question about a/c filter..,

[Da Prez]

if you have a very dirty, clogged filter will it cause your systems pressure to run really high?

now a lil background info... my ex's a/c kept fucking up, so she called this company out and they said her coil was bad and her pressure was too high and released a couple pounds of freon, and quoted her $1700 to fix the coil... I called Armando, stanggt40 friend and he checks the filter, it's totally clogged, she changes it and he cleans the coil and adds the freon back... and says the coil is fine... so you see the situation she is in... therefore I ask the filter question...

[Bullitt3246]

if you have a very dirty, clogged filter will it cause your systems pressure to run really high?

now a lil background info... my ex's a/c kept fucking up, so she called this company out and they said her coil was bad and her pressure was too high and released a couple pounds of freon, and quoted her $1700 to fix the coil... I called Armando, stanggt40 friend and he checks the filter, it's totally clogged, she changes it and he cleans the coil and adds the freon back... and says the coil is fine... so you see the situation she is in... therefore I ask the filter question...


not real sure about the pressure thing but I know I check mine often and try to change every 3 months dirty or not. But I buy the extended life filters anyways

[bard]

I don't see how a clogged air filter would have any effect on the refrigerant system pressure. It will have to run longer to cool the house down, but the pressure shouldn't change.

[FoxBodyMike]

I don't see how a clogged air filter would have any effect on the refrigerant system pressure. It will have to run longer to cool the house down, but the pressure shouldn't change.

false.

It will restrict air flowing on the condenser, there for not cooling down the Freon, resulting in Higher pressure.

Get new filters, and clean the coil fins.

Think of it in relation to car AC.

If your condenser fins are trashed or dirty, or the a/c fan is not switching on. The freon pressure shoots through the roof resulting in pop off valve blowing.

[red89notch]

I think you have it a little backwards there, the airflow is not cooling the fins down but actually heating it up. The coil is like the evaporator in the dash, not the condensor that sits outside. If the outside unit fins are clogged and dont have enough airflow then the pressure could go up too high causing it to release but I dont see it happening with low airflow to the coil. But then again im no home a/c guy either.

[FoxBodyMike]

I think you have it a little backwards there, the airflow is not cooling the fins down but actually heating it up. The coil is like the evaporator in the dash, not the condensor that sits outside. If the outside unit fins are clogged and dont have enough airflow then the pressure could go up too high causing it to release but I dont see it happening with low airflow to the coil. But then again im no home a/c guy either.

Yeah you are right, my bad lol.

so if the outside coils, the condenser, is clogged the pressure could rise?

[red89notch]

yup, now stop raising my post count! Its hard keeping it this low, especially when im on here almost daily. lol

[Stephen]

not real sure about the pressure thing but I know I check mine often and try to change every 3 months dirty or not. But I buy the extended life filters anyways

in the summer time those 3month filters dont really last 3 months...When theyre dirty they need to be changed.. I change mine every 3-4 weeks in the summer

[Progres1]

If you have a Clogged air filter or evaporator coil it will cause low air flow out of vent and low evaporator temp therfore cause your lowside suction pressure to be low due to not picking up any heat in the evaporator coil it will have little to no effect on the high side pressure. Dirty air filter will just cause the system to run inefficent and possibly freeze up. If your friend is having a high high side pressure and the cond coil is clean the system has a restriction in the refridgerant circuit on the highside. Either a Clogged liquid line drier, clogged orfice on the evaporator or a malfunctioning txv if present. I would have to look at the system to determine what the failure is.

Thanks John Sheffield

817-468-9922

www.checkmyac.com

[Da Prez]

well the first company came out and released some freon cause the pressure was too high and the a/c worked fine, and then armando came out and cleaned the coil and put the freon back in and today it stopped working again... my ex is getting tired of people coming out and charging to look at it and it still not fixed... but i will call ya monday john, hopefully you can point her in the right direction...

[Progres1]

we can handle it

Thanks John

[CobraChic]

Basically he is correct.

Sunday the compressor shut down and wouldn't re-start. We powered off everything and left it over night.

Monday morning turned everything back on. By lunch time house was cool again.

Tuesday the compressor shut off again and wouldn't re-start. I called an A/C guy out to look at it. He said compressor was getting too hott and shutting off due to high pressure on the return line. It was caused because the coil was clogged. He bled freon to reduce the pressure as a band aid to avoid ruining the compressor. He said this is temporary and wouldn't fix the problem, that the coil needed to be replaced.

Wednesday/Thursday I start calling around for quotes to see how much its going to cost to replace the coil. Keep in mind this whole time my house was cool and liveable.

Friday Fred called Armando to come look at it and he sent 3 guys to look at it. They go outside took off the cover, took the water hose back there to clean it off. Went to the attic and came down with the dirty filter. (Im a busy single mother with 3 kids so yea I haven't done that). The filter was broke so air was getting through. It had to of been acting like I didn't have a filter in there at all. I replaced the filter and they put things back together then come to charge me after not telling me anything was wrong except the filter. He said it wasn't cold because the freon was low so they added it back in. Didn't bother to tell me one thing about it before at all. Then charge me $120 to un-do what I paid $90 for the first guy to do that was actually working. Swore they fixed the problem and it wasn't a patch and the Coil was perfectly fine.

Sunday...Im at home doing laundry and it starts getting hott... What do you know the damn Compressor has shut off again!

[Hunt4m3x]

I'd call john. I talked to my buddy and he said the same thing.

[jyro]

it really needs to be looked at when it's messing up, not when it's cooling ok to find a intermittent problem. Could be a bad condenser fan motor, bad internal pressure relief inside the compressor, bad capacitor, loose connection or could just need a hard start kit for low voltage.

[STANGGT40]

Basically he is correct.

Sunday the compressor shut down and wouldn't re-start. We powered off everything and left it over night.

Monday morning turned everything back on. By lunch time house was cool again.

Tuesday the compressor shut off again and wouldn't re-start. I called an A/C guy out to look at it. He said compressor was getting too hott and shutting off due to high pressure on the return line. It was caused because the coil was clogged. He bled freon to reduce the pressure as a band aid to avoid ruining the compressor. He said this is temporary and wouldn't fix the problem, that the coil needed to be replaced.

Wednesday/Thursday I start calling around for quotes to see how much its going to cost to replace the coil. Keep in mind this whole time my house was cool and liveable.

Friday Fred called Armando to come look at it and he sent 3 guys to look at it. They go outside took off the cover, took the water hose back there to clean it off. Went to the attic and came down with the dirty filter. (Im a busy single mother with 3 kids so yea I haven't done that). The filter was broke so air was getting through. It had to of been acting like I didn't have a filter in there at all. I replaced the filter and they put things back together then come to charge me after not telling me anything was wrong except the filter. He said it wasn't cold because the freon was low so they added it back in. Didn't bother to tell me one thing about it before at all. Then charge me $120 to un-do what I paid $90 for the first guy to do that was actually working. Swore they fixed the problem and it wasn't a patch and the Coil was perfectly fine.

Sunday...Im at home doing laundry and it starts getting hott... What do you know the damn Compressor has shut off again!


call armando and he'll come out and fix it for no charge if it is because of something that he or his guys did.

[junior]

did you call lindel?

[CobraChic]

I didn't call Lindel. I don't want to keep paying people to come out and look at it.

I actually went home at lunch to turn everything back on. This time the compressor STILL will not come back on. So whatever was done Friday probably fried my outside unit. Why would I call them back to look at my AC again? Im sorry that wont be happening.

[STANGGT40]

I didn't call Lindel. I don't want to keep paying people to come out and look at it.

I actually went home at lunch to turn everything back on. This time the compressor STILL will not come back on. So whatever was done Friday probably fried my outside unit. Why would I call them back to look at my AC again? Im sorry that wont be happening.

i doubt that they over filled the unit, as they have guages that they read and fill by. Also, if by chance it was over filled, which is doubtful, then the high pressure switch would shut down the compressor...same if it's low, as it has a low pressure switch as well. these are safeguards to keep from messing up the compressor. i've had armando do all of my ac work for years, and he's always taken care of me as well as everyone that i've sent him to...he'll take care of it and very quickly, especially if it's something that he did wrong.

[CobraChic]

Well first guy let out Freon to reduce the pressure build-up. He said this should give us time to find a cost effective place to replace the coil.

Armando's guys came out and just replaced the freon without asking/telling me anything and called it a day. They didn't even look at the coil.

Now John came out today and says the A/C compressor is burnt out AND yes the Coil is bad... So now instead of just a coil which was the original problem I have to replace the A/C compressor too.

It would have been $1500 to fix the original problem and now its going to cost $2525 to fix the coil and the compressor... I didn't even get a receipt for the work they came and did without asking so how would they even warranty that? And how do you think they would begin to fix a compressor that was fried because they filled it back with the freon I already paid someone else to let out?

IF they would have told me about the freon being low I could have told them why it was low and warned them I didn't want more freon put in it. But no they didn't ask.

[STANGGT40]

Well first guy let out Freon to reduce the pressure build-up. He said this should give us time to find a cost effective place to replace the coil.

Armando's guys came out and just replaced the freon without asking/telling me anything and called it a day. They didn't even look at the coil.

Now John came out today and says the A/C compressor is burnt out AND yes the Coil is bad... So now instead of just a coil which was the original problem I have to replace the A/C compressor too.

It would have been $1500 to fix the original problem and now its going to cost $2525 to fix the coil and the compressor... I didn't even get a receipt for the work they came and did without asking so how would they even warranty that? And how do you think they would begin to fix a compressor that was fried because they filled it back with the freon I already paid someone else to let out?

IF they would have told me about the freon being low I could have told them why it was low and warned them I didn't want more freon put in it. But no they didn't ask.


are you talking about the coil on the inside unit? if so, is it clogged? usually if you have a coil issue, it's leaking...which definitely wouldn't cause you to have too high of pressure. if it's clogged, it would read high pressure though.

[Progres1]

All I can say is wow to the remarks that have been posted. Way to many people that dont understand what they are talking about making suggestions on what is wrong with her system.


John Sheffield

[STANGGT40]

All I can say is wow to the remarks that have been posted. Way to many people that dont understand what they are talking about making suggestions on what is wrong with her system.


John Sheffield

i'll definitely say that i'm no a/c tech by any means...i know very little about it, which is why i use armando for just about any and all a/c related problems that i have. from your comment, i'm assuming that you're a licensed mechanical tech, so maybe you can shed some light on something for me. if you have a regular bottle of freon (5-gallons or whatever most techs carry with them) without any pressure added to it; is it easy to over fill a unit? i figured that the pressure would have to equal out at some point where the pressure in the bottle is not enough to force anymore freon into the line...i've heard of people heating the bottle to increase pressure, etc, but assuming that there was nothing adding pressure, how much can you over fill?

[CobraChic]

are you talking about the coil on the inside unit? if so, is it clogged? usually if you have a coil issue, it's leaking...which definitely wouldn't cause you to have too high of pressure. if it's clogged, it would read high pressure though.

The companys that came out before and after both said the coil was bad. I think the first said it was clogged. Armando's guys said the coil inside was fine and had no problem at all.

Armando's guys said it was the low freon and bad air filter causing the problems but when they left everything was fixed.

John came out and verified the coil was bad as well as now the compressor was dead.

No biggie. I've working on estimates/funds right now and it should be fixed sometime next week.


Armando's guys DID NOT over fill it. They put freon in there the first guy took out without asking me.
The first guy took some of the freon out to reduce the pressure to prevent my compressor from dieing on me too.

[STANGGT40]

The companys that came out before and after both said the coil was bad. I think the first said it was clogged. Armando's guys said the coil inside was fine and had no problem at all.

Armando's guys said it was the low freon and bad air filter causing the problems but when they left everything was fixed.

John came out and verified the coil was bad as well as now the compressor was dead.

No biggie. I've working on estimates/funds right now and it should be fixed sometime next week.


Armando's guys DID NOT over fill it. They put freon in there the first guy took out without asking me.
The first guy took some of the freon out to reduce the pressure to prevent my compressor from dieing on me too.

ok, so it is the coil inside. call this guy as well...i told him about your issue, and he said that he would try to help you out on the price. just tell him that brad told you to call...i told him that you might be calling and he said to leave a message if he doesn't answer and he'll call you right back.

scott
(214)281-0591

he is a really good friend of mine that i've known for a very long time. he's licensed, does hvac service on the side, and is very good.

[jyro]

maybe you can shed some light on something for me. if you have a regular bottle of freon (5-gallons or whatever most techs carry with them) without any pressure added to it; is it easy to over fill a unit? i figured that the pressure would have to equal out at some point where the pressure in the bottle is not enough to force anymore freon into the line..., how much can you over fill?

On a car or home ac unit you always add refrigerant on the suction side of the compressor. The 30 lb bottle contains liquid refrigerant, the suction line contains mostly vapor. With the bottle connected and open to the suction side through a gauge set, vapor from the liquid refrigerant goes into the suction side of the compressor and is compressed in the compressor passing to the condenser and changed to liquified gas in the condenser as the heat in the compressed vapor is removed. The suction line on the compressor will continue to suck in vapor from the bottle till the whole system is liquid gas. At this point the compressor tries to compress the liquid and either locks up or breaks it's valves. If you don't know what your doing on an ac unit, you can blow yourself the fuck up and damage a lot of stuff needlessly.

[Progres1]

i'll definitely say that i'm no a/c tech by any means...i know very little about it, which is why i use armando for just about any and all a/c related problems that i have. from your comment, i'm assuming that you're a licensed mechanical tech, so maybe you can shed some light on something for me. if you have a regular bottle of freon (5-gallons or whatever most techs carry with them) without any pressure added to it; is it easy to over fill a unit? i figured that the pressure would have to equal out at some point where the pressure in the bottle is not enough to force anymore freon into the line...i've heard of people heating the bottle to increase pressure, etc, but assuming that there was nothing adding pressure, how much can you over fill?


Yes I am a Licensed contractor. As for your question refridgerant is measured in lbs normaly a 30lb bottle for R22 as far as how a unit gets the freon in the system when you connect to the lowside suction line you can ad refridgerant until it floods the evap coil and suction line. The suction line when the system is on is running at a lower pressure than the bottle pressure due to the compressor is sucking gas off of the Suction Line. at some point the Bottle can get cold due to the gas evaporating when it leaves the bottle that is why you see guys heat the bottle to get the gas to evaporate instead of staying a liquid. When the bottle gets cold the pressure gets really low and it does equalize at that point. And that is the reason for heating the bottle to get the refridgerant into a gas.

John Sheffield

[Bullitt3246]

in the summer time those 3month filters dont really last 3 months...When theyre dirty they need to be changed.. I change mine every 3-4 weeks in the summer


i hear ya. like I said I check them often to see if they are dirty or not..