Life is hectic, and sometimes we find ourselves rushing from one urgent situation to another. Routine things like AC maintenance can be forgotten. And if something is odd or slightly concerning—if, for example, there’s ice on your air conditioner’s evaporator coils—you might ignore it or put off dealing with it because it doesn’t seem like an emergency yet.
This can lead to much bigger problems developing! Catching an issue early will help you to keep the problem small and easily repaired. And ice on your air conditioner is definitely the kind of concern that will get worse if you don’t get it fixed. So where did this ice come from anyway?
Condensation
The evaporator coils in the indoor unit of your air conditioner are where the heat gets absorbed from the air in your home. The refrigerant in these coils is very cold. It soaks up warmth, heats up, and evaporates, becoming a gas within the coils before moving on to cycle through the outdoor unit and releasing that heat, condensing to a liquid again.
Because the evaporator coils have such cold refrigerant in them, they’re a lot like a cold drink can taken from the fridge. Moisture from the air will condense to the surface. This is normal and expected, and the air conditioner has a condensate pan to catch this moisture. The only problem is that if, for some reason, the refrigerant in the coils can’t soak up enough heat, it will be too cold, and that condensation will freeze solid.
Failure to Absorb Heat
Why would the refrigerant be unable to absorb heat? There are a few different possibilities. Something might be physically getting in the way. There might not be enough warm air passing over the coils. Or there might not be enough refrigerant in the coils. You can begin by addressing the things you can deal with yourself. It just might be enough to resolve the problem without needing repair!
Thawing and Cleaning
That ice has got to go. Turn off the AC until it has completely melted away. (Occasionally check your condensate pan to make sure the extra moisture doesn’t overflow.) Then clean your AC air filter, or replace it with a fresh one if it’s disposable, to improve air circulation. Finally, clean the coils themselves. Be gentle! Dirt on the coils can physically prevent heat absorption, like insulation.
Next Steps
Maybe that was all you needed to do, and when you turn the AC on again, you won’t have any ice buildup issues. If the ice comes back, there’s another cause: either warm air wasn’t flowing over the coils because the fan or motor isn’t working properly, or there’s damage to the coils somewhere, allowing refrigerant to leak out.
When you get AC service in Blanchard, LA, from a qualified technician, they’ll be able to determine the exact cause of your problem and get it fixed right away. So don’t let the issue get worse! Get the help you need.
Contact us today to discuss AC repair or any other HVAC needs.