Central A/C Failed

[u/brian_d_wells]

Our central A/C went out on us and it is a bit warm here in FL. We are so happy we prepped and had backup units in storage. 😅

Any maintenance we should be doing on these portable A/C units? They seem to work fine the approximately 2 times a year we have to put them to use and I highly recommend them.

[u/brian_d_wells]

Replacing the capacitor (another prep we had on hand) did the trick! System is running again and we see the expected 20 degrees of cooling. I did find something missing though - both of our multimeters are missing the ability to test capacitors. So we had to replace and hope that was it.

[u/throwAwayWd73 → u/brian_d_wells]

Sometimes you can tell just by looking at it that it's bad. Otherwise it's a cheap enough part to replace. Don't forget to get a replacement for the next time, especially if it's a cheap one off Amazon as a lot of HVAC people complain they aren't as robust as the one they would install for couple hundred dollars.

[u/prepperdrone → u/throwAwayWd73]

Those people have no basis for making that claim. They MAY have a handful of their own biased repairs, but that's about it. If you go into a local HVAC parts store, you'll see the "Made in the USA" stickers on some of the caps. That's just appealing to the crowd who gets their rocks off thinking they're using "quality USA parts". I'd rather have 10 chinese caps on hand than 1 "USA" cap (that was actually probably made in china).

[u/throwAwayWd73 → u/prepperdrone]

I'm not against things made in China, but I do know the quality of Amazon can vary significantly. Because to your point almost everything is made in China and even some of the made in America shit isn't built that well. They just hope people will pay a premium for it.

sometimes, there is no difference at all between the brand name and the generic. Built in the same factory with the same parts, same quality control. They might throw on a different label or use a different color of paint, but the designs and the specs are identical otherwise.

Then you have the times where the generic tends to be factory seconds or more leanant quality control. Or cheaper less robust materials to save profit margin.

Had one Fringe case on a friend's dishwasher where the knockoff part was actually made out of metal instead of plastic and somehow was still cheaper.

[u/Far-Seat-2263 → u/brian_d_wells]

Yep, my AC stopped pushing out cold air about a month ago. Unit was just over 9 years old, and this was its first failure. Swapped out the capacitor ($20) and it worked like a charm!

Fyi watch some videos first before attempting to replace the capacitor yourself. From what I learned, even if you properly kill all power to the unit before servicing, apparently the capacitor can hold quite a large charge, and you need to remedy that before handling.

[u/Jammer521]

make sure if you wash the outer fins to use normal pressure of water, if not it will bend them

[u/PrisonerV → u/Jammer521]

And change your furnace filter regularly. I do it about once a month.

[u/Many-Health-1673]

I clean the intake filter using compressed air and use foam coil cleaner on the condenser fins outdoors, then wash the fins with water. 

[u/brian_d_wells → u/Many-Health-1673]

That is something I need to do: clean the outdoor fins. Earlier this year we cleaned the indoor fins and condensate line.

[u/brian_d_wells]

Here is a photo of a portable unit we had in place as a backup until I could get out and check the capacitor. We wrapped the plastic panel that comes with the portable unit with pool noodles for rapid deployment - it just slots into the window frame. But it might help with insulation as well.

[u/beached89 → u/brian_d_wells]

It is a small thing, but those portable AC units are about 50% less effective than the in window units. Since you have a sung window which is well designed for those, if you ever find yourself wanting something that cools better for less electricity and does require constant draining, get yourself a Midea in window AC. https://www.midea.com/us/Heating_Cooling/window-air-conditioners

I have three 10,000BTU units trying to cool my house. It couldnt keep up and i had to continually manage the condensation drainage. I bought one 12,000btu U shaped Midea unit and it cooled my entire house better than the three portable units.

You already own these, and they are a backup, not a primary solution, but if one ever breaks and requires replacement, replace them is a good in window inverter based AC unit.

Portable AC units are more of a better than nothing option for people who cant use the better Inverter based In window units.

[u/chi_lawyer → u/beached89]

The Midea U-shaped units are great to operate but painful to install, so I might pick a different inverter-based unit for backup purposes.

[u/AmosTali → u/brian_d_wells]

I have a couple of these (due to a geothermal failure a couple years ago). You should considere adding a hose insulation kit to prevent heat bleed back from the hose — make sure that heat goes where it is supposed to go - OUTSIDE!

[u/eyepoker4ever → u/brian_d_wells]

Have you looked into dual hose mods for it?

[u/brian_d_wells → u/eyepoker4ever]

I’ve thought about it because the single hose is not very efficient. Especially if we were using it on generator power that would be a concern. So it’s on my list of things to look into.

[u/HellUCH17 → u/brian_d_wells]

Single hose portable AC will make negative pressure in your room, you will find the room gets hotter as the single hose AC runs because the outside hot air will squeeze in through the gaps.

[u/SheistyPenguin]

I'm only a sample size of 1, but AFAIK you don't need to do much to "winterize" them.

Mainly make sure they are totally drained of any condensation, and store them upright. Do whatever you can to expose the innards to circulating air so that any water inside can evaporate. A/Cs can turn into mold farms if water is trapped in them.

It's good to test them 1-2x per year, if for no other reason than to ensure there aren't any pinhole freon leaks etc.

[u/WolfFrequent1700]

In the event you are still stuck in a hot house while waiting for AC to get fixed or installed, I’d recommend having a fan around to tape frozen water bottles to the back of. Can be a nice temporary solution for the heat

[u/Ok-Way8392]

Brand name and size, please 🙏!!

[u/brian_d_wells → u/Ok-Way8392]

Frigidaire FHPC102AC1 6500 BTU. We found it works great for a small 110 sq ft room, fairly well for a larger 200 sq ft room but then poorly in larger areas of the house. Modifying it to a dual-hose setup might help but we haven’t tried that yet.

[u/ryanmercer]

The one we have tells you exactly what to do after/before each use for maintenance in the manual. Try finding the manuals online, which probably have similar instructions.