Unit is approximately 15 years old. A year or so ago they installed a
pump to pump out the condensation. I noticed today that the house
wasn't very cool so I checked the thermostadt and it's 79 even though
it's set for 74. Then I notice the blowers aren't working. I check
the unit in the basement and there is water dripping from the unit and
the pump doesn't seem to be shooting out any water. I check and see
the pilot light is out. I relight it, and a few minutes later the pump
turns on and shoots out a load of water, but the blower still isn't
working.

It's a chicken and the egg type situation. Did another problem cause
the pilot light to go out or did the pilot light go out for some fluky
reason and it affected the operation of the pump?

The pump is plugged into a regular outlet, so I assume lighting the
pilot and the pump suddenly doing something is coincidence?

Any guesses as to what is going on? When my elderly neighbor had a
similar problem (the outside and inside unit ran but no air being
blown), the technician tried to walk her through fixing it herself, so
I assume there's something fairly simple I am missing?

Thanks in advance.

I should add that when the thermostadt is put in the fan position the
inside unit does run and vibrate, but when I go to any of the registers
, air is not blowing out.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Unit is approximately 15 years old. A year or so ago they installed a
pump to pump out the condensation. I noticed today that the house
wasn't very cool so I checked the thermostadt and it's 79 even though
it's set for 74. Then I notice the blowers aren't working. I check
the unit in the basement and there is water dripping from the unit and
the pump doesn't seem to be shooting out any water. I check and see
the pilot light is out. I relight it, and a few minutes later the pump
turns on and shoots out a load of water, but the blower still isn't
working.

It's a chicken and the egg type situation. Did another problem cause
the pilot light to go out or did the pilot light go out for some fluky
reason and it affected the operation of the pump?

The pump is plugged into a regular outlet, so I assume lighting the
pilot and the pump suddenly doing something is coincidence?

Any guesses as to what is going on? When my elderly neighbor had a
similar problem (the outside and inside unit ran but no air being
blown), the technician tried to walk her through fixing it herself, so
I assume there's something fairly simple I am missing?

Forgive my ignorance about your system, but what does a pilot light have to
do with your air conditioner and/or blower?

If the blower is not running, it could be any number of things. easiest case
scenerio: a loose wire or bad capacitor. It could have a bad timer relay. Or
(worst case) the blower motor is bad and needs to be replaced..

Don't go out and buy a thermostat thinking that will fix the problem (like a
lot of people do). You need to call in a service company. Bad thing is: you
will end up paying overtime/weekend rates unless you can wait until
Monday.......

It's actually my ignorance about the system. I have no clue what a
pilot light is even for! Could someone enlight me?

wrote in message
ups.com...
I should add that when the thermostadt is put in the fan position the
inside unit does run and vibrate, but when I go to any of the registers
, air is not blowing out.

Sounds like your coil is froze up due to 1) low refrigerant or 2) not enough
CFMs (due to dirty filter?). Trying turning the sytem off (in other words,
turn from cool to off position) and leave the fan 'on'. Let it run for an
hour or so and see if condensation (from the coil melting) starts to fill
the pump up.....

Thanks. Filter changed just a week ago. Also, I really don't need
it running tonight so if I just leave it off the coil will still melt,
right?

wrote:
Unit is approximately 15 years old. A year or so ago they installed a
pump to pump out the condensation.

Where was that condensate going for the 14 years before?

I noticed today that the house
wasn't very cool so I checked the thermostadt and it's 79 even though
it's set for 74.

Do you mean you checked the thermometer on the thermostat?

Then I notice the blowers aren't working. I check
the unit in the basement and there is water dripping from the unit and
the pump doesn't seem to be shooting out any water. I check and see
the pilot light is out. I relight it, and a few minutes later the pump
turns on and shoots out a load of water, but the blower still isn't
working.

Your A/C has a pilot light?

Is it maybe combined with a gas heating system sharing the same air
handler and ductwork?

It's a chicken and the egg type situation. Did another problem cause
the pilot light to go out or did the pilot light go out for some fluky
reason and it affected the operation of the pump?

The pump is plugged into a regular outlet, so I assume lighting the
pilot and the pump suddenly doing something is coincidence?

Probably. Maybe you jiggled something enough to cause a slightly stuck
float switch on that pump to drop and turn on the pump. You didn't say
where that dripping water was coming from or what it was dripping in/on.

Perhaps it was dripping into an overflow pan with that new pump in it
and raised the water level to the point where the pump's float switch
clicked in.


Any guesses as to what is going on? When my elderly neighbor had a
similar problem (the outside and inside unit ran but no air being
blown), the technician tried to walk her through fixing it herself,

And, was your neighbor able to fix it?

so
I assume there's something fairly simple I am missing?



Could be, it generally boild down to being simple once you find out what
it is, but you'll probably not be able to locate it If there's a pilot
light involved there must be gas there, and a neophyte like you would be
better off keeping his hands out of that system to avoid blowing up the
place and killing someone.

Sorry, I'm not trying to put you down. You may well know more than I do
about some other subjects, but from the way you descibe things, probably
not this one.

Call a professional, please.

(Another) Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

Thanks. I do call professionals, but I try to be somewhat educated
first because I don't want to be ripped off. The condensation used
has always emptied via pvc pipe to our laundry tub, but it would
occasionally back up and the pan would overflow, so the pump was
installed last year. It is a combination gas heater/ air
conditioner. Are you saying a lit pilot has nothing to do with air
conditioning, just heating?

Ya'll are givin' me a ****in' headache.




wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks. I do call professionals, but I try to be somewhat educated
first because I don't want to be ripped off. The condensation used
has always emptied via pvc pipe to our laundry tub, but it would
occasionally back up and the pan would overflow, so the pump was
installed last year. It is a combination gas heater/ air
conditioner. Are you saying a lit pilot has nothing to do with air
conditioning, just heating?

That problem I can solve! Try ibuprofen.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks. Filter changed just a week ago. Also, I really don't need
it running tonight so if I just leave it off the coil will still melt,
right?

Well, yes. If you THINK the fan is running (when set at the 'on' position).
If it's NOT running and just humming, just turn evrything off. It should
melt overnight.

wrote:

Thanks. I do call professionals, but I try to be somewhat educated
first because I don't want to be ripped off. The condensation used
has always emptied via pvc pipe to our laundry tub, but it would
occasionally back up and the pan would overflow, so the pump was
installed last year. It is a combination gas heater/ air
conditioner. Are you saying a lit pilot has nothing to do with air
conditioning, just heating?


It certainly shouldn't need to be lit to permit the AC to work.

It could well be an iced up evaporator like several folks have already
said. That can happen if a filter gets so clogged that the air flow
through the evaporator gets so slow that the coil gets cold enough to
ice up.

But you said you changed the filter a week ago, so that isn't likely to
be the cause of an iced evaporator.

Try what others have said, leave it off overnight and see if the air
flow and cooling returns the next day.

If it does, you still haven't "fixed" anything, becuse things that go
away by themselves have a way of coming back by themselves. I'd still
get a professional in to check out the charge, even if it starts working
again.

Good Luck,

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."