3 Yrs Old American Standard Central Air Unit

My central air conditioner runs for about 2 weeks, then it freezes up on the outside unit & central air units start warming up.

I turn off the ac cool & just run the fan until the outside until defrost. Then I turn the ac back on & it cools for another 2 weeks then I go through the same problem.

When the central air conditioning is put back on my thermometer that sits in one of the vents read about 52 degrees. The repair man came 2 weeks ago & couldn't find anything wrong. He checked the Ac Freon level, it was ok, checked the capacitor , ok, checked the mother board no problems, he told me to call him when it froze up again which was today 8/30/2011.

This central air conditioning units is only 3 years old. I had everything replaced including furnace, condenser, ducts


Mike Sowder @ airconceptsllc.com replies:

Remember there are several reasons why units can freeze up and again it may be right in front of them or something the installer caused. “New installs” When the installer brazed or sweat the air handler’s copper lines in to the unit, did they protect the metering device/ TXV from the heat? This device meters controls the flow of refrigerant through the evaporator coil located inside the air handler.

Connected on this metering device is a sensing bulb located on and secured to the suction line again inside the unit. If this is not tightly secured or in the right position the metering device will restrict the flow of refrigerant and cause freezing. If the sensing bulb was not removed from the line while they were brazing, they could have caused the metering devices to lose its refrigerant self-contained charge in the sensing bulb, causing failure to the metering device and having intermitted problems.

Did they check there wiring, low voltage or high voltage connections to the central air conditioner and thermostat? Air flow is the most important thing to know, if the blower motor is shutting down due to incorrect wiring or capacitor discharge or motor failure the unit will freeze up.

Make sure they installed the correct thermostat for that application, installer’s guide and programming would need to be set up if it is a heat pump it should be for heat pump and straight air etc. Make sure there are no nicks breaks or damage to the low voltage wiring when they installed the equipment.

They should have rechecked all of the wires for damage when they completed the install in and out. If the set up and programming was not done correctly there can be issues with the unit freezing up check to see if you have a bad thermostat? Is there non-condensable in the system? Meaning you could also have moisture floating throughout the refrigeration central air units.

Did they pressure and test the cooper lines and system with dry nitrogen? Do you have a leak? Are they low on Charge? Did they use a vacuum pump a device to pull and remove all the air and moisture from the system? If these steps were skipped to save on time and money every once in a while you will have moisture freezing up in a system and cause a restriction through or block the metering device.

Here are some causes of why a unit freezes up. If some of these steps were skip then you can have issues as such. Check for proper ductwork etc. There are several reasons why, but the big question is did the skip a step? central air conditioning unit that come from the factory are checked, rechecked and then checked again.

Focus your efforts on was there damage to the unit in shipping and were all the steps completed and done on the new install correctly from startup, before you blame or call the equipment a lemon. You may be surprise on what you find?

Mike Sowder CEO, Air Concept Solutions, llc.

Comments for 3 Yrs Old American Standard Central Air Unit

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Sep 04, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		American Standard A/C NEW
by: Anonymous

I bought an older house but with a 3 year old American Standard Heating and A/C unit. Shortly after moving in the touch screen thermostat went dead. I called the previous owner and he said the batteries probably went dead. They had and I changed them. Two months later it happens again and I'm thinking 2 months on 3 AAA alkaline batteries? No way! So I replaced them and the thermostat would blink out as soon as it was reinserted on to the wall base. After 40 minutes of playing with it, it stayed active. (Probably a cracked circuit board from changing batteries every 2 months for 3 years!) I called the original Heat and A/C company and relayed the issue to the company owner because the thermostat has a 5 year warranty. He says he is busy but he will be out that day or the next. No show that day so I called and left a message at 3pm the following day asking what time he will be here because I have not heard anything from him. No return call and the next day about 10am he calls to say he is on the way out. He arrives and replaces the thermostat and confirms to me the wiring was not hooked up properly to power the thermostat without batteries. He splices the wiring by the downstairs unit where his employees mangled it and then failed to troubleshoot why it would not work without batteries. He brings no tools in to do this except for a screwdriver to replace the thermostat with. He pulls the sheath off the wire with his teeth and skins the wire with his fingernails. He makes no effort to dress the wires neatly and obviously he gets an F- in craftsmanship. I have a technical background and I realize what the problem is with this install. The original installers who the owner said quit, were incompetent, and the owner, (now working on my unit) is not much better. This is the 2nd American Standard unit I have had and the brand is not the problem. The problem lies in poor workmanship of people installing and maintaining the equipment. He said the thermostat was under warranty but he wanted $70 for the service call. I told him that being the job was not done right originally there should not be a service call. He disagreed so I wrote him a check. I intend to give him far more than $70 dollars worth of bad publicity. If the workmanship looks poor quality, IT IS! I will NEVER DO BUSINESS again with A/C HEATING AND COOLING in BOWLING GREEN, KY!
Jul 15, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Bad install NEW
by: Anonymous

You are right on! Homeowners are always quick to blame equipment when it really is an incompetent installer!
Jul 15, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Bad install NEW
by: Anonymous

You are right on! Homeowners are always quick to blame equipment when it really is an incompetent installer!

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