Air Conditioning Service: What Makes AC Compressors Overheat In Homes? | Southlake, TX
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Most air conditioners cannot operate efficiently without a compressor. It compresses the refrigerant to make it possible for the AC to suck heat inside your home, leaving it comfortably cool during the scorching hot season.
The compressing unit is delicate because it can only be replaced by an air conditioning service expert in Southlake, TX, once it malfunctions or fails. Therefore, you should learn the signs of a possible breakdown for prompt servicing and repairs. One of the common symptoms of a failure is overheating, which an expert should identify during the maintenance process.
How the Compressor Overheats
The overheating takes place in the refrigeration system inside the compressor head. The air conditioning service technician can measure the temperature of the discharge line that is around six inches from the compressor outlet, indicating the temperature at the compressor discharge port.
The normal values should be below 225 degrees for the compressing unit to operate efficiently. If the temperature at the discharge port is above 300 degrees, the refrigeration oil will lose its ability to lubricate internal parts of the compressor. Temperatures beyond 350 degrees are dangerous because they make the oil break down, allowing contaminants into the system, leading to premature compressor failure.
Fortunately, air conditioning service professionals can prevent your compressor from overheating because they know what makes it too hot in the first place. After installing the AC in your house, the experts should take time to educate you on the several reasons why your compressor might run too hot. The air compressor might overheat due to internal factors or external conditions, including:
High Compression Ratios
One of the internal aspects that make an air compressor overheat is a high compression ratio. Low suction pressure is the culprit that makes the compression ratio rise. The suction pressure decreases to a low level due to improperly fitted or incorrect sizing of components.
Other factors such as faulty metering devices, plugged driers or strainers, excessive suction line pressure drop, and low refrigerant levels also lead to a high compression ratio that makes the compressor overheat. Hiring an air conditioning service contractor to keep the suction pressure at its highest possible value is appropriate to prevent overheating and ensure the compressor runs smoothly.
Excess Discharge Pressure
When the discharge pressure skyrockets, the compressor will overheat because the compression ratios will also go up. The abnormally high discharge might be due to dirty condensing coils, an erratic condenser fan, and an undersized condenser, making the refrigeration system in the head of the compressor too hot.
Other factors such as under-sized discharge lines, refrigerant overcharge, and blocked condenser air also lead to high compression ratios. The air conditioning service technician from a reliable Air and Heating Company in Southlake should help you maintain the discharge pressure within normal operating conditions.
If your refrigeration system has electronic controllers, it will alert you of an emerging issue because of its ability to automatically monitor the temperature of the discharge line. The air conditioning service contractor should check the discharge pressure as part of the maintenance of the refrigeration system to avert any possibility of an overheated compressor.
Eroded Refrigeration Oil
The compressor in your residence can also overheat and break down because of diminished refrigeration oil quality, clogging passages within a compressed air system. The oil is essential for lubricating moving parts in the compressor, sealing to prevent contaminants from entering the system, thus facilitating peak efficiency of the AC. However, the refrigerant oil is prone to harden or go bad if you fail to get an air conditioning service professional to change regularly during maintenance.
The eroded oil will make the interior parts of the compressor struggle to move because of insufficient lubrication. It also makes the metal parts grind against one another, forcing the equipment to strain in cooling your home, leading to more energy consumption and an overheated compressor.
Therefore, you should have an air conditioning service provider replace the oil in your system that gets old more frequently, preventing multiple wear and tears. If you notice a burnt oil smell in your home, it is a sign of hardened oil with decreased cooling abilities. The excess heat in the compressor will make the oil lose its viscosity, causing numerous other AC issues.
Inadequate Cooler Space
An external condition that causes an AC compressing unit to overheat and fail is warm space. An experienced and certified air conditioning service will never install the compressor in a warm area to avoid difficulties of the unit adjusting to desired levels of coolness in your home. So, the compressor should be in a room with sufficient ventilation to make the internal processes of the unit run smoothly.
Putting the compressing system in a poorly ventilated area makes the surrounding heat buildup moisture in the unit leading to overheating that affects the vital compressor functions. Therefore, the best air conditioning service technician will place the outdoor compressor in an adequately ventilated area.
Old or Clogged Parts
Lastly, compressors can overheat due to age and clogged parts. The compressing unit and the coolant have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years. The system can serve your cold temperature needs along with regular maintenance.
An old air compressor deteriorates faster without tune-ups, forcing the unit to work harder to provide the much-needed cool air to your Southlake, TX home, generating excess heat in the interior components. If the compressor malfunctions, the air conditioning service provider can replace the unit with a more advanced and highly efficient type that operates efficiently with other AC components.
Is Your AC Compressor Overheating?
An air conditioning unit cannot function without a compressor. An overheating compressor is an indication of a potential breakdown that will compromise the supply of cool air for you and your family.
If you want to repair faulty parts that make the compressor too hot, or you want a new high efficient, and robust air compressor, you should call One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating of Fort Worth serving Southlake, TX. We are the best air conditioning service experts in Texas.