You don’t want to end up with a broken-down air conditioner, waiting in the heat for a technician to come for emergency repairs. Certainly not during the hottest part of the summer! You want to catch any little AC concerns before they get bad enough to stop your air conditioner in its tracks entirely. So how can you tell your air conditioner needs repair? Listen for these tell-tale noises which indicate AC problems.
Buzzing
Maybe it’s bees! No, probably not. It could be a simple issue caused by vibration, one panel buzzing against another, which a technician could repair quickly and easily by getting everything tightly secured down. But it could also be an electrical buzz, which would be a more serious issue. For your safety, don’t risk it. Get repairs regardless.
Clicking
This is another one which might or might not be electrical. Some clicking is normal, briefly at the end of the cooling cycle, as the air conditioner shuts off. But if clicking is happening at other times, repairs are necessary.
Clattering
A loose component is probably clattering. This might be something like the blower fan’s blades. While this is a simple issue to repair, it won’t stay that way for long! If the fan blades strike another component, much bigger issues could result, so get it repaired promptly.
Bubbling
Your air conditioner’s coils should be entirely full of refrigerant. But if that refrigerant has been leaking out, air has been leaking in. This means that the sound of air bubbles percolating through the coils is an indicator of a refrigerant leak that must be patched and refilled.
Hissing
Because refrigerant evaporates into a gaseous form when it absorbs heat, it can make a gaseous hissing sound when it escapes from a leaky spot on the coils. Again, this is a sound that indicates that you need coil repair and refrigerant refilling. If the leak continues, the AC will get less and less effective while consuming more and more energy, leaving you in a hot house with sky-high electric bills.
Booming
The outdoor unit houses the compressor. When it first comes on, it needs to draw a lot of power at once. If it’s not getting the power it needs, it can make quite a boom or bang, which is known as hard starting. Chances are, it simply requires a capacitor that can supply that extra oomph.
Groaning
This might sound like a terrible complaint, or like metal scraping together. It’s made by the bearings in the blower fan motor getting ground down. Get it repaired now, and you’ll just need new bearings. Let the problem continue, and you’ll need a new motor. Avoid the issue entirely by making sure you get professional AC maintenance every single year.
Whatever you hear, take it seriously. Any unexpected, sudden, loud, or new AC sound is cause for concern, and should be investigated by a technician so you can get air conditioning repair in Medina, OH.
Contact us today with any questions about your air conditioner or to make an appointment.