Do It Yourself HVAC Maintenance - How To Troubleshoot Your Unit

Check Your Fuses

One of the most common HVAC maintenance issues is the fuse and circuit breaker. If your unit is running very low, it might be because of this. You can reset the circuit breaker yourself and see if this makes any difference. You can also check the fuse and replace them if necessary.

Worn Out Compressor

If your compressor or fan controls are won out, you may notice your unit turning on and off randomly. Compressors cause lots of HVAC maintenance problems so it's something that needs to be checked routinely. Your fan is supposed to kick on when the unit reaches a certain temperature. If it comes on and off, this means that its sensors are not working properly, and it's probably time to get that part of the unit changed.

Change Your Filters

If the system is blowing cool air but not very much of it, you probably forgot to replace your air filters before the summer season started. This is a common mistake and it leads to a unit that either doesn't run very well, or runs but brings a lot of dust into the house. This can drastically affect your indoor air quality, and it's very easy to replace filters yourself.

Add Refrigerant

Refrigerant is what makes the AC cool the air it brings into the house. If your unit turns on and seems to run just fine, but your house isn't cooling down the way it should be, you may need to add refrigerant. The unit is built to maintain a steady flow over time, but for various reasons it can get low.

Clean Coils

If, as above, the unit turns on and seemingly runs just fine but doesn't produce cool air, you might also have dirty condenser coils. These are the coils inside the unit and when they get dusty, they won't work like they're supposed to. The same goes for the evaporator, so pop the unit open and have a look. You can just brush them off with a duster or rag usually, although vacuuming might be necessary if they're really dirty.

One Word About Wiring

When it comes to wiring, you might want to hire an HVAC maintenance specialist to take care of it for you. Unless you have specific electrical experience, handling wiring can cause serious injury. This is the case with both high and low voltage wiring. Everything in your unit is connected to your home's entire electrical system, so the risk of shock is always there. There's also the risk of just not knowing what you're doing and getting things more messed up than they already are.

Log Changes

Just for the sake of making your HVAC maintenance that much easier, you might want to write down somewhere all the repairs and other work you have done on it. In the future when you hire a professional to do something, you'll have a complete log of all the changes that have occurred over the past few years, and this will help them diagnose problems more quickly and efficiently.