Ice on your AC line: what to do next

Dirty filter. Okay, this runs from $0 to 20 bucks. The most common reason your AC is running but not cooling is a filter that's been there too long. A clogged filter restricts airflow to the point where the system can't move enough cold air into your house. The evaporator coil, which is the cold coil inside your air handler, can't pick up enough heat from the air. So, it starts getting colder and colder and colder until it freezes solid. At that point, you've got a block of ice on your indoor unit, zero airflow, and a house that won't cool. So, here's the fix. Turn the system to fan only. Let it thaw for 2 to 4 hours, replace the filter, and then restart. So, the cost is the price of the filter, which is about 5 to 20 bucks. And guys, the repair is free. Guys, we run hundreds of calls where the repair is simply and literally this.

That looks like it's about 3 in and judging by everything on that furnace underneath it, it doesn't look like this is the first time that's happened either. When the coil's frozen up like that, you're going to have to shut that thing off and just wait for it to thaw out. There's not a whole lot that can be done especially in the orientation that this is in. You know, there's some things in in different orientations and different types of equipment that you can do for it, but this one right here, there's not anything that you can do other than just turn that fan on and and turn the air conditioner off and let that thing run. You don't want to run your heat cuz that's going to mess your heat up. Shut your whole system off, just run the fan. That's all that you can do to help thaw that out. I don't know if I've seen one that bad though. Your world.

Summertime, your system's not working. You go outside and check it, and you find that there is ice on your line set. What do you do? What's the next step? Here's the game plan. If you see ice on the copper line outside your house, don't call anybody yet. Here's what you do first. Set your thermostat to off and let the ice thaw. That takes about two hours, and honestly, we can't diagnose anything until the ice is melted anyways. While you are waiting, check your filter. Make sure that filter's clean. That filter will block airflow from getting across the coil. The coil will get really cold, too cold, and freeze all the condensation inside, and it will turn into a glacier inside the house. So, and no air is getting across it. If you turn it back on after it's thawed and it freezes up again, now you're likely looking at it may be a refrigerant leak, uh, and that's when you call us

Make sure there's no ice build-up on the refrigerant line. That can mean a couple of things. You've got restricted airflow, there's a blower motor issue, or you've got a kink in your refrigerant line or a leak in your refrigerant line. Here is what you do. Pay attention right here. This is super important. So, what you need to do is stop. Turn your air conditioner off and let that ice melt cuz if you call a technician out to your house and everything's frozen up, they're not going to be able to do anything. So, they have to wait until that unit thaws. So, let all the ice melt then call a technician out and they'll come and inspect the system and you can take pictures, show them kind of what's going on and they'll be able to diagnose that really quickly and get you up and running again. >> Your pros. >> [music]

Most every call that we get is either the AC is just not working at all or the AC is not keeping up. And something I tell a homeowner to do is one, check your filters, make sure your filters are clear. Second, go outside and make sure there's not like ice accumulated on the refrigerant lines. And if those two things, you know, if you made sure that there's no ice and that the filter's clean, then call a professional in. But start with changing the filter, start with making sure that there's no ice on those lines cuz that means we probably have an airflow restriction. And more often than not, it's your filter.

Most of the time whenever you got ice on that copper line, it's because that evaporator coil has gotten so cold and it's just turned into a glacier inside your inside your house. Check your line sets, make sure that there's no ice on those lines. If it is, that's a pretty indicative that, you know, hey, filter, you know, filters need to be changed. Set the thermostat to off, let it sit for about 2 to 4 hours. Letting that ice thaw is the most important thing because really even before you call someone to come out, we can't check anything until that ice is thawed. After it thaws, you can turn it back on and then see what happens. Now, in the circumstance that you thawed it, it's still not working, you know, it's thawed out and then it starts freezing up again even after changing your filters, that's more indicative of maybe a you've got a refrigerant leak. And so if it refreezes, at that point, it would make sense to have to call a service to have a service technician come out and take a look at it. >> Your >> [singing] >> pros. >> [music]

okay we're going to go over the eight most common AC problems that Oklahomans face one the AC is not cold enough AC is not cold enough we're going to check clog filters second we're going to check refrigerant pressures third we have to make sure your thermostat is actually reading the proper temperature second AC leak in water that means we either have a clogged or damaged condensate drain a frozen evaporator coil that's thawing or a damaged condensate pump three a noisy AC condenser which could be a loose fan blade bad bearings in a fan motor or compressor could be going out four Frozen AC we have dirty filters a restriction our refrigerant system or we're just low on refrigerant either leak or undercharging five AC is not blowing air well if we have that we have a restriction in our air flow meaning we're either Frozen or have bad filters AC turns on and off on its own well that could be a thermostat problem dirty condenser coil causing higher low head pressure and dirty filters low refrigerant levels unable to turn the AC on well we need to make sure everything's going good if the AC is tripping that's an electrical problem we need to make sure that our compressor hasn't shorted the ground or other major components haven't failed all of this to say in conclusion regular maintenance could help prevent a lot of headaches this summer

Sometimes ice accumulates where it shouldn't, right? And you've seen it either on your outdoor unit or your indoor unit. You've seen like the big like ball of ice. Well, that is a homeowner's worst nightmare because it means that the ice inside of that unit has gotten so bad that it is now expanding like an amoeba and crawling through your system. Well, now you got to wait and let it thaw. So, we're going to do a visual inspection, make sure that there is no ice accumulation, make sure there's no water in the drain pan, or anything that could cause water damage in the long run for your home. So, we're going to make sure that the emergency drain pan is functioning properly, that there is an emergency shut off. If there's not, our technician is going to provide you with an estimate to add one to your system because it is imperative. If your system's in the attic and you don't get to have eyes on it all the time, well, we want to make sure that there's something smart up there that will shut the system off and keep it from flooding your house. So, that if the system does decide that it's time to you know, do its best water park impersonation, it can't get away with it. It will be stopped. It will be shut down.