Central air conditioner blows cold air only intermittently?

Question

our central A/C unit works fine when we first turn it on, but at some point, will stop blowing cold air - the fan unit inside the house works fine, and the fan on the outside unit continues to run - if we turn the A/C off for about 10 minutes, it starts working again normally - circuit breaker does not trip, and fuses at service disconnect are fine - any ideas what is causing this? Not sure if it's relevant, but has been well above 100 for the past few days when this has been happening. Thanks!

Answer 1

sounds like you need both the inside and outside coils cleaned need to call a tech

Answer 2

If the outside coils are dirty, it may be tripping of high pressure, (some units have this safety, some don't).    If the inside coil is dirty, or the filter is clogged, or the system is low on refrigerant, it may be starting to ice over the evaporator, which thaws when you shut it down, then starts the cycle all over.  You may want to turn off power to the outside unit and hose it out, trying to flush water directly through the finned coils, (make sure you don't bend them over with high water pressure).....check that the air filter is clean, and if that doesn't do it for you, further action will probably require a tech.... you're in for a service call.

Hope this helps.

20+ yrs hvac tech