central AC unit hissing and leaking

kekels

Tonight I noticed a loud hissing (like air leaking out of a tire) coming from our central AC unit outside. When I looked at the base of the unit I noticed it was wet and appeared to be leaking water (though it could be something else). I turned it off but since we live in the south, we will most certainly need it tomorrow, especially since my spouse is recovering from pregnancy. We're debating calling the AC repairman, but don't really have the money for an expensive repair. My question is, is there any safe way I can determine what the problem is and fix it myself? I read that it might be the compressor, but I don't really know where to start with that. If this is too much for a novice I guess I'll just have to use some savings, but if not I'd like to give it a shot.

Info on the unit (if this helps with anything):

Goodman Manufacturing Co.
Model# CKJ48-1B
Serial# 9608107327
Hrtz: 6
AC volts 208/230
Compressor RLA 21.8 LRA 105
Factory test pressure Low 150 High 300

REP

The only thing I can think of from my house is tghat your freon line was either sweating an awful lot or it had started to ice up and what you saw was it melting.
Turn the unit back on and after a few hours check the lines coming out of your outside unit.If you see ice on the larger line of the two then you might have a freon shortage,or your indoor coil might be dirty on the side nearest the blower fan.
If you have a leak then you would want to have it fixed unless its a very small leak.
To have someone figure out what is wrong shouldn't cost a whole lot.
Good luck.

hvactech126

if the outdoor unit has not been cleaned in some time I would start by cleaning the coil and then restarting the unit to see if the noise went away.

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