Many homeowners ask us how to fix a frozen AC unit. This is an important question and in this article, we will tell how a professional Home AC repair service can help you. The root cause of the AC freezing up is due to the manipulation of the Joule-Thompson effect.
Well, this is a scientific term, and you may not be aware of it, you just need to understand that it is a thermodynamic principle that allowed us to create an AC unit in the first place. Anyway, coming back to the original question – how to fix frozen AC unit? Let’s find out!
What Causes a Frozen AC Unit?
There are many causes and reasons behind your frozen AC unit. Some of them are:
Low Refrigerant
Low refrigerant can cause low pressure in the AC unit. In general, low pressure leads to low temperatures. As a result, this causes the evaporator coils to freeze.
Insufficient Air Flow
When your AC unit has low airflow, the unit pulls in heat from the surrounding environment. When this happens, the unit forms condensation on the coils, which turn them into ice.
Mechanical Failures
An AC unit consists of several mechanical components such as a compressor, a fan, and an expansion device. A malfunction in any of these components can cause problems in the AC unit. Likewise, this can cause a reduction in the temperature of the AC unit. Eventually, this leads the AC unit to freeze up.
How to Fix a Frozen AC Unit
It is not recommended to open the central AC unit and starting fixing the problems yourself. This is not a DIY job, which means you must hire a professional Home AC repair technician to fix the problem.
When you hire a professional Home AC repair technician and ask him how to how to fix a frozen AC unit, he will guide you through the steps. Of course, you won’t do it yourself. It is not your job.
So, the technician will unthaw the central AC unit and allow the coils to dry. First, the technician will switch the unit thermostat to “OFF” mode and the fan to “ON” mode. The purpose is to minimize any further damage and get a better view of what is exactly is the problem with the central AC.
Check Air Filters
If the problem is not solved with drying the coils, the home AC repair technician will check air filters to find the underlying cause of the frozen AC unit. One common cause of blocked airflow in the central AC is the debris that makes the air filters dirty.
As we mentioned above, the insufficient flow of air prevents heat from entering the AC system, which causes the unit to freeze up. If the air filters are dirty, the technician will clean them off. Otherwise, the technician based on his experience will tell you that it is time to replace the filter. This is one of the ways on how to fix a frozen AC unit.
Check Coils
In case the air filters are clean, but the problem still exists, then the technician will look at the evaporator coil. It is because if the coils are dirty, they can impede the airflow. The technician will access the panels of the unit and then approach the evaporator coils.
A lot of technicians do not turn “OFF” the AC unit while cleaning the coils. This is a mistake. However, if you hire a professional Home AC repair technician of Air Repair Pros McKinney, then he or she will get the job done accurately by removing debris from the coils.
Check Ductwork
Now that you know that debris and dust can cause airflow issues, it can also collapse ductwork. If your central AC unit ductwork is not correctly fitted, it will obstruct the airflow and block warm air that keeps the AC unit to function properly
Ductwork issues are either small holes or gaps. Now, you can do this job yourself as DIY, but again, a professional can fix it using duct tape so that the AC unit lasts for longer, and you don’t face such an issue in the future. Likewise, more extensive damage must also be accessed by a Home AC repair technician.
Conclusion
Wrapping up, you have come to know about the causes and solutions of why the AC unit freezes up. Again, if you ignore this problem, it can lead to further complications. As a result, you will have to replace the entire central AC unit. Air Repair Pros McKinney is a company with qualified professionals who know how to fix a frozen AC unit.
