DIYbanter - View Single Post - Central A/C not working properly

TWayne

In ,
hr(bob) typed:
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.

Or it could be electric, too.