Question:
Lately my central air hasn’t been working very well. It is constantly running and we have to keep the thermostat turned down to 55 or below to ensure the house stays cool. (My parents live near me and they keep their thermostat around 65). Needless to say, it is always running. Well, today it stopped altogether. When I turn the air on, I can hear the outside unit kick on, but absolutely no air comes through the vents. Any ideas on what it might be and if it is something I can fix myself. My dad said it sounds like the duct is disconnected or something. Any help is appreciated, as I really want to resolve this issue, possibly without the help of expensive contractors. I also really hate to sweat. Thanks.

Reply:
Either your indoor fan motor has burnt out or the relay serving the fan motor is faulty. Either of these requires an A/C technician.
If your ductwork has blown off the indoor unit ( which can happen ) then you need to check in your ceiling space fro this possibility. If you have a zoned system, one of the damper motors could be stuck in the closed position.
My guess is that the fan motor has burnt out as this is usually the problem from what you describe here.
Good luck finding a competent A/C mechanic this time of year ( mid summer ).
Note: if you are having to set your t/stat at 55 and 65 respectively you have machines that are either too small (capacity wise) for your home or there could be a refrigerant leak which causes the machine to be ineffective. They are probably running flat out trying to reach set point, causing your electricity bill to be needlessly high….just a thought.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 14th, 2007 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Home A/C Systems, Refrigerant Leak. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.