GRR... My air conditioner is not working!

[keninphilly]

So, I couldn't figure out why I was tossing and turning the last two days, I did not realize that my air conditioning was getting less and less effective until I decide to unscrew the panel and find that the filter is a giant block of ice. There is at least 3 inches of ice!! :banghead:

Luckily I have an apartment that has two separate controls, one for each bedroom. So now I have the one going full force and a series of fans to circulate the air to my room with the chins. Even with that, I cannot get my room cooler than 76 degrees.

Has this happened to anyone and is there anything further that I can do besides sit there for hours with a hair dryer???

 

[threewingedfury]

OMG - I'm going through the same crap right now. It was 92 degrees here today and my air conditioner froze up and then decided to leak EVERYWHERE. It now seems like my floor is beginning to warp and I hadn't noticed it before, so I broke out the extra AC. My room has stuck between 75-77 degrees today and I haven't been able to get it cooler, even on full blast. I'm probably going out tomorrow and getting a 18,500 BTU air conditioner, boy I'm going to enjoy that.

 

[tskoffina]

Is it a central AC? If the outside gets frozen you can spray it with water. I found that's easier than a hairdrier

 

[Essentia]

If you turn it on just the fan it will also help defrost it.

 

[Jezilynn]

Sounds like you need to refill the freon. Turn the unit off and the fan on, it will defrost in a couple hours and help cool off your house in the meantime, make sure you get lots of towels. Get the freon refilled and you should be back in business. Its worked for me every time my AC has frozen up, Good luck!

 

[tunes]

I just went through an a/c melt down the other night. My main a/c went out in the chin barn (frozen, just like yours), so I brought down the back up, and IT went down too. So, at 10:30, I was off to Wal-Mart to buy a third until I could figure out what was wrong with the first two. We were 91 degrees that day, so you can imagine how much I panicked.

Of course, as soon as I brought the third one home and got it installed, the barn cooled off, and everybody relieved? That night it dropped to 40. <sigh>

The best way is to just unplug it and let it thaw. You can keep the blow drier on it, but that just ends up heating the room even more. Try and keep the lights off, the windows covered, and a fan in the doorway to draw in the cooler air from the other room. Throw in some cold stuff for the chins -- a pan filled with ice (covered, obviously), some frozen bottles, chinchillers - whatever you have and wait it out.

 

[Laurie]

Happened to me 2 years ago Ken. I had the couch in front of it but not the where the air actually comes out. Still I believe that's what the problem was so I rearranged the entire livingroom and last year didn't not have the problem at all. We had an 80 degree day out there, however this whole week we are having cold and rain. i want to try to run the A/C though right now even though it's cold to make sure it works and there isn't anything wrong with it.
Sorry you had to go through it!!! Give some whisker kisses to your gang from me especially Brendan!!

 

[keninphilly]

Thanks everyone!

It is central air in the apartment, I did let it defrost and I see that the filter had never been changed, the whole thing is filthy. The maintenance people from the building should have been checking are replacing filters, I guess they didn't.

I put in a work order, so it should be fixed tomorrow, hopefully...

 

[Sasha]

I thought you were moving to Canada? Then you wouldnt have to worry about the a/c right now - it's snowing here in Edmonton!

 

[Chinmama]

Mine is doing the same thing...4 times already in the last month! Our problem is that we are keeping the AC lower than the outside temp (it's freezing up during the night). We have a really old central HVAC unit that needs to be replaced, but don't currently have an extra $8,000 laying around to do it.

I turn the AC off and the fan on. It usually takes a couple of hours to thaw out.

 

[Stackie]

I must have had the a/c fairies bless me..my a/c is pumping out the cold air! I've been freezing the past 4 days!!

 

[mishellyshel]

I am having the same problem! 'cept when I let it thaw out and turn it back on it only goes one for a few minutes and stops and i can see ice crystals starting for form. We are getting a freon replacement tongiht, but I was SUCH a panic last night cause the house was at 80. I have the ceiling fans on in the room my chins are in and last night it got back down to 75. But today is supposed to be another hot one and I just hope with all the windows & curtains closed it doesnt get above 78 before the air conditioner guy comes. I kept putting their chinchillers in the freezer and i took one of the fleece liners out of one of the cages since it was on the top shelf mostly for softness. I should be home by 3:30 to check on them.
I put ice cubes in my doggies water to keep her cool too! :heart3:

 

[keninphilly]

I understand about the panic! I will be moving to Canada, but even there it can get pretty hot (for the two months it doesn't snow), I am going to buy a wall unit as a back up. It is one thing for me to be uncomfortable, it is a whole other thing to worry about my chins in the heat.

I have to laugh a little because when I called the maintenance manager I said on the voicemail " This is a matter of life and death". He must think that I am a loony!