Frozen air conditioner.

[jenluckenbach]

I have a window unit air conditioner that has a big ice plug, about a third the size of the filter area. I turned the unit off, much to the dismay of the foster cats as it is theirs.

Does anyone know what to DO?? I have heard of this happening, but never experienced it. Do I need to keep it off until it thaws?

HELP!

[catnapper]

I'd keep it off. In this heat, it should thaw relatively quick. The room should stay comfortable for a while so long as you don't open the other windows.

dumb me, is the filter on the outside of the room or on the inside?

[jenluckenbach]

The filter is inside. I opened up the cover to clean the cat hair from the filter and saw the ice. the filter is STUCK to the ice at one spot.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Id just turn it off and wait for the ice to melt. Our window unit frezes up often and usually turning it off for a few minutes does the trick.

[KYS]

I agree, turn it off and let it thaw out, than
in the future if you have a thermastat controll,
set it a few degrees warmer so it doesn't freeze up again.

This happens at work with our big units when someone
turns the thermostate to cold.
Than it freezes and it has to be shut down.
When the ice thaws we than have leaks in our ceiling.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by jenluckenbach

Do I need to keep it off until it thaws?

YES!
Keep it OFF till it thaws out!

Happens to our FD Office AC rather often.

Cause:
Room HOT and HIGH Humidity ...
then the AC turned on to too LOW a desired temp.

Prevention:
Cycle the AC ON more often to keep the room less hot AND
allow the AC to remove some of the high humidity;
AND turn the desired temp UP until the AC has a chance
to SLOWLY lower the Temp & Humidity.

/s/ Phred

[jenluckenbach]

It is an old unit. The thermostat is not very sophisticated. Just a dial with numbers 1 to 8, or something like that. I usually run it around 4.5, but it has been going non-stop with this horrendous weather we have been having. can you spell H-U-M-I-D-I-T-Y??

[jenluckenbach]

Thanks Phred, we were posting at the same time.

Prevention:
Cycle the AC ON more often to keep the room less hot AND
allow the AC to remove some of the high humidity;
AND turn the desired temp UP until the AC has a chance
to SLOWLY lower the Temp & Humidity.

I am afraid I don't follow this.

[lizbud]

Could you just de-frost it the way they used to do the old style
refrigerators? Put a pan of hot water next to the filter or use a
"gentle heat" like a hair dryer to melt some of it off quickly?

I'd do all this with the unit off, of course & turn it back on
after the ice was removed.

[jenluckenbach]

OK, I got the ice off the front and all the areas I can see. (yes, it thawed that fast). But what about what I can't see? Maybe behind the coils?

[catnapper]

Originally posted by jenluckenbach
I am afraid I don't follow this.

I think he means to set it at a higher temp - is 1 the warmest setting? Perhaps set it at 2 or somethign until the humidity is out of the room, then turn it up to three after a while, then kick it up to 4, and so on until the room is clear of humifdity. And don't turn it off unless the heat breaks, or you'll be doing it all the time.

Did I read that right?

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by jenluckenbach

I am afraid I don't follow this.

Neither does half the Fire Department!

Which is why the Office is *HOT* and the AC is *Frozen* for
half the darn summer!

Left ALONE - the AC can stabilize the Office to a comfortable 70-75 degrees,
and a decently low humidity level = *nice*.

In comes a *HOT* Freddy Fireman ... *UGGH* - too HOT in here ...

He >*CRANKS*< the Temp Dial down to "Way Too Cold" -
and usually leaves before any change is possibly noticed.

So there's the Poor AC - doin its darndest to get the temp down
to the requested setting of 10 degrees below ZERO

Then one of two things happens ...

1) Somebody comes in and notices it's "almost 5 Below" and either
shuts it OFF, or dials it UP to "Way too HOT" ... and HE leaves;
-or-
2) The Poor Thing just *Freezes Up*!

A day or so later, we have Sauna-like temp & humidity in the Office;
and the Poor AC is either a solid block of ice or Soooo Far Behind
it'll take a week to drag the temp down to "breathable" ....

And the Cycle Continues!

/s/ Phred

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by jenluckenbach

OK, I got the ice off the front and all the areas I can see.
(yes, it thawed that fast).
But what about what I can't see?
Maybe behind the coils?

Don't *RUSH* it!

Set it for "Fan ONLY" and let the fan blow air through the unit
for a while - till the air it's blowing out feels "warm".

Then turn it back up to a "HIGH" temperature setting -
in other words set it to maybe 75-80-85 degrees -
NOT super "Cold" ...
and WAIT a few hours for it to regain control of the room ...

Until the AC gets a LOT of the moisture & Humidity out of the room,
it will be at risk for a re-freeze.

Then * S L O W L Y * lower the temperature setting to where you want it.

[jenluckenbach]

OK....there is no fan only setting (I told you it was old). So I have it turned on with the thermostat at 1, the highest temperature.

Then I'll turn it to a higher number (lower temperature)....slowly.

Unfortunately, this is about the time I hit the hay......so I may need to rush it a tiny bit. Pumpkin (one of the fosters) Is actually puffing. They are after all, on the third floor.

I understand your explaination now, Phred, But I have consistanly kept the unit on and at 4.5 (remember, it goes 1 to 8).

I never turn it up or down, not these days.

[jenluckenbach]

Sheesh, time sure goes slow. It really has only been 20 minutes, but I need to start to cool that room. So I turned it from 1 up. At 2.5 the AC kicked in. So I truned it to 3 for tonight. Hopefully it will be ok and in the monring I can go up (or down) to 4 which is almost where I had it before.

THANK YOU for you responses and quick help.

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