my AC unit in the house froze up today..

 

the lines inside and out are both frozen..

 

I just shut everything down and am letting the ice thaw..

 

the inside fan will NOT spin just hums.. unless I give it a little push.. then it spins at partial speed freely no grinding noise or indications of a seized motor..

 

this behavior is identical with the unit on heat or ac makes no difference.

 

is a capacitor shot? will the unit work once things unfreeze? is it normal for a frozen system to not blow air?

 

thanks in advance for any help.. also I rent so I will likely have the landlord have someone come out.. anyone on here in the south jersey area do that kind of work? sometimes he has someone.. sometimes he asks me to find someone.. depends on the situation..

Martin, one of the guys here, is an A/C tech. I forget his nym.

 

Sounds like your fan motor is dead, it could be just a cap, but...

 

If no air blows through the coil, the coil will eventually freeze up.

 

Don't worry - it's gonna be cool tonight and you shouldn't need your A/C again until April.

Martin, one of the guys here, is an A/C tech. I forget his nym.

 

Sounds like your fan motor is dead, it could be just a cap, but...

 

If no air blows through the coil, the coil will eventually freeze up.

 

Don't worry - it's gonna be cool tonight and you shouldn't need your A/C again until April.

 

well I dont know that the heat is even going to work without the fan.. what you said is pretty much what I read.. people said if you give the fan a push and it works it might just be the cap.. ideally that's all it is.. my landlord is pretty cool so I really dont want it to cost him an arm and a leg..

 

thanks for the input man.. it is appreciated!

well I dont know that the heat is even going to work without the fan.. what you said is pretty much what I read.. people said if you give the fan a push and it works it might just be the cap.. ideally that's all it is.. my landlord is pretty cool so I really dont want it to cost him an arm and a leg..

 

thanks for the input man.. it is appreciated!

 

Ahh - you have a hot air furnace too.

I had the same issue with my a.c. earlier this summer. It turned out that the problem was that the filter was packed with debris. My unit froze up like a ice cube, and I thought the worst, but when the repair tech came out he immediately pulled the filter and told me it just needed to be cleaned. After a washing, I have had no problems since. I don't know if you have forced hot air heat, but if you do it utilizes the same air filter. With that being said, the filter needs to be cleaned at least once quarterly. Hope this helps...

thanks for the info.. pulled the filter wasn't really that dirty.. but gonna change it anyway.. I am not sure but something is stopping the fan from spinning at full speed.. i dont think the motor is shot because with a little push it starts to spin just not at full speed.. so maybe just something dumb.. guess ill call the landlord in the AM... thanks again..

By your descriptions, I would bet good money it's a bad capacitor. Easy repair. Cheap part. $75-100 for a contractor to repair. Much cheaper if you are mechanically inclined. Some plumbing supply houses have stuff like that. I'm pretty sure Lowes and depot wont. Take the old one with you. The new one may not look exactly the same, but as long as the rating matches, you are good.

that is what I have come to diagnose as well based on what I have read online.. I took off the access panel and looked but too many wires.. too many items.. lol will just have a professional deal with it at this point.. after all I just rent and no sense in beating myself to death over it.. thanks for the info! If i could figure out which is the capacitor I would likely give it a try.. but a few too many wires for my liking..lol

Brisco (Shane) and Martin (LibertyorDeath) both do AC units I beleive.

Brisco (Shane) and Martin (LibertyorDeath) both do AC units I beleive.

 

 

Ed ratted you guys out...

ok if its just humming its either your capacitor or fan motor if you wanna try cap first the cost like 15 buck at a supply house and is just 2 wire. if that doesnt do it, its the motor which if its a motor the cap should be replaced anyway. i dont do side work sorry but would walk you threw it just replace one wire at a time. ps i worked with martin like 5 years ago.

your heat wont work until you resolve the issue. and dont try ac either you are just doing more damage it absolutely will not work. where are you located???

well I dont know that the heat is even going to work without the fan.. what you said is pretty much what I read.. people said if you give the fan a push and it works it might just be the cap.. ideally that's all it is.. my landlord is pretty cool so I really dont want it to cost him an arm and a leg..

 

thanks for the input man.. it is appreciated!

 

The Circulator fan is different from the one on the compressor outside, unless i'm reading your post wrong, the Outside fan is the one that STB. The fan that pushed the air through the ducts and vents is Inside the house, and separate from the one on the condenser.

thanks you guys for all the help it is really appreciated.. the fan inside wont work.. when i put it on heat it tries to spin (fan inside) when I put it on cold nothing happens.. also got a hold of the land lord and he actually does have a guy local that he uses already so I am just going to leave that on him.. thanks again for all the input it is really appreciated!

turned out to be the capacitor.. good call on that.. if only I had the faith to get in there where the wires are.. lol oh well not my dime better off leaving that stuff to the professionals.. guy who came out was cool.. ended up only being about 100 bucks.. thanks again for all the help guys..