When you live with our weather day in and day out, it goes without saying that the use of your air conditioner is pretty consistent! Since summer temps haven’t even reached their peak yet, it’s important to keep an eye—and ear—out for any potential issues, especially since the need for Newberry, FL AC repair typically increases this time of year.
But how do you know if you’re even having a problem with your air conditioner? A pretty big sign is a strange or unfamiliar noise coming from the system. There are 4 sounds in particular that we never want you to ignore, and we’ve highlighted them below.
1. Banging
Banging typically indicates that a component has become loose. It could be the fan blades, or even something as seemingly “minor” as a screw. The fact is, any loose component can quickly become a huge problem, affecting how powerfully your air conditioner works, and even potentially damaging the interior of the system.
2. Short-Cycling
This is one of the biggest signs that something is amiss with your cooling system. Short-cycling describes the process where your compressor turns on and shuts off in rapid succession. It’s an issue for a couple reasons. To begin with, it cuts down significantly on the system’s ability to circulate cooled air.
It also exponentially increases the level of wear and tear that your air conditioner has to deal with overall. By enabling prolonged short-cycling to happen, component of the AC system wear down and might fail faster than they would have otherwise.
3. Grinding
Grinding noises coming from your air conditioning system likely is a sign of an air handler issue. The air handler is the part of your cooling system that’s tasked with circulating air throughout your living space. Moving that much air generates a great deal of friction, so the air handler motor has lubricated bearings to help in operate more smoothly.
Over time, these bearings wear down, and the friction increases. If you hear grinding coming from your air conditioner, reach out to our professionals for repairs as soon as you can. The bears should be replaced before they break down completely and cause the motor to burn out.
4. Hissing
A hissing noise coming from your air conditioner can be pretty disconcerting. Unfortunately, it is a sign of a pretty serious problem—a refrigerant leak. There’s a pretty common myth among homeowners that refrigerant is something that needs to be refilled on a routine basis.
However, refrigerant should never “run out.” Your system will only lose refrigerant if you have a leak. And if this is the case, the leak must be accurately located and effectively repaired to restore your AC system’s effectiveness.
Refrigerant leaks impact the entire overall performance of the air conditioning system, and must be adequately fixed by a professional.
At North Central Florida Air Conditioning, we are improving lives by improving homes. Contact us today for reliable air conditioning services!