please help diagnose my ac....its freaking hot
 

O i have an upstairs unit and a downstairs, my Dow stairs unit is blowing "cool"air but not cold. When I adjust the thermostat I hear the unit outside turn on, the blower turns on but during the day the inside heats up to about 82 degrees and stays there....won't go hotter or cooler (100 degrees outside).


Today I turned both units on and the outside unit for upstairs is blowing warm air out of the top of the unit where the downstairs is blowing cool air out of the outside unit. There is no restriction on the outside units


What else can I check, its freaking hot in here

Thanks

Start with the temperature of the supply and return grills for whichever unit is giving you grief. Is there air blowing out of the vents of the problem child?

There is air blowing out of the inside vents, the unit outside also has air blowing out the top.

Someone told me to run water on the outside fins to see if that changed anything, it did not

When was the last time you changed your filter?
 

This may have something to do with it. It also could have a dirty evaporator. If the condenser is really dirty you will need to spray a chemical to get all the dirt off. You can get it in any HVAC supply store. I would go with the yellow kind it's a little stonger than the green.

Again, get the temps of the air.

I didn't realize you meant get the actual number..... I don't have anything to measure that with, guess its time for a trip to home depot

A cooking thermometer works, like the ones you stick in a turkey when it's in the oven.

The breakdown of coil cleanings which is what your friend was suggesting you do when he said to run water on it:

You have two coils, an evaporator coils which will be inside of your home and where the evaporation (latent heat of evaporation to be precise) of your refrgierant takes place. This process, in this inside coil, picks up the heat in your living space.

The second coil is your condenser coil. This is where the heat that is picked up during evaporation is displaced outside into the air from that fan, thus blowing the hot air it is extracting from the vapor refrigerant into the outside air. Yes, that air should always be warm to fairly hot.

With either or both of these two coils dirty/blocked the task that they are designed to do becomes negligible. If your inside evaporator coil becomes clogged than then you can't pick up heat, not too mention your liquid refrigerant may not boil over completely which can lead to a slew of other problems.

If your outside condenser coil is not clean (grass and dirt and dust usually builds up on the outside) than it can not displace the heat so you are essentially sending back into the home the same heat it was trying to get rid of and you lose cooling, the system runs continuosly, et.c etc.

Come back with the temps and we'll take it from there.

Down stairs unit
Both set to hold at 72 degrees
Blowing out of the inside vents 78.9 degrees, blowing out the top of the outside unit 97.2


Upstairs unit
Blowing out of the vents inside 58.2 degrees, blowing out the top of the outside unit 109.2

Something is telling me that your compressor is not working on the down stairs unit and yes, the condenser fan can come on but not the compressor.

How would I test that

Well, you can hear it for one, the compressor makes a distinct noise, and secondly you can feel it. Put your hand on the copper lines at the unit. With the compressor running the small line should be hot to the touch and the big one (which should have a black insulation on it so pull that back to get to the big line) should be cold as well as it should be sweating, sweating meaning condensation should be forming on it so it would be wet, like a cold can of Coke or a beer when you remove it from the fridge.

Compare the condenser that you know is running by noise and feel and hearing it to the one that is having a problem. Without a meter to test the capacitor (mfd) or to check to see if there might be a voltage (electrical) problem to the unit (if one leg drops out that compressor will not start) or to test that the compressor in the event it's shorted out you'd need a set of refrigerant gauges to see the pressures to tell if it's running and to determine what problems that refrigerant is having, if any.

I just don't think it's running. If you have a digital meter and a 5/16"s or 1/4" nut driver to remove the lid of that condesner I can walk you through how to test that compressor, if it's not doing the things I said it should with the lines.

Pretty much you remove the wires at the compressor and test continuity from each terminal to the other and if between any of the two terminals reads OL or Open Line than the compressor is bad, the windings have internally burned up and are open so voltage is not going to do anything as the magnetic field is not present, you just have electricity not doing any work. Or you can test from each terminal to ground (ground being the case of the compressor or any copper exending from the compressor) and if there IS CONINUITY there that the compressor is bad, meaning the insulation between the motor windings and the case of the compressor is burned up so electricity is traveling to ground via the case and not staying in the motor windings where it should. In this last instance, a grounded compressor, usually the electrical breaker is tripped and repeatedly and instantly trips when turned back on so unless that has happened I doubt it's a grounded comrpessor but it could be a shorted compressor. Or it could just be a bad capacitor (a run capacitor is needed to start that compressor and they do go out) and all of this is heresay as to whether or not it's running.

Do all work, if you plan on doing any, with the breaker to the unit off or you will go to the hopsital.

OK I'll go outside and compare the noise/feel.

A few month ago the unit in the attic was making a buzz/humming noise....it stopped and I believe the air was still working but it wasn't nearly as hot as it is outside now

They both sound the same....neither of the copper wires were hot per say but both were warm. Both insulated lines had condensation, the one working was cold while the other was cool (I tripped the breaker myself and when turn on the trouble unit seemed to be colder than after a few minutes)

OK it seems like it gets cold when I first turn it on (by tripping the breaker) but then goes back to just normal to the touch without the condensations ( the insulated pipe)