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Central Air Question nick 06-07-2008
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Posted by on June 7, 2008, 3:23 pm
Hello,

        We have an old Ruud central air conditioning system from
around the early 80's. The few past years we have noticed that the
system is constantly running and taking longer than it should to cool
the house. So thinking that it was low on refrigerant, we had someone
check the system 2 years ago and they said that it had enough
pressure. So this year I took a temp probe that I use to diagnose air
vents in a car and placed it inside one of our vents. It is reading
about 60 degrees. Now I know on a car that 60F degrees is high and it
should be reading between 40F-50F degrees. Does the system appear that
it may be low on refrigerant and should I get someone else to check
the system?

Thanks,
Nick

Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on June 7, 2008, 3:38 pm

> So this year I took a temp probe that I use to diagnose air
> vents in a car and placed it inside one of our vents. It is reading
> about 60 degrees.

What is the temperature going in? If it is 65, it is not cooling enough, If
it is 85, it is doing a good job.



Posted by HeyBub on June 7, 2008, 6:33 pm
nick@nowhere.com wrote:
> Hello,
>
> We have an old Ruud central air conditioning system from
> around the early 80's. The few past years we have noticed that the
> system is constantly running and taking longer than it should to cool
> the house. So thinking that it was low on refrigerant, we had someone
> check the system 2 years ago and they said that it had enough
> pressure. So this year I took a temp probe that I use to diagnose air
> vents in a car and placed it inside one of our vents. It is reading
> about 60 degrees. Now I know on a car that 60F degrees is high and it
> should be reading between 40F-50F degrees. Does the system appear that
> it may be low on refrigerant and should I get someone else to check
> the system?

I think the standard is a 20-degree drop. If ambient air is 80, then cooled
to 60 is good.

During the intervening years, your insulation may have settled, or some
other problem involving leakage. Sounds like the A/C is doing the best it
can and the problem might be elsewhere.



Posted by DanG on June 7, 2008, 7:08 pm
Nick, the issues are much more complex than measuring delivery
temperature. I don't know where you get your car information,
either. If an air conditioner can drop the temperature 20
degrees, it is doing about all it can. Get two thermometers -
measure the temperature going in the return air grill and the
temperature coming out of the closest supply grill. If the
difference is 15 to 20 degrees, the unit is working. If the Freon
line outside is sweating, it is a good indication that the gas is
close to right. If it is not sweating, you have a problem. If it
has a sight glass installed and you see bubbles going by, you have
a problem. The air that the fan is blowing out the top of the
condenser should be notably warm to hot. The condensate line
should be delivering a steady stream of water If you live in a
humid climate, it will be quite a heavy stream.

Things to check:
1. Clean the condenser, this involves removing the top of shroud,
using coil cleaner, rinsing from the inside to the outside. Just
washing it off with water is not enough, but it would sure help.

2. Check the filter on the inside. Change the filter anyway.

3. The most likely suspect is leaking duct work or fallen away
insulation on the duct work.

This is all an oversimplification, but should give you enough
advice to understand what a HVAC tech is telling you.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)
dgriff237@7cox.net



> Hello,
>
> We have an old Ruud central air conditioning system from
> around the early 80's. The few past years we have noticed that
> the
> system is constantly running and taking longer than it should to
> cool
> the house. So thinking that it was low on refrigerant, we had
> someone
> check the system 2 years ago and they said that it had enough
> pressure. So this year I took a temp probe that I use to
> diagnose air
> vents in a car and placed it inside one of our vents. It is
> reading
> about 60 degrees. Now I know on a car that 60F degrees is high
> and it
> should be reading between 40F-50F degrees. Does the system
> appear that
> it may be low on refrigerant and should I get someone else to
> check
> the system?
>
> Thanks,
> Nick



Posted by Tony Hwang on June 7, 2008, 7:13 pm
DanG wrote:

> Nick, the issues are much more complex than measuring delivery
> temperature. I don't know where you get your car information,
> either. If an air conditioner can drop the temperature 20
> degrees, it is doing about all it can. Get two thermometers -
> measure the temperature going in the return air grill and the
> temperature coming out of the closest supply grill. If the
> difference is 15 to 20 degrees, the unit is working. If the Freon
> line outside is sweating, it is a good indication that the gas is
> close to right. If it is not sweating, you have a problem. If it
> has a sight glass installed and you see bubbles going by, you have
> a problem. The air that the fan is blowing out the top of the
> condenser should be notably warm to hot. The condensate line
> should be delivering a steady stream of water If you live in a
> humid climate, it will be quite a heavy stream.
>
> Things to check:
> 1. Clean the condenser, this involves removing the top of shroud,
> using coil cleaner, rinsing from the inside to the outside. Just
> washing it off with water is not enough, but it would sure help.
>
> 2. Check the filter on the inside. Change the filter anyway.
>
> 3. The most likely suspect is leaking duct work or fallen away
> insulation on the duct work.
>
> This is all an oversimplification, but should give you enough
> advice to understand what a HVAC tech is telling you.
>
Hmmm,
Evaporator coil needs cleaning as well.

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