AC Repair in Branchville, NJ: How to Repair 3 Common Issues

There can be a couple of explanations why your air conditioning won’t run: a triggered circuit breaker, inaccurate thermostat settings, a turned off switch or a full condensate drain pan.

Your cooling won’t start when you have a tripped breaker.

To determine if one has gotten overloaded, find your home’s main electrical panel. You can locate this gray box on the wall in the basement, garage or closet.

• Make sure your hands and feet aren’t wet before you touch the panel or breakers.
• Find the breaker marked “AC” and ensure it’s in the “on” spot. If it’s overloaded the switch will be in the middle of the panel or “off” spot.
• Quickly shift the lever back to the “on” position. If it immediately triggers again, don’t touch it and contact us at 862-345-6896. A switch that keeps tripping may signal your home has an electrical problem.

If your thermostat isn’t giving a sign to your system to start, it won’t switch on.

The most important step is making sure it’s set to “cool” and not “heat.” Otherwise your air conditioning may not turn on.

If you’re using a traditional thermostat:

• Swap out the batteries if the monitor is clear. If the screen is displaying scrambled characters, get a new thermostat.
• Make sure the right option is on the display. If you can’t alter it, cancel it by lowering the temperature and pressing the “hold” button. This will cause your AC to run if programming is wrong.
• Test setting the thermostat 5 degrees below the space’s temperature. Your AC won’t start if the thermostat is set the same as the room’s temperature.

Once your thermostat is set properly, you should start getting cold air promptly.

If you have a smart thermostat, including ones made by Nest, Ecobee, Lux, Honeywell or Bosch, look at the manufacturer’s website for troubleshooting. If it still won’t work, reach us at 862-345-6896 for assistance.

Your AC typically has a shut-down device around its condenser. This device is commonly in a metal box attached to your home. If your equipment has recently been fixed, the switch may have accidentally been left in the “off” setting.

The condensate drain pan catches the extra water your system takes out of the air. This pan can be found either beneath or within your furnace or air handler.

When there’s an obstruction or blocked drain, water can become concentrated and trigger a safety control to switch off your system.

If your pan has a PVC pipe or drain, you can get rid of the surplus condensation with a custom pan-cleaning capsule. You can purchase these capsules at a home improvement or hardware shop.

If your pan has a pump, locate the float switch. If the lever is “up” and there’s water in the pan, you may need to get a new pump. Call us at 862-345-6896 for help.

If your system is on but not delivering cold air, its airflow may be clogged, or it might not have sufficient refrigerant.

Your system’s airflow can be reduced by a clogged air filter or dusty condenser.

A dusty filter can lead to a lot of problems, like:

• Limited cooling
• Icy refrigerant lines or evaporator coil
• Intermittent cooling
• Higher utility bills
• Frequent System failure

We suggest changing flat filters once a month, and accordion filters every three months.

If you can’t recall when you last changed yours, shut off your AC completely and pull out the filter. You can locate the filter in your furnace or air pump’s blower compartment. It could also be found in an adjoining filter holder or wall-mounted return air grille.

Tilt the filter up to the sunshine. If you see a lot of dust you need to buy a new filter.

Weeds, grass and leaves can obstruct your condensing unit. This can reduce its airflow, make it less energy efficient and effective. Here’s a way you can get your system operating better.

1. Shut off power totally at the breaker or outside device.
2. Clear vegetation rubbish around the air conditioner. Once you’ve cleared larger debris within a two-foot space, you can use a paint brush or vacuum to carefully remove dust from the equipment’s fins. Misshapen fins can also affect capability, so you can attempt to correct them with a blunt knife.
3. Use a hose nozzle to gingerly remove gunk off the fins from inside the unit. Make sure to avoid getting water on the fan motor.
4. Install the top again and restore the power.

When cooling equipment doesn’t have sufficient refrigerant, they’ll have to work much harder to remove heat and humidity from your house.

Here are a few signs that your equipment is leaking refrigerant:

1. It takes too long to cool your rooms and you’re continually lowering the thermostat.
2. Cool air coming from the registers isn’t as cool as it should be.
3. You’re noticing fizzing or gurgling noises when cooling is on.
4. Your evaporator coil is frozen as a result of having an issue absorbing humidity.

Suspect your system is seeping refrigerant? You need a licensed heating and cooling service expert to fix the leak and restore the proper level of refrigerant in your equipment. Get in touch with us at 862-345-6896 for support.

When it appears like you’re not receiving enough chilled air, there’s likely a blockage or detachment somewhere in your air conditioning system.

• The first step is looking at your air filter. Get a new one if it’s dusty.
• Then ensure the registers are free throughout your home.
• If you’re still not receiving sufficient chilly air, you should have your ducts examined by a expert like Willco Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Heating Inc.. Your ducts might need to be fixed or relinked in tricky spots like your attic, basement or crawl space.