Help! A/C runs constantly but not cooling! Update 7/24

[thebeesknees]

So the A/C ran from 3 AM on Tuesday nonstop until DH got home from work around 7 that night. By the time he got home, the temp indoors was 87! We shut it off for a few hours to see if maybe it was frozen coils, turned it back on and it kept making the "humming" sound like it does when it first kicks on but still no cold air coming out, just lukewarm. The A/C repairman can't fit us in until next Tuesday. Is there anything else I can try in the mean time that I haven't tried yet? Also, if not, does anyone have a guess as to what the problem *might* be and how much I should budget for a repair? Thanks!

Update: The guy came out today and immediately diagnosed a bad starter. Had it fixed and cold air pouring out the vents within a half hour - yay! It wound up costing around $250 for parts and labor, so it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. It's been 40 minutes now since he fixed it and the temp has gone down in the house for the first time in over a week - hooray!!!!

 

[krnlmustrd]

Is there any air blowing from the vents? We had the same issue recently where the compressor would kick on, but the air wasn't blowing. It needed a new fan motor. I don't know if that's something a handy person could replace on their own or not. I'm not that handy...

 

[cmac609]

So the A/C ran from 3 AM on Tuesday nonstop until DH got home from work around 7 that night. By the time he got home, the temp indoors was 87! We shut it off for a few hours to see if maybe it was frozen coils, turned it back on and it kept making the "humming" sound like it does when it first kicks on but still no cold air coming out, just lukewarm. The A/C repairman can't fit us in until next Tuesday. Is there anything else I can try in the mean time that I haven't tried yet? Also, if not, does anyone have a guess as to what the problem *might* be and how much I should budget for a repair? Thanks!

Sounds like it might be the compressor. Or maybe just Freon. My dh does it for a living but I am not home right now but I will ask him and see what he things if he comes home early tonight.

 

[HLAuburn]

This might be a Florida thing, but about a month ago, ours kept cutting off by itself. It ended up being that the drain pipe (from the unit to outside) was plugged up with scum! This wasn't allowing the water that was condensing from the unit to drain properly, and there is a shut off valve that was shutting off the AC. DH used a shop vac to suck out the line and poured a cleaner (maybe bleach?) through the line.

Your problem doesn't sound exactly like ours, but definitely check the units (inside and out) for anything that looks unusual. It might be a freon issue or fan issue.

Sorry I can't be more help! Good luck...no A/C is NO fun!

 

[thebeesknees]

Sounds like it might be the compressor. Or maybe just Freon. My dh does it for a living but I am not home right now but I will ask him and see what he things if he comes home early tonight.

Compressor - I was afraid someone might say that! Does your DH have any idea how much something like that would probably run us to fix? I just want to make sure I'm not getting an outrageous quote when they finally do get here.

To answer an earlier post, yes, there is air coming from the vents, but it is not cold at all., just barely cool. That "hum" noise it makes when it normally starts up comes on for just a second, stops, comes on again pretty frequently like it's trying to start up but not quite "catching", if that makes sense? I kept the blinds closed today all day to try to keep the temp down, and it is 86 in here right now. Yikes!

 

[eliza61]

Compressor - I was afraid someone might say that! Does your DH have any idea how much something like that would probably run us to fix? I just want to make sure I'm not getting an outrageous quote when they finally do get here.

To answer an earlier post, yes, there is air coming from the vents, but it is not cold at all., just barely cool. That "hum" noise it makes when it normally starts up comes on for just a second, stops, comes on again pretty frequently like it's trying to start up but not quite "catching", if that makes sense? I kept the blinds closed today all day to try to keep the temp down, and it is 86 in here right now. Yikes!

Oy vey. I can't remember but when we had to get ours replaced I think we spent close to 7K. I cried for a month. lol. it depends on the size.

My old one also used freon which is a nightmare to replace since freon has almost been banned as a coolant.

Stay cool.

 

[clm10308]

Have the filters been chacged recently?
If the filters are dirty that can lead to the compressor freezing up.

I would turn off the whole system for several hours and change the filters.
That may help get you through until the repair guy can come.

Is there a different repair company that can come sooner?

 

[hereyago]

Our ac had issues a few weeks ago. It is old so I can't reallly complain but mom 79 lives with us so it was important to get it fixed. The motor and fan had to be replaced. OP hope it is something easy and inexpensive for you.

 

[torinsmom]

Waiting until next Tuesday is ridiculous! I would call different companies until someone is able to come more quickly. Mine did that a while back and I believe it was one of the fans, but it could also have a freon leak and have nothing to cool with.

 

[goofy78]

We have a very old system and this happens at least once a year the past couple of years. We should just get a new system but... There are things on the actual system that look like a big battery? Circuit maybe? My DH gets them at the hardware store. We change that and it's all set! Sorry I don't know what they are called!

Just talked to DH and it is a fuse. Hope it works!

 

[zeferjen]

THis happened to us and it was a leak that lost all of the freon. We ended up needing a new coil and it cost almost 1200 to fix

 

[HHSTigerFan]

Ours did this about 6 weeks go... $5200 later we have a new AC system..

 

[sunnyshari]

Ours did this a few weeks ago. It was the capacitor I think it was called. The total bill was $85 but the guy who fixed it was the friend of a friend so that may have kept the price down a little. The whole repair took less than 15 minutes.

 

[TinaMcTeer]

Ours did that last week. We left ours on and then the condenser pipe froze and then we turned it off. It ended up being that the evaperator coils were clogged and needed a good cleaning. The tech ended up being here for two hours. He cleaned the whole unit and added 2 lbs. of freon and it's back to normal. The best news is that that was the best $220 I ever spent.

 

[Chloesmom]

We just went thru this same thing. Depending on how old your unit is there should be a " breaker" type box outside by the outside unit. Pull that out. If there is a fuse there it could be just a blown fuse. This is the cheapest possible thing and you can buy a new fuse at the hardware store. If it is older and has no fuse.... then you need either someone really handy or an HVAC guy. Ours needed a new starter. We got a new starter, freon recharged, and our drain cleaned out for $300. As someone else said make sure your drain is clean . If it clogs up this will cause your AC to freeze and make sure your filter is clean too.

 

[thebeesknees]

Thanks for all the replies so far. We're going to try the fuse thing when DH gets home. I am pretty sure he changed the filter within the last 2 months. We do it every 3 months on a regular basis, but I will have him pick up a new filter and see if that helps.

 

[bdcp]

Ours did this a few weeks ago. It was the capacitor I think it was called. The total bill was $85 but the guy who fixed it was the friend of a friend so that may have kept the price down a little. The whole repair took less than 15 minutes.

That's what I was thinking too. We have 3 units and last summer we had to replace two capacitors and if it wasn't for our service contract it would have been over $200 each. Yes, you got a deal. The part isn't that expensive, but the rate to install it is. You can buy one and install it yourself. Apparently, it isn't that difficult and there are instructions on line. My DH would rather pay someone else to do it though

 

[MKCP84]

This happened to us a month ago. We checked and a fuse was tripped so we switched it back on and it kept tripping so we called the HVAC company. Our compressor was out so we could have either replaced the compressor or for another $800 replaced the central air unit outside, which is what we did, as our unit was 15 years old already.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

We just had to replace the entire thing for our house in KY. Six year old house, and we found out the units were at least 8 years old. The homebuilder put used units in the houses AND ours were mismatched for size. The AC guy said it is quite common for homebuilders to put used units in.
This is one more thing for us to watch for next home we buy.

Anyways, replaced the downstairs units to the tune of $7500. This is a week after the AC guy had recharged the freon to the tune of $250. When he did that he warned my husband that the motor wouldn't last long, but we were hoping it would at least last another year.
Hoping the upstairs units hold out a few years at least, AC guy didn't see any issues with them.

All of our neighbors have complained of similar issues with their AC units.

 

[jiminy14]

I experienced the same problem about two weeks ago. The fan was running but the air was not cool. I checked the main fuse box in the garage and found that the AC breaker had been tripped. I switched it back and the AC started to run cold again. By the next morning the problem had resurfaced and I found the breaker tripped again. Called our AC company (Hutchinson's) that we have a contract with because the unit is less than 3 years old. The repairman came out and told me there were some loose connections outside that he tightened and charged me $165. AC ran well for about three hours and then started tripping the breaker again. Called the AC company back and they told me they would send out a repairman two days later for a "call back". Same guy came back and told me that now the compressor was bad and would have to be replaced. He thought the part would be covered under warranty but the labor would not. Price with warranty- $1100, without- $1600. Part would have to be ordered and could take 5 business days. This was 4th of July week which would mean it would take until the following week to get the part. I had already been without AC for almost a week so waiting another week of high 90's was just not going to work. I ended up calling another company that got the part over night with no extra shipping charges and charged me $950 to install it.