If your car’s air conditioner is blowing hot air, you probably have some questions. What’s wrong with it? How much will it cost? Can I fix it myself? In some cases you may need a professional mechanic to diagnose what is wrong with your car’s A/C, a service for which they (rightfully) charge money. Likewise, there are some A/C repairs that the average person should leave to the pros. However, in many cases you—yes, even you—can figure out what’s wrong with your car’s air conditioner and fix the problem yourself, all for less than the diagnosis alone would cost at most auto repair shops. You don’t even need any fancy tools; all you need is a can of A/C Pro, which can be . We’re not saying it will diagnose every problem, but it will at least narrow down the options. It lets you know whether you need to take it to a mechanic or can simply fix it yourself. Gloves, safety glasses, and an A/C Pro gauge. The gauge comes as part of the standard , but you can also (and later add a separate can of A/C Pro if needed).

If you do get the all-in-one kit and end up not needing to use A/C Pro, it’s worth noting that some stores will let you return unopened products for a full refund (be sure you hang onto the receipt!). air handling units catalogueYou can use the gauge by itself to diagnose the system without opening the can, so if you find that A/C Pro is not the solution, returning it might be an option. ac unit for tiny house(You’ll have to check the store’s return policy to be sure.)home air conditioner compressor wont turn on Make sure the fan is on its highest setting and the temperature is at its coldest setting. Pop the hood and locate the compressor. If you don’t know what an A/C compressor looks like, check out our .

The A/C compressor is the only belt-driven part with a clutch, and the center part of the pulley doesn’t turn unless the clutch is engaged. So, if you see a pulley that isn’t spinning even though the belt around it is moving, that’s the compressor. With the A/C on, it’s normal for the compressor clutch to regularly turn itself off and on. To see how it should work, check out . If the compressor doesn’t turn on at all with the A/C set on max, there could be something wrong with the compressor. But you won’t know for certain until you check the pressure. Whether the compressor is running or not, checking the pressure is the next step. To do so, you’ll need to find the low-pressure A/C service port, which . You can also use our . Since the hose attached to the A/C Pro gauge will only snap on to the low-pressure port, you’ll know for certain when you get it right. Rotate the dial on the gauge to the approximate outdoor temperature, and read the pressure.

If the compressor is not running: The gauge is designed to measure the pressure when the compressor is running. When it’s not running, the pressure will be higher than if the compressor were on. In other words, if the gauge reads in the “normal” range with the compressor off, then it’s actually low on . Compressors are designed to shut themselves off if the refrigerant level gets too low. So, if the gauge reads in the “low” or even the “regular” range, the compressor might be working as designed and simply need more refrigerant before it will turn on. You can test this by adding a few ounces of A/C Pro, as explained in the can’s . If the compressor then starts running, you know that the problem was low refrigerant, and you can finish adding A/C Pro until your A/C is running cold again. If the compressor does not turn on after adding some refrigerant, or if the gauge reads in the “high” range, then you know there is actually something wrong with the compressor itself.

To fix the problem, you’ll probably need to take it to a professional. If the compressor is running: As long as the compressor is on (even if it’s only on for a few seconds at a time), you can use the gauge to measure the pressure. Just make sure you’re reading the pressure during the times when the compressor is running. One final note: A/C Pro fixes leaks, but only small leaks. If it’s taken at least two weeks for your air conditioner to go from “cold” to “warm,” then you have a small leak. If your A/C was cold yesterday and today is blowing hot air, then you either have a major leak or some other problem with the system. That would be one of the .Feel free to . For more car , follow us on or . She lives in a small, simple house in southern Mississippi. It's only 1700 square feet. Why then, she wondered, were her summer electricity bills running more than $600? She didn't have anything that could be a big energy hog, like a swimming pool, and she didn't do stupid things like leave all the doors and windows open while she ran the air conditioner.

What could it be? She called her electric company, one of the co-ops in Mississippi, and they sent someone out to investigate. Utility companies get calls like this all the time, and they've learned from experience what most of the main causes of high bills are. When the utility investigator arrived arrived at the house, he asked her to tell him anything she knew that might help him. "Well," she said, "the air conditioner runs all the time, but the house won't even cool down to 80 degrees." "Ah, that helps to narrow it down a bit." He went to work, and it didn't take him long to find the problem. He measured the temperature drop across the air conditioner coil and found that the air on the 'cool' side wasn't much lower than the air on the warm side. And both were much warmer than they should be. OK, that could be a disconnected duct in the attic, he thought, like the one from a different house that you see above. A look in the attic, however, showed that wasn't the case here.

Besides, a disconnected duct would increase the bill, but it almost certainly wouldn't quadruple it. His next step was to turn off the breaker to the electric resistance heat (a.k.a. strip heat) in the HVAC system. This is basically a giant toaster inside the air handler. Heat pumps use it for supplemental heat. In some homes, it's used as the primary heat source. It's not cheap, though, especially considering that the same electricity going into a heat pump will yield two or three times more heat. Anyway, the utility investigator turned off the breaker to the strip heat and watched what happened to the meter. In the summer time, turning off the strip heat should have no effect at all on how fast the meter spins because it shouldn't be running. Strip heat is for cold weather. In this case, the meter went from spinning fast enough to saw wood to moving as slow as a horned passalus (photo at right) going for a walk in the woods. "Well, we found your problem, ma'am," he told her.