why does an air conditioner freeze over?

Question

early this morning (2 am) I awoke to my cat meowing at the a.c. I checked it & the 'grill' was frozen. How does that happen, how can I keep it from doing that again?

I turned it off for a few hours to let it defrost, now it works fine. Is it really fixed?

Answer 1

The unit freezes when It has water vapor which condence and freeze. Two things to watch for ...a Clogged Air vents in the condensor.Coils .that is Where it is frozen..Must be clean of dirt and debriss....Pull the air filter and check it to see if it is clogged..after it defrosts...Which you can do if you run the unit AIR ( FAN )only with no COLLING!. for about an hour or two...You have to get ALL the moisture out from the Cooling coils...The when you run it DONT Set The cooling on MAX. it will encourage it to Freeze again....Start by Setting cooling temp on !/4 of the way, Let it run for 10 minutes then increase it Gradually evry 10 minutes until it shown signs of water comdensing on the water collecting tray at the bottom of the coils.and you have cool air passing thru the coils..When you feel cool air comming out....LET IT BE... if you set the Cooling temperature too high, It gets blocked with water, then it freezes which blocks the air flow and causes it to freeze even more,,Clyclic reaction....Profesionaly done, a Coil cleaner may be needed to clean the coil slots from dirt accumilated by time from running the unit without a filter which can also cause your problem...Good Luck.......By the way If you have to Put the unit on MAX temp to make it cool the room you're using then maybe the unit is TOO small to do the job, causing it to freeze before it cools the room...

Answer 2

Air Conditioner Freezing Over

Answer 3

Iced up front happens when the R-22 freon charge is low==when you have a air flow problem such as dirty coils/fan motor problem==thermostat set to max(full on) on high humid days and especially at night. I would first take the a/c and give it a good washing out with the garden hose==install a new , clean filter, or wash the old one. Let it air dry for a hour ==re-install it==turn power back on. If it still freezes over==then you may need to add R-22 freon /check blower fan motor. Set t-stat down (if on max) a little to allow the compressor to cycle on and off. If you are by yourself==unplugged power== take the "front" off the a/c to expose the coil==put some towels down on floor ==using a sprayer of some kind==spray the coil with water and a cleaner. This can be a little messy, but one way to do it if you do not have help. Rinse it out good==clean up the mess==let it sit a hour to dry==plug it back in. Hope this will help==== Good Luck.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
why does an air conditioner freeze over?
early this morning (2 am) I awoke to my cat meowing at the a.c. I checked it & the 'grill' was frozen. How does that happen, how can I keep it from doing that again?

Answer 5

All of these answers are good. Either the refrigerant is low or you are trying to cool too big an area. Refrigerators will freeze up if you leave the door open.

Answer 6

check the air filter. somtimes a dirty airfilter will trap water vapor and freeze. Had same problem month ago.

Answer 7

If the temp drops below freezing, it will occur because it is water. If that happened, check to make sure there are no cracks or swelling in the part because it might need to be replaced. If the temp is getting that low, it's time to unhook the water source, empty it, and cover it for winter.

Answer 8

Most likely dirty unit or filter
some more items see this link
http://www.warmair.com/html/AirConditioningFreezeUp.shtml

Answer 9

It's probably low on freon and needs to be charged.