AC Queston
 

I have one of those portable air conditioners that you can move from room to room, and the other day it stopped cooling. I checked the usual things and I will admit that the filters was really dirty because of our pugs. I took the unit apart and vacuumed everything. I tried it again, the compressor came on and stayed on but no cold air, I though maybe a freon leak, but it worked fine the night before. I searched the web for other possible causes and came up with nothing. Can anyone here help me?

Check the high side line going to the condensor to see if it is getting hot. No heat? No refrigerant under pressure. See if the heat goes all of the way to the evaporator.

Don't burn or electrocute yourself and observe all safety precautions. Yes, fans will cut you, don't touch.

that shlt is broke. Get another one.

I will do that, I'll have to take the covers off again to do that, and the ac doesn't work with the covers off, so I will have to find the trip switch hiding somewhere. I was also thinking it was freon related, but it worked fine the night before.

Clearly, you've been a HVAC contractor for awhile.:D

Did what you said, no change in temp. This compressor is running, I didn't see any signs of freon leaking, as I said before it was working fine the night before, so it must have sprung a leak somewhere.

Yep. Or the compressor is shot or a valve is stuck open. You would probably need to install service ports and hook up gauges to pursue this. The solder-on service ports are the way to go. Parts costs make repair a bad risk on most small stuff these days.

How do I check for the stuck valve?

It probably doesn't have an expansion valve but it might. I was just saying that there could be other problems. It is probably an orifice or capillary tube system.

If you can find an expansion valve it should sense heat with a tube going to a bulb on the low side line leaving the evaporator. An expansion valve regulates heat in the low side line by releasing refrigerant into the evaporator. You could try to chill the bulb and heat the bulb to see if anything changes. It would be a long shot.

Do you have a make and model number?

BTW, I'm not an AC repair person. I have the certification from self-study but I just fix my own stuff. I have to learn as I go.

i will get that info to you asap.

Looks like I will have to take the ac apart for the 4th time to get the info you requested. My wife Vickie thinks that when the evaporator fan flew apart that one of the blades might have flew into the evaporator coil and that the freon leaked out. I think that is likely exactly what happened, it makes sense to me.

Where did yoiu do your self-study? website? books? etc?

How much would it cost to replace this unit?

EPA 608 Type I,II,III, and Universal Certifications

I think this is the organization I used. I tested through the local Johnstone Supply in Bangor, Me. I got the Universal Certification, took about three and half weeks of study time. At the time I think it cost $68 or so.

I did the 609 certification online throught the same website.

Sounds likely, might be possible to solder the hole and service ports and charge it up. Then again, maybe not. Should be evacuated.

Model number probably won't tell me much anyway.