A/C experts! My front "fins" are turning into blocks of ice, lots of pics, help!

[Gray Market]

A/C experts! My front "fins" are turning into blocks of ice, lots of pics, help!

Well it's pretty obvious I can't call an ac guy to check this out so I am calling on my trusty icmag brothers.
Just in the last couple of weeks since the outdoor temps have fallen out of the 80's, my front half of the ac turns into a block of ice. I have tried everything from putting fans in front,fans on the back,etc. and within 10 hrs block of ice.

Here is the front,one big sheet of ice, the air can't even pull through

Closeup of the front, one little strip on top that isn't froze over

Side panel view

Side panels removed

Front copper coils iced over

This is the back half of the ac where all the heat blows up and out, this thing(condenser)is frozen?

Another pic, this area is super hot air, but this part is frozen, maybe this is my problem?

Model number
Please any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TribalSeeds]

Its either over working or it needs freon. Fans blowing on it wont help. Buy a new one if you cant have someone over or take it out. A backup wouldnt hurt if you ever get this one working.

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

When mine did that it was because of a dead fan. Is the fan working? I would also check the freon levels.

 

[Avenger]

yeah, in the picture it doesn't look like the front fan(evaporator fan) is turning. that'll def cause it to ice over.

 

[Smokin Joe]

That is a portable ac right? Can you not take it to an appliance repair shop? There are 3 things that will cause your problem. #1 lack of proper air flow (dirty filter, dirty evaporator coil, dirty fan blades, fan running too slow or not at all) #2 low on freon #3 restricted freon flow.
How old is the unit? Still under warranty? I'm an HVAC tech and willing to help but there is only so much I can do over the interwebs.
Turn the unit off. Turn on fan only. If that is possible. Let it thaw completely. Unplug and get a can of no rinse evaporator coil cleaner and soak down the front coil. Turn the unit back on and see what happens. All covers must be on for proper operation.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

freon is the number one cause of frozen lines/ a/c

 

[Smokin Joe]

In your first pic is that the room supply duct above the block of ice? If so what size is it. This is a 60,000 btu / 5 ton unit right? If the info I dug up on this unit is correct you have a 5 ton unit. It requires not less than a 16" duct to move the proper amount of air across the evaporator coil. Not sure but that duct looks a lot smaller than 16". That could be your whole problem. Lack of air flow
Link where I found info
http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/2OAC6012.html

 

[festivus]

Maybe just too much humidity in the room?

 

[Smokin Joe]

There should be at best only a 20 degree drop in the air passing over the evaporator coil. Any more than 20 and the coil is too cold. Less than 12 and the coil isn't cold enough to remove any humidity. An 18 degree drop is average. The coil would have to be below 32 to make ice form. So for too much humidity in room to cause ice to form the room temp would need to be around 52 degrees if the unit is working properly. But this unit has a hot gas bypass valve that allows it to work properly at colder room temps. The hot gas bypass valve introduces hot gas from the high pressure side of the unit to the low pressure side to prevent icing in colder than normal conditions. I could lead him through the process of checking every component in the unit but he would need to spend a few thousand dollars on the tools to do the job and have a basic knowledge of how refrigeration systems work.

 

[Holdin']

View attachment 181969
Another pic, this area is super hot air, but this part is frozen, maybe this is my problem?
View attachment 181970
Model number
Please any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

No, that is a byproduct of your problem.

freon is the number one cause of frozen lines/ a/c

Negative. Lack of air flow associated with a dirty filter would take that prize.

Along with what a couple other people said, the first and foremost thing I am going to say is to make sure the fan is running. Stop airflow across the evaporator and you get this affect instantly. Of course a dirty coil, if you haven't kept up on your filter, will also cause this problem.

I hope you've already checked the filter

The unit may have very well lost some refrigerant if you've verified airflow and had a clean filter. Like another guy said, it's POSSIBLE to walk you through the steps but the problem of not having the proper equipment prevents us from doing that. And plus, any further than verifying your fan operation and checking/cleaning your evap coil... it really should be somebody qualified to check/adjust the charge and/or find or fix a leak.

I recommend taking it to an appliance repair shop.

What you CAN do is look carefully throughout the piping, coils, etc and see if you notice any sort of oil/oily residue on any of the pipes. Then if you do, you can usually trace the source of the oil and find the leak. Then you will know that your unit leaking is the cause of this problem, which is likely is if you've already verified airflow. And also this could save you some money when you take it in to get repaired, because at least in the HVAC field we will charge not only to fix the leak but also to find it, in many cases. I'm sure appliance repairmen do the same.

And also just FYI - if you noticed this block of ice that your evap coil has become, and also noticed that the filter was plugged at the same time... well even if you just clean your filter and reinstall it, the unit won't have a chance to defrost on it's own if you've still been running it constantly trying to cool the area - as this ice building on an evap coil creates a chain reaction.... little bit of ice causes restricted airflow and lack of superheat, which then causes more ice... etc. So if that be the case, let the coil thaw, and start the unit.

Oh and btw... DO NOT continue to run the unit in this condition (which it will NOT cool in this condition) being that you are slugging liquid refrigerant back to your compressor. Then you will have a much bigger problem.

 

[Gray Market]

Galahad, I have all the fans working and all t





he coils are clean. I am starting to think its low on freon. It has worked great the last 3 months. No problems. Then about 3 weeks ago it iced up, it would let it thaw, turn it back on and be good for a few days, then ice again. Now it's icing up daily.
There is two port/inlets, which one is the one I put the recharge can on?

In this picture one of the ports is frozen over is this the one I use?

 

[Holdin']

Galahad, I have all the fans working and all t


View attachment 182348


he coils are clean. I am starting to think its low on freon. It has worked great the last 3 months. No problems. Then about 3 weeks ago it iced up, it would let it thaw, turn it back on and be good for a few days, then ice again. Now it's icing up daily.
There is two port/inlets, which one is the one I put the recharge can on?

In this picture one of the ports is frozen over is this the one I use?

Yes the one that is frozen is where you would add refrigerant. Do you know how to go about doing this?

 

[Holdin']

I just read the part about the "recharge can"

I looked up your model and it uses R22.

I don't suppose you have a "recharge can" of R22.

And you're not sure that this is the problem. There is a good chance it is. But there ARE other factors that can come into play. I don't know what you mean about a recharge can, or if you actually have R22... But at a minimum you need a set a R22 gauge set/manifold and hoses, a pipe clamp thermometer, and a scale. You can't just dump it in and hope for the best...

 

[Smokin Joe]

Gray Market, what holden is telling is true.
Yes the port on the frozen line is the 1 you want. First you need the unit to be totally ice free. You need a set of r-22 gauges, r-22 freon, recovery pump, vacuum pump, oxygen and acetylene torch, sel-foss welding rod, charging scale, and a spray bottle with a soapy mixture to make bubbles. First thaw unit completely. Now spray soapy mixture over all the freon lines, fittings, coils and even the schrader valves, all components that have freon till you find the leak. Since this unit has a hot gas by-pass valve you can not simply add freon. The by-pass valve will lie to you about the charge. You will have to know how much freon the unit holds, recover all freon from the unit and put a weighed charge back in the unit. Like I said before I can walk you through the process but it will cost you thousands of dollars for the proper tools to do the job. Unless you have an disposable income your best bet is to take it to a repair shop or buy another unit.

 

[Guest322028]

Wut abot window bangers?

Wut abot window bangers?

 

[Gray Market]

Thanks for all the help guys!
I bought this unit for $100, from a mortgage office going out of business . It retails for 9500, not a bad deal,lol.it is huge, not really able to pack it up to bring to a service guy...

One more thing, inside air sensor 72 degrees(the room temp) outside air 47 degrees( the air being pushed out). It has these sensors that measure this.
I have my set point to 70 degrees.

The air is coming out at 47 degrees, Would that still happen if it is running out of freon? It has never had a problem pushing out cold air, it just turns to a block of ice after about 7 hrs.
I'm so confused????
What does the compressor do?

 

[burns1n209]

compressor , compress the freon then sends the gas to the condenser to cool down and turns the gas back into a liquid, then goes into expansion valve and evaporator and turns it back into a gas. That change is where the cooling comes from. and back into compressor.

Clean off condenser, make sure proper air flow across the condenser. With a 5ton unit you need alot of air moving across or through the condenser. That looks like the problem to me. Possible low on freon but id guess not enough cooling of the condenser.

 

[Avenger]

47 degrees( the air being pushed out).

is this accurate?

if the air being blown across the condenser coil is indeed 47 degrees farenheit, then you have found your problem.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks for all the help guys!
I bought this unit for $100, from a mortgage office going out of business . It retails for 9500, not a bad deal,lol.it is huge, not really able to pack it up to bring to a service guy...

One more thing, inside air sensor 72 degrees(the room temp) outside air 47 degrees( the air being pushed out). It has these sensors that measure this.
I have my set point to 70 degrees.

The air is coming out at 47 degrees, Would that still happen if it is running out of freon? It has never had a problem pushing out cold air, it just turns to a block of ice after about 7 hrs.
I'm so confused????
What does the compressor do?

Chances are you are low on freon. If you can get some r-22 and a set of gauges you can most likely get buy with just adding a pound or 2 of freon. From what I read in this post you have a 25 degree drop across the evaporator coil. That is why you are making ice. Low freon will cause this. If you can get your hands on a set of gauges we can look at the pressure and tell more by that. The r-22 freon is gonna be the hardest thing for you to get because most places require an EPA certification before they will sell it to you. Check the classifieds, maybe someone close to you has some r-22 they are trying to sell

 

[Avenger]

I think the last thing any qualified Air conditioning service man should be sugessting a layman do is check the refigerant charge or operating pressures. Especially when all other posibilities have not been ruled out.

Most likely the problem is not a loss of refrigerant.

We have verified that the indoor fan is operating, that the filter and evaporator coil are clean. So We are assuming it is not a reduced airflow across the evap coil problem.

He has stated several times that it all started when the temperature outside cooled off.

He as said the unit displays an outdoor temperature of 47* F.

Now the way i think this unit works, is it pulls room air over the condenser coil, and not outdoor air, but I suppose it could be ducted to pull outdoor air over the condenser coil.

But I do know that if the air blowing across the condenser coil is only 47* F, a low head pressure will result and with out controls to regulate the head pressure, in proper operating range, that the ultimate result will be an iced over evaporator coil after several hours of use.