The dog days of summer are here. Although this saying is based on Greek and Roman constellations—when the star pattern Sirius the Dog is on the horizon—most of us think of it as a time when dogs are panting on porches next to people trying to fan themselves off. Of course, if you have a working air conditioning system in your home, you won’t need to be fanning yourself on the porch, and your dog will probably not need to pant so much.
But August’s dog days can sometimes put air conditioners out of commission. Most ACs run steadily from June onward, so all the accumulated work stress can lead to an air conditioner that’s at a much higher risk of malfunctioning in August. Below are some air conditioning problems to watch for during this late summer period of high heat and humidity. You can call us for the professional air conditioning service in Haughton, LA, that will get your AC back on track.
Hard starting
Hard starting is a term for when an air conditioner struggles to start up the compressor for the cooling cycle. You may hear the AC making a grinding noise or clicking sound as it starts. This extra strain on the compressor can eventually lead to the compressor failing, which is an expensive problem to remedy. The capacitors may also be failing. Technicians can install a “hard-start kit” to fix the trouble.
Dirt, dust, and grime on the coils
The indoor and outdoor coils of an air conditioner can pick up various bits of debris over the summer. Dust may slip through the indoor air filter and stick to the evaporator coil, while grass, leaves, and mulch can enter the outside cabinet and dirty up the condenser coil. Both situations will put additional stress on the AC because it won’t be able to absorb or release heat as effectively, and eventually, the AC will overheat and shut down. It’s best to let professionals handle cleaning the coils with special chemicals.
Burnt-out motors
This is one of the more common problems for an air conditioner that’s done too much work—especially if it didn’t receive its annual maintenance inspection in the spring. Dirt on the motors and lack of lubrication can create enough friction to cause the motors to overheat and fuse their wiring. A motor that’s burnt-out this way must be replaced. So if the fans in the AC stop or the compressor doesn’t turn on, a failed motor may be the cause.
Uneven cooling
A good central AC should evenly distribute cool air to all the rooms connected to the ventilation system. But if you start to notice that your AC isn’t cooling some rooms down as much as it should, it’s a flashing warning sign that something is wrong. It might be leaky air ducts (a trouble we can fix), faults in the zone control system (we can fix that too), or an AC that’s wearing down fast (lots of ways we can fix this).
