Weekend Project – Clean AC Unit

Sunday morning, I woke up and the house was 77 degrees.  I pretty much knew what happened.  Every once in a while, my AC unit “freezes up”, not literally, but  it just stops running.  The thermostat says the unit is running, the interior fans are running, but the compressor is not.  Solution?  Yank the thermostat off the wall, wait a few seconds, then pop it back on.  In a  minute or so, the compressor runs again and everything goes back to normal.

I figured I’d take the downtime opportunity first thing in the morning to clean everything up.  It just happens I bought a new AC filter the previous evening.  I installed that, then went out to the compressor.

You are supposed to clean the compressor fins on a regular basis.  I never have in the decade I’ve owned the house.  So it’s time now.

First I shut off the breaker to the unit

The I unscrewed the top of the unit

Had to take the access panels off to get the fan off and on the ground.

I used the hose to spray from the inside out, noting the dirt that was coming through.  I also cleaned all the leaves from the inside of the unit while it was open.  I buttoned it all up and started it up again.

Unfortunately, it seems that the compressor freeze-up is chronic.  In the heat of the day now, it’s stopped three times and resets are only temporary fixes.  Looks like I’ll be calling an AC shop tomorrow.  Wonderful.