Air Temp Through Wall Unit Help(doesn’t seem to be as cold)

[macher]

Hi we have an Air Temp through the wall air conditioner that’s about 20 years old. I believe these units were made by Chrysler.

Noticed lately that it hasn’t been cool as it has been even when I turn the setting to 8-10. The unit is located in our family room which is an addition to the side of the house. When I walk in the front door in the past I could feel the house cooled. Now when I walk in it doesn’t feel like it used too. Also it does seem that on the low setting it might not be blowing out as strong.

We live in Philadelphia and it has been pretty humid lately. So it’s hard to tell. Never really had to turn the unit on medium and high before. Always kept on low with 7 setting all summer.

Is this beast failing? If not what can I do to get this running like the beast it once was?

Thanks!

 

[Dana]

First things first...

Most wall-type AC units have a thin air filter on the indoor side of the evaporator coil that can be pulled out for cleaning without removing it from the wall sleeve. Pull the filter, give it a good vacuuming, then a good soak in diswashing liquid followed by a power rinse with a garden hose, then let it dry. While the filter is drying, inspect the finned evaporator coil for dirt accumulation, then run it for a good half-hour to see if it's icing up (which could be a function of either air flow or a low refrigerant charge due to leakage).

If it's easy enough to pull the unit out of the wall sleeve, take it outside, pull the sheet metal housing off the top (usually 6-10 screws are holding it to the bottom pan), and give both the evaporator coil (the indoor side coil) and condenser coil (outside) a good vacuuming, then a strong rinse with a garden hose to get the 2 decades of accumulated bugs, crud and cobwebs out of the coils. Try not to soak the control section, but the rest of it is highly tolerant of liquid water. Blow dry any wiring that got wet before putting it back together.

If it's icing up even after the coils have been cleaned it's probably low on refrigerant, in which case it's time to scrap it. A couple of decades is a reasonable life cycle for any air conditioner, and a replacement would in most cases be both quieter and more efficient. Many newer through-wall AC units come with wireless or wired remote controls (some behave pretty much like a thermostat), often with comparatively quiet scroll compressors.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[macher]

First things first...

Most wall-type AC units have a thin air filter on the indoor side of the evaporator coil that can be pulled out for cleaning without removing it from the wall sleeve. Pull the filter, give it a good vacuuming, then a good soak in diswashing liquid followed by a power rinse with a garden hose, then let it dry. While the filter is drying, inspect the finned evaporator coil for dirt accumulation, then run it for a good half-hour to see if it's icing up (which could be a function of either air flow or a low refrigerant charge due to leakage).

If it's easy enough to pull the unit out of the wall sleeve, take it outside, pull the sheet metal housing off the top (usually 6-10 screws are holding it to the bottom pan), and give both the evaporator coil (the indoor side coil) and condenser coil (outside) a good vacuuming, then a strong rinse with a garden hose to get the 2 decades of accumulated bugs, crud and cobwebs out of the coils. Try not to soak the control section, but the rest of it is highly tolerant of liquid water. Blow dry any wiring that got wet before putting it back together.

If it's icing up even after the coils have been cleaned it's probably low on refrigerant, in which case it's time to scrap it. A couple of decades is a reasonable life cycle for any air conditioner, and a replacement would in most cases be both quieter and more efficient. Many newer through-wall AC units come with wireless or wired remote controls (some behave pretty much like a thermostat), often with comparatively quiet scroll compressors.

First things first...

Most wall-type AC units have a thin air filter on the indoor side of the evaporator coil that can be pulled out for cleaning without removing it from the wall sleeve. Pull the filter, give it a good vacuuming, then a good soak in diswashing liquid followed by a power rinse with a garden hose, then let it dry. While the filter is drying, inspect the finned evaporator coil for dirt accumulation, then run it for a good half-hour to see if it's icing up (which could be a function of either air flow or a low refrigerant charge due to leakage).

If it's easy enough to pull the unit out of the wall sleeve, take it outside, pull the sheet metal housing off the top (usually 6-10 screws are holding it to the bottom pan), and give both the evaporator coil (the indoor side coil) and condenser coil (outside) a good vacuuming, then a strong rinse with a garden hose to get the 2 decades of accumulated bugs, crud and cobwebs out of the coils. Try not to soak the control section, but the rest of it is highly tolerant of liquid water. Blow dry any wiring that got wet before putting it back together.

If it's icing up even after the coils have been cleaned it's probably low on refrigerant, in which case it's time to scrap it. A couple of decades is a reasonable life cycle for any air conditioner, and a replacement would in most cases be both quieter and more efficient. Many newer through-wall AC units come with wireless or wired remote controls (some behave pretty much like a thermostat), often with comparatively quiet scroll compressors.

Thanks! Going to do those steps. Appreciate it!

The unit isn’t freezing up.

And I know newer units will be more efficient and more quite. But I don’t know if you ever heard of Air Temp. In its hay day it was a beast of a machine made by Chrysler.

 

[DonL]

Thanks! Going to do those steps. Appreciate it!

The unit isn’t freezing up.

And I know newer units will be more efficient and more quite. But I don’t know if you ever heard of Air Temp. In its hay day it was a beast of a machine made by Chrysler.

A 15-20 deg differential is about as good as it gets. Depends on the type of refrigerant used.

Running it on recirculate will get colder than cooling fresh outside air. In fresh air mode mode, If it is 100 deg outside, 80-85 deg inside is about normal.

The only Chrysler made ones that I seen used Ice cubes.