My central air is blowing very very lightly, what would cause this?

Question

Our central air unit isn't blowing like it should. When our heat was on it would blow strongly throughout all of the vents all through the house, but when we turned the AC on you can barely even feel it if you put your hand right on the vent.

The only thing that anyone has recommended is to refill/recharge the freon in the AC. I'm just looking for a second opinion. Let me know what you all thing-Also what's an average price to had freon added?

Answer 1

Concerning the cleaning of the Evaporator:

There should be a panel right in front of the coil that you can remove and gain access to it. This will be where you see the refrigerant lines going into the air handler.  Several sheet metal screws is all that holds it in. There may be a cut out around where the refrigerant lines are. That will come off the same way.

Once inside there probably will be another panel to the inside of the coil. Remove it.

Now, use a common house hold cleaner such as 409 and spray the coils down. If you can get a hose with a spray attachment to the coils use that to wash them down. Control your spray so as not to over flow the tray. If you can't get a hose, use a spray bottle with clean water to wash it down.

That should be all there is to it. Put everything back where you found it and install a new filter.

Answer 2

It sounds like a clogged evaporator coil.  It could be dirt/dust, or if the refrigerant charge is low, the coil could be frozen, not allowing air to pass.

Answer 3

The strength of the air blowing out of the vents is determined by the blower, not the Ac unit outside. Clogged evaporator coils will only cut the temperature of the air, not the force blowing through the vents.The unit outside is what is used to make the air colder. If you turn off your AC and just set your blower to the on position, you will be able to see if the blower is in fact blowing strong. If it is not, the first thing to check is the air filter. Dirty air filter will limit the flow of air. Change it. If that doesn't correct the problem, its possible that there is a problem with your blower motor. A new motor, depending on the size can run you anywhere from $60-$200. If you cannot replace it yourself, a HVAC specialist could probably do it for about $300.

Answer 4

What they said ^, plus check the air filters.

Answer 5

i dont know about the recharging thing, but mine was doing that but we realized the outside unit was full of pine needles, we got it out and it worked fine. i would make sure everything is clean and clear before spending money.

Answer 6

could be clogged evap coil r-22 $ 20lb