My A/C is blowing coolISH air

[Guest]

so I have a semi small portable a/c running in my room, used to cool the room fine, now I notice the res is empty and the room is hot, the air coming from the a/c is cool but not as cold as it should be....any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Recharge it...or I have found that if the exhaust area is confined...the heat from the exhaust gets sucked right back into the ac and nills the cooling.

 

[Guest]

the exhaust is blowing out of the room, recharge? how does one recharge an A/C the other thing is I used to have to remove water from the res at least once a day, for the past 10 days or so, no water at all in rez

 

[Jam Master Jaco]

If you mean recharge it as in recharge the refrigerant liquid inside the A/C unit you are incorrect.

The basic principles of an A/C unit is that the cold coils absorb heat from your resevoir and dissipate that heat out the hot coils in a different location.

-Are your hot coils dirty?
-Is the area your hot coils are in above 30 degrees of your room temp? If so it can't dissipate the heat.
-Is there a fan that blows over the hot coils? Is said fan working properly?
-What temp do you keep your room cooled at?


....wait...when you say the res is empty do you mean your hydroponic resevoir is empty or what are you talking about? If you're using the A/C system to cool your room it shouldn't make a difference if the res is full or not other then the fact that it may affect humidity..but I doubt it affects humidity to the degree that it would make your unit stop working the right way. Clean all your coils with water (make sure the power is off!!! and make sure it's dry before you turn the power back on duhhhh!) and make sure your fan inside the unit is working.

*edit* are you using the A/C system to cool your resevoir or your room?

 

[Guest]

my a/c rez....I guess it works by taking moisture from the air and cooling them....my temps are right around 85-87, when I should be able to get it much cooler....so when I used to run the a/c 24/7 the air conditioner would take moisture from the air and its res would fill up, the a/c would shut off untill I emptied out its rez, that is no longer happening

 

[mrwags]

Hilly turn it off for a bit and then turn it back on. depending on your conditions the condenser may have froze up. Turning it off will allow it to thaw if not as suggested it might be out of freon and need to be recharged.



Mr.Wags

 

[glock23]

Does it have a filter? I've never used a portable AC myself. If so, clean that filter man.

 

[Jam Master Jaco]

I don't want to sound like a know-it-all but let me assure you that recharging the freon is NOT the solution to the problem. Refrigerant liquid (commonly called freon) is not supposed to leave the A/C unit. If that is what's happening you've got a leak somewhere and need to call a technician or buy a new unit that is not leaking.

Your A/C unit has a resevoir? I think you're talking about a water cooled unit...but I'm not certain.

Is it an A/C unit that is normally put in a window to cool a room?

*edit* like the guy above me is saying, if your system has a filter be sure it is clean or replace it. If you're using a wall unit I doubt it has a filter though. Clean off the coils with a toothbrush and water and get all the dirt off leaving just the bare metal. If you happened to paint the coils, put something over the coils, or restrict air flow to the coils that is most likely the cause.

 

[Guest]

ok sorry can't take pics at the moment.....the a/c is a stand alone portable unit....has an exhaust vent(ducted outta room)....not sure what type of A/C all I know is I used to have to empty out this rez(the a/c turned off when rez was full) this unit is meant to cool the entire room......I am assuming it would take the moisture from the air(thats why there's a rez)

 

[Jam Master Jaco]

Hmm... ....I think I know what you're talking about. Is this resevoir normally filled with water? If so then refill the water and you'll be good to go. Water dissipates heat at a ratio of 1:1 whereas air dissipates heat at a much lower ration of about .24:1. So your unit is only doing about a quarter of the job it would normally do. Hope that helps.


But uhh...if your resevoir is not normally filled with water, what is it normally filled with?


*edit* wait wait wait, sorry for fumbling around, I should have read your message thoroughly the first time. But is the resevoir you are talking about located under or drained from the colder coils of your A/C unit?

 

[Guest]

the rez is empty it fills up with water from the air (I am assuming),. when the rez fills up the a/c shuts off

 

[Jam Master Jaco]

Ohhh ok, I know what you're talking about now. Since air blows across the cold coils the coils are cold enough to cause the room air to condensate. That water is nothing but run off from the coils and doesn't really have any significance on the cooling...but....if you have dramatically changed humidity in the room it can effect it's cooling. (on a side note, I realize that I've said "affect" and "effect". sorry but I had to be a grammar nazi on myself) anways....Give those coils a good cleaning, get rid of all the dust/mud that is built up on them. Check the name plate and see how many BTU's in cooling the A/C system can move. If it says 12,000 or more you're gonna need 1,000 cfm blowing across that hotter coil to dissipate it's heat. If the fan inside the unit is running slow for some reason (possibly not getting enough voltage, or the motor is wearing out) it's not dissipating enough heat.

If your hot coils are in a place that is above 30 degrees of the room temperature you are cooling then it can't dissipate the heat and will need to be moved. But I don't think it's that serious, it's most likely a dirty coil or the fan inside the unit isn't working.

 

[Guest]

Bummer...Blow some meds into the intake, it might magically start working fine....

Bummer...Blow some meds into the intake, it might magically start working fine....

Some Nam-myoho-renge-kyo coming your way.

 

[imnotcrazy]

Hey we have this stuff at work specificly for cleaning a/c coils and similar radiator type tanks called Chill Clean by a company called Multimist. You spray it in the coils and it foams up and a chemical/light acid cleans all inside. Then rinse with cold water. I'm sure you could get it at HD or Lowe's. If not stop in a heating/cooling contractor's office/shop I'm sure the'd have some laying around they could scratch up for ya. If that's the problem. Guys an a/c also has a compressor, Is it cycling on and off (humming/pumping noise)? If not the symptoms he described would also show up as the freon is pressurized in the unit to a "low side" pressure and the compressor makes the "high" (cold) side. Usually @ 150psi low and 300 high. The 150psi can sometimes feel cool but the compressor is needed to make the gas work. Could be a multitude of things if it is the compressor (mrwags suggested one reason, thats why the probe is on the front of the coil in window type A/Cs) I'll give you ideas of where to look and if we hit on it, I'll provide info on how to repair. PS: you didn't turn it off and back on in less than 3 min a bunch of times by removing the rez and putting back? The compressor needs to bleed off pressure before it can run again and will seize if you doo this often.

 

[DrLongbottom]

Hilly, there should be a removeable filter on the back somewhere...if so clean it. also on the sides there should be intake vents where the ac intakes air to cool itself they get dirty really quick on the portable units use a vacuum cleaner with the brush attachment to clean the vents. If possible remove the outer plastic casing of the unit and clean out all the dust inside. I was having the same issues as you untill i cleaned mine. BTW cant you seal the drain plug for the rez. Mine has this option and only in the hottest and humidist of summer conditions do i have trouble with the unit not dissipating the water in the rez quick enuff. hope this helps ya buddy. peace DLB

 

[Guest]

couple of pics of the units....your talking to a person who doesn't know squat about A/C...where does one find the coils?

 

[imnotcrazy]

Does the front/whole cover come off? The condenser coil is behind the grill where the cold air comes/should come from. If you can remove the cover I can help you diagnose it better. First get the cover off and check if the coils are iced up, if they are take a hair dryer to em...