Finally, the long wait for the hot weather is over, and now you're sweating! You go to your thermostat and turn on the cooling and nothing happens. What could be wrong? Well first of all, these are some checks as a homeowner, that you can do that may save you some time & money in having us come out. Let's look at some typical problems and what you can check.

First after you set the thermostat to "cool" and lower the setting down to 15 deg;C, check to see if the furnace blower comes on. If it doesn't make sure the furnace has power. Check your fuses and/or circuit breakers. Also check that your disconnect switch for the furnace is in "on" position. If this still does not turn outside unit on check that outside units disconnect switch is turned on and that circuit breaker/fuses are good.Problems that still exist after this is checked indicate a control or power problem. Refer this to a qualified technician to investigate.
The outside unit starts and runs but there is no cooling. Here the problem may a couple of items. Usually again, this is electrical or refrigerant problem. If the unit is running, the fan may be running only, you would need to check to see if the compressor is running, usually you can tell by the noise of the unit if compressor is working. If the compressor is not running, you will have to refer the problem to a service technician to investigate.

If on the other hand, the compressor is running, the outside fan is running and there is no cooling, this usually points to a refrigerant problem. To operate correctly the unit needs a fairly accurate charge of refrigerant to circulate these systems. When the refrigerant charge is dropping icing begins to form on the lines, sometimes inside and sometimes outside. This is an abnormal condition and should be corrected promptly.

Running the unit like this for extended periods of time can damage the compressor. A rough rule of thumb is to feel the line that is insulated that comes out of the house to the compressor. Feel the bare copper underneath, if it is cold and sweating, chances are the unit is working OK. If it is warm there may be a problem. Never take the outdoor unit apart or stick items into the condenser or fan area, as serious injury could result!

These are some quick checks that you can do to check the system's operation. Being as specific as possible on the phone helps us diagnose the problem quicker and keeps the service cost to a minimum. If you have any questions call us and we'll be glad to help.