Outside air conditioner unit keeps running even when not blowing inside?

Question

Inside the AC cuts on and off and seems to be cooling fine, but the outside unit never turns off. When I turn the AC to off, the outside unit doesn't respond. There is ice on a pipe from the house to the unit. Since it's Sunday I can't get in touch with our AC guy.

Answer 1

You either have a restriction in the line or a dirty air filter or coils, ice on the line could also mean that you are low on freon. What you need to do is just turn your thermostat to the 'fan' position, if the outside unit wont shut off there should be a disconnect out side to shut the power off.

But check your a/c filter.

Answer 2

If your inside unit is shutting down then most likely the contactor in the outdoor unit has welded shut.

The ice is forming because the indoor fan is shutting down and with the outdoor unit continuing to run, the indoor coil gets extrememly cold and the moisture in the air gets frozen to it.

Shut off the power to the outdoor unit either from the circuit breaker or the disconnect box out side. Set the thermostat to fan "on" and let the coil defrost. Keep trying to get in touch with an ac tech and get it repaired.