{"id":1507,"date":"2024-08-19T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/?p=1507"},"modified":"2024-08-16T14:26:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T18:26:26","slug":"is-there-ice-on-your-air-conditioner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/is-there-ice-on-your-air-conditioner\/","title":{"rendered":"Is There Ice on Your Air Conditioner?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"feathery-frost-patterned-ice-crystals\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Air conditioners make a lot of things. First and foremost\u2014the reason you have an air conditioner\u2014they make cold air. They make some noise. It shouldn\u2019t be anything alarming or sudden, but ACs certainly aren\u2019t silent. They also make some moisture, as the humidity in the air condenses against the cold evaporator coils like droplets on a cold soda can.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing your air conditioner definitely should not make is ice. Yes, you do want the system to create coldness. But ice can actually have the opposite effect! Does that seem a little bizarre? We\u2019ll explain exactly what we mean, why ice on your air conditioner is a bad sign, and what to do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Problem Begins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning, something causes the refrigerant in the evaporator coil to soak up less heat than it should. Perhaps there\u2019s a leak somewhere, and there\u2019s just not enough refrigerant left in the system to absorb much heat. Perhaps there\u2019s a layer of dust over the evaporator coil, acting like insulation and keeping the cold refrigerant and the hot air of your home separated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the cause, that super-cold refrigerant is not warming the way it should. The moisture that naturally accumulates on the evaporator coil from condensation doesn\u2019t drip off into the condensate pan the way it should. Instead, it freezes solid because the coil is just so cold! Now you\u2019ve got a layer of ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem Continues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the original cause of your issue, the ice is now adding another complication. It\u2019s another layer between the refrigerant and the warm air. It makes it even harder for the refrigerant to soak up any heat! And this makes more ice develop, which makes it even harder \u2026 and so on, in a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solution to an Icy AC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first thing you need to do is get rid of the ice. Don\u2019t try to chip it away! That\u2019s an easy way to damage the coils. If you didn\u2019t have a refrigerant leak before, you will now! What you need to do is shut off the air conditioner completely and let it melt. This should only take 12 to 24 hours, depending on how thick the ice is. Check the condensate pan occasionally to make sure it\u2019s draining properly and not overflowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once all the ice is gone, you can take a couple of steps that might mitigate the problem. First, change the air filter. This will maximize airflow through the system, which will help the refrigerant to absorb heat. Next, clean those evaporator coils so there won\u2019t be anything caked on that might block absorption. Be careful and gentle! You really don\u2019t want to damage them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can start up the system again. How\u2019s it working now? Maybe your problem is completely resolved. But if your evaporator coils start developing ice again, it\u2019s time for professional air conditioning repair in Plainfield, IL<\/a>. An expert technician can determine exactly what\u2019s gone wrong with the system and put it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call J&A today<\/strong><\/a>, Sleep-tight tonight!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ll explain exactly what we mean, why ice on your air conditioner is a bad sign, and what to do about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[70],"tags":[143,94],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1507"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1510,"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507\/revisions\/1510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jnaonline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}