How Low Refrigerant Causes Your Air Conditioner To Short Cycle
A common problem with air conditioners is that they short-cycle when parts malfunction. Several problems can arise and cause an AC to short-cycle, and one of those problems is low refrigerant. Here's what happens when an AC short-cycles, why low refrigerant can be to blame, and what repairs might be needed.
Short-Cycling Is When Your AC Cycles Too Fast
If your AC is short-cycling, your home may not be able to cool down because the AC doesn't run long enough before it shuts down. Instead, the air conditioner starts up and then shuts right back down. When this happens due to low refrigerant, the low-pressure switch is usually the cause. This switch is a safety mechanism that shuts down the AC so other parts won't be damaged by running the AC with low refrigerant.
A Refrigerant Leak Triggers The Low-Pressure Switch
The low-pressure switch monitors the pressure in the refrigerant line in the AC that goes to the compressor. If the refrigerant level drops, the switch activates and shuts down the AC so the compressor doesn't burn out. When refrigerant leaks out, the pressure drops when the AC starts up. When the AC shuts down, the pressure rises so the pressure switch resets and lets the AC start. The cycle keeps repeating itself until the refrigerant problem is solved.
A Refrigerant Leak Can Be Repaired
Fixing a refrigerant leak can be a difficult and time-consuming air conditioning repair. Finding the leak can be challenging, and there may even be more than one leak if the evaporator coils have developed pinholes. However, the leak has to be found and plugged or the refrigerant will keep leaking and problems with your air conditioner will get worse.
Refrigerant lines are made of copper, so holes can be filled and new pieces of pipe patched in with brazing or soldering using techniques that ensure the line stands up to pressure changes in the refrigerant. If a line has several holes, the air conditioning repair technician may replace the entire line. Sometimes, it's necessary to replace the entire evaporator coil or condenser coil.
Once the lines are repaired, refrigerant is added to the proper pressure and your HVAC is turned on to see if the short cycling stopped and to make sure the pressures hold and the leak has stopped. Since several things cause short-cycling, the air conditioning repair technician has to start by troubleshooting the entire system. A test of the refrigerant line with pressure gauges helps the technician zero in on a refrigerant leak problem.
Contact a local HVAC service to learn more.