You never want an air conditioning malfunction to sneak up on you, since it can mean losing cooling for your house during one of the hottest days of summer. You can’t predict all air conditioning problems ahead of time, but the majority will give off some warning signs. If you know what to look for—or in this case, listen for—you can call our repairs experts in time to head off a bigger disaster.
Odds sounds are among the commonest ways that an air conditioner signals something is wrong with it. Please don’t overlook these strange noises just because the cooling capacity of the AC still seems fine. These sounds almost always indicate a problem that will worsen without attention from technicians.
ONE: Rattling
A rattling sound from the air conditioner cabinet could be as simple as a loose door you didn’t latch properly. It can be bigger trouble, however, such as loose parts inside the blower assembly or the cabinet starting to loosen from where it’s attached to the floor. If checking the door doesn’t take away the trouble, you’ll want the professionals to check on the system.
TWO: Shrieking
No, not like the shrieking in a horror film—although you may find this a more alarming sound. This is mechanical shrieking you might expect to hear from a motor in trouble. Which is probably what it is. this shrieking sound means the bearings in a motor are starting to wear down. If the bearings wear down completely, the motor parts will grind against each other and lead to extensive damage. When you have technicians replace the bearings, you can prevent much bigger problems.
THREE: Grinding
This mechanical noise is what follows when the bearings of a motor are worn down completely. It can also happen because the parts of the motor have lost lubrication and are wearing down due to neglect or basic age. Technicians will probably need to replace the motors. (For an extremely old air conditioner, more than 15 years in service, it’s probably time to consider getting a new AC.)
FOUR: Hissing
This is a major red flag that the AC has a refrigerant leak. The sound is the high-pressure refrigerant gas escaping through small holes in the copper lines. Refrigerant loss puts the entire air conditioning system in jeopardy and threatens the compressor with burning out. Fortunately, sealing leaks and recharging lost refrigerant is a basic task for air conditioning technicians, so the sooner you call them to check on this, the better.
FIVE: Clanging
Sharp metallic clanging noises are the bigger and scarier version of rattling sounds. This probably indicates a problem in the blower assembly or the outdoor fan that is causing the fan blades to strike the housing. For an older AC, it could indicate a loose fan belt. A noise this loud means that the AC is suffering from damage right as you hear it—so please shut down the system and call for our help.
We offer 24/7 emergency air conditioning repair in Slidell, LA and throughout New Orleans and the surrounding area.
Gowland’s Heating & A/C is available at your convenience, not ours! We’ve valued “Relationship Over Revenue” since 1995.