If the air conditioning coils in your home's unit have fallen victim to ice buildup, you'll have trouble getting your house properly cooled. Incorporating the aid of an air conditioning specialist can sometimes be costly, so before placing that call, make an effort to tackle this job on your own. Fortunately, provided the problem isn't indicative of something more serious, you can take care of the issue in just a few simple steps. Step 1 - Prep Your Air Conditioner Before proceeding to remove the ice from the coils, you will need to turn off your AC unit and disconnect it from its power source. Allow it to sit for several minutes, and you'll be ready to give the surrounding area a good looking-over. If you find any leakage or stains on the unit, your air conditioner will likely need to be looked at by a repair specialist. Leaks are often caused by low refrigerant levels and should only be tackled by someone well-versed in these machines. If you're find nothing out of the ordinary upon inspection, you may proceed with the next step.

Step 2 - Allow the Ice to Melt Keep the device turned off and disconnected to allow the ice to melt naturally. If it is warm enough for your AC to be active, this shouldn't take long. Step 3 - Clean Your Coils Now that the ice buildup has melted away, it's time to give the coils a good cleaning. 3 ton ac unit price lowesStart by donning a pair of gloves and spraying the formerly ice-laden coils with a commercial coil cleaner. precision air conditioning unit catalogueNext, use a scrub brush or expendable toothbrush to administer a vigorous scrubbing, making sure to purge any caked-on dirt deposits. is my ac unit undersizedExcessive dirt on your coils is a major cause of ice formation, so when performing this step, make a point of being very thorough.

Once the coils have been successfully cleaned, spray them with a warm water-filled spray bottle in order to remove any remaining traces of the cleaner. Take a clean cloth and wipe the freshly cleaned coils dry. Do not reconnect your AC unit to its power source or proceed to reuse the device until all the moisture is gone. Step 4 - Keep Your Air Conditioning Coils Ice-free Preventing ice buildup in the first place is the best way to ensure your AC doesn't run into frequent problems. Assuming your unit hasn't sprung a leak, the best way to avoid frozen coils is to abstain from running the air when the temperature is cool outside. Additionally, take care to give the coils periodic cleanings in order to avoid ice formation caused by excess filth. Pros and Cons of Using Radiant Ceiling PanelsWhen the refrigerant inside a central air conditioning unit falls below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, humidity that surrounds the coils freezes. The coils become encased in ice and the air conditioning unit fails to cool the home properly.

Once you’ve thawed the coils, you have several options before calling a repair person to fix the unit. Just be sure to turn off the air conditioner first. Running the unit with the coils iced over can strain the compressor and cause it to fail. Thawing Although you may be tempted to help the thawing effort by removing chunks of ice by hand, resist that temptation. The coils and cooling fins in the evaporator portion of the central air conditioner are easily damaged. Ice clings tightly to these components, and forcefully removing it can bend fins or rupture coolant lines. Instead, turn off the air conditioner but keep the blower running. This forces warmer air across the evaporator, which hastens the thawing process. Thawing may still take several hours. Quick Fixes Restricted airflow can cause air conditioners to work harder, which results in iced coils. Check the air filters first. If they are dirty or clogged, replace them with clean ones. Another cause of restricted airflow occurs when too many supply registers are closed.

Check all the rooms in the house and ensure the registers are open. Clogged and dirty cooling fins in the frame that surrounds the coils might strain the system enough to cause icing. If outside air temperatures fall below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, most central air conditioners do not work properly. Consider shutting the system off when temperatures fall below 60 degrees. Refrigerant A low refrigerant level is a common cause of iced air conditioner coils. Call a qualified service technician to check and refill refrigerant. Air conditioning repair people understand how to work with the pressurized refrigerant system and will be able to quickly determine which type of refrigerant your system needs. Air conditioning coolants can freeze skin tissue on contact, so personal safety is another consideration. Refrigerant loss is caused by leaky systems or it may occur over time in older units. A service professional can check for and repair leaks. Contactor After thawing the coils, the air conditioner may take a long time to cool the living space again.

Once the space reaches the temperature you set on the thermostat, the central air unit should automatically shut down until temperatures rise enough to warrant the air conditioner to cycle again. If the unit fails to shut off when temperatures in the living area hit the thermostat setting, the cause might be a failed electrical contactor in the outside portion of the central air unit. Like adding refrigerant, this is also a repair best left to trained air conditioning specialists. References HVAC Parts Outlet: Troubleshooting a Frozen Evaporator CoilHorizon Services: Help! My Air Conditioner is Frozen!Reliant Air Conditioning: Air Conditioning Troubleshooting: Frozen AC PipesWeathermaster: Help! Why Is My Air Conditioner Frozen? I couldn't find anything wrong, and didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of replacing the main board when there was no direct evidence that there was a problem with it, so I called in a repair person. He didn't initially know what the problem might be either, but he called the manufacturer (GE) and they suggested replacing two thermistors in the fridge (fresh food compartment).

I was skeptical since I'd tested the thermistors and didn't see anything wrong, but told him to go ahead since there was no charge if it didn't work. So, if any one else has this model of fridge - or any model where the fresh food compartment (fridge) has its own evaporator coils but not its own defrost heater, then my suggestions are a) don't go messing around in the freezer, that's not where the problem is, b) make sure the evaporator fan in the fresh food compartment is working c) replace all the thermistors in the fresh food compartment. Mfg Part # WR51X10055 If the refrigerator is not defrosting the defrost heater assembly might be burned out. Several times a day the defrost heater assembly turns on for a few minutes to melt away any frost that may have accumulated on the freezer or refrigerator evaporator coils. If the defrost heater assembly has burned out, the frost will build up on the coils and eventually no air will be able to travel through the coils to provide cooling.

The defrost heater can be checked for continuity. If it doesn't have continuity it should be replaced. If the refrigerator is not defrosting, the main control board might be defective. A few times a day the control board is supposed to turn off the cooling system and turn on the defrost heater to melt away any frost that may have accumulated on the freezer evaporator coils. If the control board is defective it could cause the system to never cycle into defrost. I have a GE side by side model gss23wstass about 8 years old. The freezer temp started going up. I took off the back panel inside the freezer and noticed the defrost heater would go on but only melt the bottom part of the evaporator coils. I replaced the thermistor that clips on to the top tubing of the evaporator. I got it on ebay for about $7. It did the trick. It has been working great for the last couple weeks. Completely defrosts the evaporator. So if you have a partially melted evap. coil it could be due to the thermistor.

I was having sort of similar issues with with my Whirlpool WRF989SDAM00. It's a French door fridge on top with the freezer on bottom. The issue I was having was the evaporator in the freezer was freezing up until the circulation fan blades were contacting the ice, making noise and not properly cooling the freezer. There was a visible amount of ice in the back of the freezer near the air circulation vents. I defrosted that thing twice until I called a service company. All the guy did was run a self diagnosis and program the fridge to increase the defrost time (and charged me $150). Within about 3 months, the thing froze up again. After that, I pulled the grate off of the back of the freezer, chipped the ice off of the evaporator (wear gloves, the fins on that thing are sharp!) and deduced that the humid climate I live in (Houston, TX) and the lower settings that I had programmed into the fridge were not compatible. I went back to the original factory settings. The factory settings on my fridge are 37degF (Fridge) and 0degF (Freezer) as you have posted.

It may be worth increasing your settings a degree or two if you live in a humid part of the country. This may help the defroster keep up. Well, I haven't had the issue again, but it's only been about 6 weeks since I last defrosted. Guess I'll have to wait and see. I'm having the problem with a Whirlpool Gold in the coils just behind the drawer that's for meats, poultry and drinks just above the lower freezer drawer, but in the main part of the fridge. I've tried clearing the drain with no luck. This time when I defrosted it, I notice that most of the fins on the coil were bent over. I straightened them with the hard part of a Q tip. I just restarted it. It takes about a week to ice up. I'll let you know if it helped. Having an appliance breakdown can be an extremely frustrating situation to find yourself in, particularly if it happens at an inconvenient time. It's probably fair to say that some appliances are not so sorely missed as others when they break down, this usually depends on how essential they are to your day-to-day routine.