Initially, you’ll want to visually inspect to the thermostat and the temperature sensors to make sure that they are positioned correctly (needs to be positioned near, but not touching, the evaporator coil). Is your air conditioner cycling on and off too frequently?Ī window air conditioning unit that is constantly cycling on or off can usually be traced back to a thermostat or temperature sensor that is on the fritz and no longer working the way that it should. When the unit is level, the drain pan should be slopped towards the back, allowing the condensation to be expelled outdoors. To correct the problem, ensure that your air conditioner is level on the window sill. If water is dripping out the front panel, then the pan is not sloping correctly toward the back of the unit. The evaporator coil is what causes moisture condensation to form and this is supposed to drain onto a metal pan at the bottom of your AC unit, which then flows outside through a hole or drain tube. Is water dripping out of the front panel? Moisture is a hotbed for the growth for odor-causing bacterial elements. You’ll want to frequently clean out your air conditioner filter, scrub down your compressors from time to time, and generally make sure that your AC unit isn’t building up pools of moisture. Window AC units that haven’t been run in a while (like those that have been stored throughout the cooler months and over the winter) can sometimes grow quite a bit of bacteria, mold, and mildew in the condenser coils, especially if large buildups of moisture have started to accumulate. If there is still life in that belt you can simply readjust things, but from time to time you’ll want to replace the belt to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your AC unit. The unit’s fan belt is the most common culprit in these kinds of problems, and sometimes the fan belt will simply wear out and become dislodged in the back of the unit.
If you hear any troubling sounds, it’s time to take a look. If you’re hearing strange noises coming out of your air conditioner, especially any loud or wailing noises, the odds are pretty good that there’s something wrong with an internal part of your window AC unit.
Common Problems and Solutions Are strange noises coming from your air conditioner? These are the elements of your air conditioning unit that will most likely need a little bit of extra attention over time, and these are the components of your device that you’re going to spend the majority of your maintenance on. The condenser fan that blows hot air from the hot condenser coil out into the outside.The condenser coil that converts hot air into cool air.The compressor that moves the flow of air as well as the coolant material throughout the AC unit.The thermostat which controls the temperature of the air and the room it’s working in.The fan or the blower system that blows air past the evaporator coil and into the room.The evaporator coil that allows your AC unit to cool your space.The face panel of the AC unit with the air filtration system.There are a lot of different moving parts that go into creating an effective window air conditioning unit, but the most common components of these devices that are most likely to fail include: See all of Amazon's Best Selling Window AC Units The Main Components That Cause the Most Problems Obviously, you’ll want to learn as much about how window air conditioners work so that you can to better understand exactly what you’re getting into when it comes time to fix them.īut hopefully, by the time we’re done with the details in this guide, you’ll have a more fundamental understanding of everything that modern air conditioning units bring to the table so that you can repair them more effectively. This is true even if you don’t have special technical skills or an assortment of tools laying around the house. Thankfully though, unlike traditional “whole home” air conditioning units, window air conditioners can be cleaned, maintained and run through a proper troubleshooting process without any real difficulty. Nothing helps you fight back against summer heat waves better than a quality window air conditioning unit, but unfortunately not all AC units have been designed to offer the kind of longevity and performance we are accustomed to.Īs these appliances get a little bit older and have been through several seasons of cooling, it’s not uncommon for problems to pop up.