I am not understanding exactly what is happening with your unit. You say it only runs for 4 hours a day and then say that after 4 hours the outside unit shut off. But you don't describe the condition of the outside unit! Is there ice on your outside unit after it runs for four hours or is it so hot that the housing would fry an egg? Since it works for four hours and then stops working, I would guess that ice forms on the condenser grill which tells the thermostat that your air is much colder than it actually is. Then it takes time for the ice to melt off again. Am I close? If so this condition is usually caused by your unit being low on freon making everything work harder. But it could also mean that you have a leak in the system somewhere. But it shouldn't be much of a leak or it wouldn't run for the 4 hours.
I would recommend you charge it to the correct level and then check for leaks.
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Thanks for your prompt reply. I am sorry that I wasn't clear enough. No, there is not ice on the outside unit and is not too hot either. The Ac just stops working after four hours. I noticed the outside unit stops running and there isn't cool air coming in. When the cool air comes in, it is not cold enough in the upstairs of the house.
Is there any rhyme or reason to when the four hour starts and stops? Does it do it at the same time every time or does it start and stop on its own?
Do you see any ice on the connections in your outside unit? Give me something to work with here.
Does your furnace fan come on like it is supposed to? It is your furnace blower that will circulate the cold air to the upstaids, NOT the outside chiller unit.
Do you still have the original thermostat installed or have you had that replaced in the recent past?
I JUST HAD IT REPLACED LAST MONTH. IT USED TO BE A PROGRAMABLE THERMOSTAST, I CHANGED IF FOR A REGULAR ONE CAUSE I THOUGHT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE PROGRAM IN THE OLD THERMOSTAT WAS STUCKED.
Unfortunately, the thermostat you can use with the carreir heat pump is limited. Many of the universal units will work with the ac units but not the heat pump, so that could be part of the problem.
I am suspecting the thermostat on the outside unit, since the time that it comes on are the coolest times of the day.
When you had the fan motor replaced did the AC technician do an ohm check of your compressor to verify that it is working? I don't think that is the problem but trying to rule one thing out after another.
Okay, thanks. I am not sure if he did an ohm check of the compressor. He is coming back tomorrow. Well, my AC unit is 14 years old. Do you think i will be better off buying a new system than keep fixing this old one?
Personally, I would get an estimate on what it would cost to fix your unit completely and take it back to factory specs. If that estimate is more that 25% of the cost of a new unit, I would replace. What I recommend to my clients is that they keep track of the repair costs from the day it was installed and when those repair costs reach 50% of the cost of the unit, it is usually time to replace versus keep repairing.
Thank you so much for your help with this. I will ask them that tomorrow when they come.
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Oh, okay. The four hours starts at 1230 to 430pm. No, there is not any ice on the conncections in the outside unit. The fan comes on as it is supposed to. When the AC stops working, the fan keeps on.
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