My A/C Isn't Working! What Do I Do?

It's starting to get warm outside and that means it's time to fire up your air conditioning. But the first time you start it for the season, you discover that it's not blowing cold air. Here are a few pro tips to improve the efficiency of your A/C and a suggested part to replace if that happens.

Pro Tip #1:

Clean your coils annually.

With standard air conditioning systems, your condenser coils can get gummed up with dirt and debris just sitting outside your house. Dirt, grime, grass clippings, leaves... all of this can actually build up enough to clog the coils preventing them from doing the one thing they are intended to do: transfer heat.

Cleaning coils is much less of a hassle if done on a regular basis. All you need to do is hose the coils down with a garden hose. But, be thorough - just wetting them down will not remove the dirt preventing the heat transfer. There are also coil cleaners that can assist in this annual ritual.

Pro Tip #2

Maintain good airflow.

If your furnace blower isn't moving enough air past the evaporator coils, again - heat transfer fails. This results in coolant actually freezing cooling lines and thus coolant stops flowing.

Replace your furnace filter every 3 months or more often. If this doesn't happen or hasn't happened regularly in the past, your furnace ducts could have a build up of debris - air flow restricting debris. Plus, that stuff is gross. You may need to get a professional to clean your ducts.

Open up all furnace vents to maximize air flow. If necessary, a booster fan can improve air flow to the far ends of your house.

Pro Tip #3

Check your capacitor.

One of the most common selling appliance parts in the Spring and Summer is an air conditioning run capacitor and often it is the first part to fail in an A/C system. Replacing this approximately $30 part could save you hundreds on a visit from a certified technician. Inspect your capacitor for any bulging surfaces. If you sit the capacitor down on a flat surface and it wobbles - it most likely is bad and needs replaced.

It is also relatively easy to replace. When ordering a replacement capacitor, make sure to match the microfarad rating (look for the number or numbers that preceed the symbol that looks like a backwards lowercase "u" followed by "F"). After that, ensure the correct voltage, and finally, just make sure it will fit (some are pill shaped and some are perfectly cylindrical). In the example below, this capacitor has a 35+5 microfarad rating, is round in shape (not pill shaped) and will work for 370 volt or 440 volt systems.

Look here to search for A/C run capacitors.