It's finally decided to heat up here in Empire, Alabama. It was over 90 yesterday and dancing in the 80s today.
I'd been out feeding the critters and as I stood at the sink washing my hands, Jilda said: "Does it feel warm in here to you?"
I hadn't thought about it, but as I stood, I felt air coming from one of the vents in the kitchen, but it wasn't cool air....just air.
I stepped to the thermostat and it read 76 degrees. We don't keep our house super cool in the summer, but 76 was a little warm.
I tapped on the digital device with my index finger as if one of the electrons was stuck. It worked sometimes with old mercury thermostats, but I could almost hear this one snicker at me. "Are you kidding me old timer?" it seemed to be saying.
The AC fan was whirling merrily away, but it was blowing warm air. When I stepped to the deck where I normally hear the outside unit doing its thang, it was silent as a wake.
I went out and checked all the obvious stuff but nothing looked out of order.
I called my nephew Haven and he gave me a few suggestions to try, none of which helped. Normally he would say I'll run up there in a little while and check it for you, but he was up to his axle in alligators, so he gave me the number of an AC man.
When I called the AC guy, he too was tied up, but he asked me a few questions, one of which was, did you check the contactor.
Since I didn't know what a contactor was, I told him I had not. He said he'd try to come up late this evening and check it our for me.
It bothered me that I didn't know what a contactor was, so I did a YouTube search for what was going on with my AC. One of the things a guy said was check the contactor. I did another search to see how to check the device, and it showed a video of how to do it.
I walked outside, turned off the power to the AC and checked the contactor. When I opened up the electronics compartment, it was full of ants.
To make a long story short, I serviced my unit, sprayed for ants, fired up my AC, and air as cold as a popcycle began to blow from the vents.
I called and cancelled the AC service call.
Life can be crunchy. Sometimes fortune munches on your bottom like a honey biscuit, and sometimes it shines like the Alabama sun in August.
Today, it felt like August.
I'd been out feeding the critters and as I stood at the sink washing my hands, Jilda said: "Does it feel warm in here to you?"
I hadn't thought about it, but as I stood, I felt air coming from one of the vents in the kitchen, but it wasn't cool air....just air.
I stepped to the thermostat and it read 76 degrees. We don't keep our house super cool in the summer, but 76 was a little warm.
I tapped on the digital device with my index finger as if one of the electrons was stuck. It worked sometimes with old mercury thermostats, but I could almost hear this one snicker at me. "Are you kidding me old timer?" it seemed to be saying.
The AC fan was whirling merrily away, but it was blowing warm air. When I stepped to the deck where I normally hear the outside unit doing its thang, it was silent as a wake.
I went out and checked all the obvious stuff but nothing looked out of order.
I called my nephew Haven and he gave me a few suggestions to try, none of which helped. Normally he would say I'll run up there in a little while and check it for you, but he was up to his axle in alligators, so he gave me the number of an AC man.
When I called the AC guy, he too was tied up, but he asked me a few questions, one of which was, did you check the contactor.
Since I didn't know what a contactor was, I told him I had not. He said he'd try to come up late this evening and check it our for me.
It bothered me that I didn't know what a contactor was, so I did a YouTube search for what was going on with my AC. One of the things a guy said was check the contactor. I did another search to see how to check the device, and it showed a video of how to do it.
I walked outside, turned off the power to the AC and checked the contactor. When I opened up the electronics compartment, it was full of ants.
To make a long story short, I serviced my unit, sprayed for ants, fired up my AC, and air as cold as a popcycle began to blow from the vents.
I called and cancelled the AC service call.
Life can be crunchy. Sometimes fortune munches on your bottom like a honey biscuit, and sometimes it shines like the Alabama sun in August.
Today, it felt like August.
Well done, Rick! We've had our A/C unit stop working too (although we didn't have the ants) and I've had to call my A/C man - my cousin. But as always, everyone else has discovered that their air isn't blowing cold, and it takes him a while to get to us. Last summer we waited 2 weeks for the unit to get fixed! How nice that you could do it yourself.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome Rick... so great to hear you figured it out yourself :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know about you Rick, but when I manage to figure something out like that AND fix it myself... I feel like a super hero!
ReplyDeleteWTG SuperMan!
Congratulations. My AC was just blowing air last year. My nice AC guy came out and had to replace something. He also cleaned a bunch of dog hair out of the unit. I have no idea where that came from.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Never mind dog hair & ants--my problem is keeping my husband away from repairing things!!
ReplyDeleteSuper cool (literally)! I love the feeling of accomplishment when we can resolve those sorts of problems. Good on you!
ReplyDeleteHave no idea what a contactor is or does, but I am impressed that you figured it all out. Damm ants.
ReplyDelete