Brand New Window AC Ices up, is it defective or am I not getting enough current to it?

Question

Last week I bought a new Samsung window AC to replace one that wasn't cooling. The new unit is 6,000 BTU and on the box it said it was for a 14' x 14' room. My room is slightly larger than that with high ceilings. Even with the fan on high the cool air only seems to extend about 2 feet from the front of the unit. It is also icing up, even with the temp set to 70 (our outside temps have not dropped below about 75 even at night since I got the thing. It is on a (dedicated) circuit that was 220 a number of years ago, but was converted by a licensed electrician to 110 before I got the AC that's being replaced by the samsung. I think the circuit is now something called a "double tap". My question is this: is the AC icing up because it has a defective compressor or fan, or am I not getting enough current from the converted circuit? Is there a way to tell if there is enough power getting to the unit?

Answer 1

It ices up because its in a too small of a room. If the temperature the room gets too cold, all the ac is doing is sucking in cool air. Get a smaller BTU unit.

Answer 2

That unit should be large enough to cool your room. The name plate should tell you how many amps the A/C will draw. I'm guessing it's probably rated around 9 amps or so. If its on a dedicated circuit, then it shouldn't be a problem of lack of current. The easiest way to check is by taking an amp reading, although if your power is too small you'd probably already have burned something up in the unit. Your icing problem is attributed to either a lack of air flow, or a low refrigerant charge. Make sure the filter in the unit is clean. Insure that the air vents are wide open, and that the fan is running on high speed. The unit does need to be tilted back slightly to allow condensate to drain out of the room, rather than into the room. If you have a thermometer, measure the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. It should be about 20 degrees cooler than the air being drawn in. If not, then you may just have a defective unit. Exchange it for another one.

Answer 3

It is likely not the power. You check power with a meter. You can read voltage across the plug to see if you are dropping a lot of voltage and there is not "enough power". But I doubt that is the problem.

It sounds like something is wrong with the unit. I would take it back.

You say "icing up". It is a solid block of ice or just on one side or in one corner?  If the latter it is indicating a low refrigerant charge. It could even have a leak.

Or it could be a bad fan since you said it doesn't blow much. That will ice it up too.

Either way I would take it back.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

Try making sure the unit is level. If its not level, it won't function properly. We had one that our landlord installed and that is what was wrong with ours.

Also, try turning the temp down on it. Even a few degrees will keep it from freezing up.