On May 24, 2:55*pm, Jo wrote:
On May 24, 2:13*pm, "chaniarts" wrote:





Jo wrote:
Hello,

The central A/C and heat in my house aren't working properly and I
need to figure out why. All the equipment (or whatever you want to
call it) is about 24 years old.

The problem started about a month ago when the heat was on. I noticed
that hardly any air was blowing out of the vents and the air that was
blowing out was cool, not warm. Also, the lights in different rooms
would dim every 4 minutes or so. I turned off the heat at this point
and notified the owners of the house who happen to be my parents.

I turned on the A/C this morning and the same thing is happening. The
lights in different rooms dim every 4 minutes or so and hardly any air
is blowing out of the vents. The fan is set to "auto" but everything
has been running nonstop since I turned it on over 4 hrs ago, which is
not normal. I think it's running nonstop because the house temperature
hasn't reached the temperature I set the thermostat to. At this rate,
it never will because it's hardly blowing out any air.

My father says he put in a new filter, but this was after the problem
started a month ago. He mentioned that the unit might need more Freon,
but I think he checked that out because he came back saying he doesn't
know what the problem is. He mentioned something about getting someone
to check the pressure (whatever that means), but knowing him this
could take weeks and I'm burning up.

Does anyone have an any idea as to what might be wrong? And since the
lights keep dimming, will that harm any of my electronic equipment,
like my computer?

Jo

did the lights also dim before there was a perceived problem? it could
something like a siezed fan motor. the motor attempts to kick on, drawing
lots of startup power, causing the dimming. the motor then overheats and the
thermal fuse shuts it off. when it cools, the process repeats.

yes, the dimming could cause problems with your electronics. they don't like
frequent brownouts.

The lights used to dim only when something would come on/start every
so often. I'm thinking it's when the unit outside would come on that
the lights would dim but I'm not sure. But right now, that unit
outside (not sure what it's called) is running constantly. It does
seem like something is not running and that when the lights dim,
that's when it should start running.

I don't know what type of furnace it is, but it's not oil or gas.

Does any of that help narrow things down? We'd like to attempt
repairing things ourselves, if possible.

Can anyone give me more information about the dimming and if it would
indeed affect my electronics? I have my TVs and computers plugged into
surge protectors. But three of my TVs are CRTs and one is LCD, if that
makes a difference in anything. I know that my microwave "dims" along
with the lights.

Would it be best to just turn the A/C off? It does seem to be keeping
the house from get really hot, but I don't want my electronics getting
damaged.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If it is not oil or gas, maybe it is a heat pump. You have got to get
and provide us with more information for anyone here to be able to
give you a coherent answer/suggestion.