unquote, topping it off.
• 3:12
  But not only that, just a band aid, you know, it could be causing some other
• 3:16
  wear and tear on the system by constantly getting low and you're running it.
• 3:19
  You could be increasing utility bills because it's changing your run times,
• 3:22
  efficiency of the system is changing the comfort of the home,
• 3:25
  all these different things.
• 3:26
  But also, too, I mean, topping it off can get expensive.
• 3:29
  Refrigerant's not cheap. Having that licensed technician, that fully stocked
• 3:33
  truck, that ambulance, that emergency vehicle come out every time to keep topping
• 3:39
  it off, that can get costly.
• 3:40
  And so we want to make sure we find the right fix, the proper fix,
• 3:44
  the one-time solution to get that system fixed, not freezing up and working
• 3:50
  properly and efficiently for the client.
• 3:53
  So we're definitely obviously always here to do that 24-7.
• 3:57
  I've heard of tips also, when it freezes up, if you know it's freezing up,
• 4:01
  you really need to shut it down for a while to let it defrost.
• 4:05
  Even though it may be very, very hot where it's freezing up,
• 4:09
  it doesn't matter. It's going to freeze.
• 4:12
  Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So if you've got signs that it's starting to frost or freeze
• 4:17
  up, yeah, shut it down because you can cause so much more damage.
• 4:20
  Image uh if it were in the cooling mode where it's going to start freezing first
• 4:23
  um you know nine out of ten times that evaporator coil
• 4:26
  inside the furnace inside the house and it might
• 4:29
  work its way back out so you may notice it at the outdoor unit on that big refrigerant
• 4:33
  line coming up but if it's freezing up out there that means the inside unit
• 4:36
  is a huge chunk of ice but that's all inside the system so chances are you may
• 4:40
  not be able to see that well that's creating a lot of pressure on that coil
• 4:43
  which can cause more leaks or other damage or when it melts water is going to
• 4:47
  start getting down to the furnace.
• 4:48
  So just shut power off to the furnace, shut it down, give us a call,
• 4:52
  let us come out and check it out.
• 4:53
  But yeah, shut it down. As soon as you notice that don't try to keep getting
• 4:57
  just a little bit out of which I know it's tempting, it's hot,
• 4:59
  and that's what you naturally want to do.
• 5:01
  However, when the technician comes out, it's a huge chunk of ice.
• 5:05
  There's not much they can do or test until it unthaws. So let's turn it off.
• 5:09
  Let's let it unthaw. Let's not cause any more damage.
• 5:11
  That way when the technician comes out, they can do a proper diagnosis and be
• 5:14
  able to tell tell exactly what's
• 5:16
  going on with that system, what caused it to freeze up to begin with.
• 5:20
  Great advice. Nathan, thank you so much for joining me today.
• 5:23
  Hey, you bet, Jim. Thank you.