It's NINETY DEGREES IN MY HOUSE!

Thank you Janet, I've got the kiddos drinking some icy water and they are taking turns touching each other with it LOL! I'm giving dude til 9 then I'm calling...I got the "baking kiddo" trump card so they better get here today!

Oh ladies and gents it's BAD! DH is on the way home to "talk" about the invoice/estimate the guy left. BAD....I am so sure DH was thrilled to hear he basically killed it by not changing the filter regularly....but he did.

Oh ladies and gents it's BAD! DH is on the way home to "talk" about the invoice/estimate the guy left. BAD....I am so sure DH was thrilled to hear he basically killed it by not changing the filter regularly....but he did.

 
Seriously?  They said it was not changing the filter that caused the problem?  Hmmm...I didn't realize it was that important.  DH just cleaned ours last week (it's the kind you hose off), but we hadn't done it in several months [&:].  It cost $1800 to replace our unit last year.  Is your's more "BAD" than that?

Oh yeah...DH is trying to work the system now..redoing our warranty with Home Shield then geting the A/C limping along and calling them when it dies completely, men!

men!

 
LOL!  I hear you loud and clear on that one.  After spending $2400 replacing ours DH went to change the filter and since we were out just put everything back WITHOUT A FILTER and 'forgot' to run to the store and buy more.  We have 3 dogs + 1 cat and a lot of dust!  Needless to say within a couple of weeks it stopped working.  It took him all day to de-fuzz the indoor unit coils with some nasty stuff our AC guy brought him.  I *think* he learned his lesson. 

Wow.  I didn't know you could "kill" a unit with a dirty filter.  I always figured the worst that would happen is that it wouldn't run as efficiently.  We have the hose off kind too, and it's a royal pain in the arse to get it back in - it's like some kind of chain-link something or other that crumbles up easily.  Before we had the unit checked a couple of months ago I didn't realize either that the filter could get pretty dirty even if you weren't using the heat or AC.
 
Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

I didn't know you could "kill" a unit with a dirty filter.

Yeh, there is an additional filter in the attic unit.  If it also gets dirty, it can create a humidity problem and rust some parts.  In that condition, cleaning the attic filter can make the whole thing crumble.
 
Guess who just learned that the hard way?   
 
Gina, I can recommend Airpro in Irving (http://www.airpros.com).  They have done good work for me.  They will finance, too.

I always figured the worst that would happen is that it wouldn't run as efficiently.

 
That's what I thought. Our filter's got a nifty feature where if you let it go long enough without cleaning it, it will actually start to whistle.  I noticed it was making more noise, but not whistling yet, a few weeks ago.  Now that DH cleaned it, it's quiet again []

Yeh, there is an additional filter in the attic unit. If it also gets dirty, it can create a humidity problem and rust some parts. In that condition, cleaning the attic filter can make the whole thing crumble

 
Now this I didn't know but then I've never been in our attic [&:].  I don't think we've ever cleaned a filter up there though.  I wonder if all units have that?

cakana

Now this I didn't know but then I've never been in our attic . I don't think we've ever cleaned a filter up there though. I wonder if all units have that? 

The filter I am taking about is inside my unit, so it is not easily owner-cleanable.  I'm not sure all units have it, but I think so.

ORIGINAL: cakana

Now this I didn't know but then I've never been in our attic [&:]. 

 
There isn't enough money on the planet to get me into the attic ... or under the house, either. [sm=proud.gif]
 
Joyce

There isn't enough money on the planet to get me into the attic ... or under the house, either

I get paid to do it, so that others don't have to do it. The coils thingy in the indoor or attic unit is what is called the evaporator. It can collect dust and grime. Also, while your at it, for anyone in general working on their own hvac, if your heat is electric, you can get rid of that funny smell by dusting off the heating elements before you turn heat on for the first time in a season. As for filters, get the cheap fiberglass kind, if you can use it. The flow air much easier than the "pure" filters. Seriously, the thick "pure" type filters clog up quick and can stress the system. For air purity, we got the Ionic Breeze and a few little plug in air purifiers, which are just small fans that pull through a washable foam filter.

So, Gina, what part of the system is killed? Your condenser fan outside is fine and possibly your compressor is still good. Did you burn up the squirrel cage motor? The squirrel cage is a cylindrical fan blade turned by a motor and is how air is drawn into the heat exchanger or evaporator and then pushed out to the diffuser vents. The squirrel cage can get dirty and spin unevenly, too. That just takes some surface cleaner or Windex and a brush or paper towel.

I hate to say it, but it is still close to 90 in my house too!  [:@]  They have promissed me they are coming today and I even called right before 6 to make sure that is still the plan and they said no matter what, but that it might be a couple more hours.  I feel a good tip coming to the guy who is coming out here at 8 o'clock on a Friday night to make me happy.  I just hope he shows up.  I feel it is partly their fault b/c the guys who came on Tues passed it to an electrician, who did need to come out, but then when the A/C people came out again, he never even turned on the machine.  He looked at the same freon spill the first guys looked at and said oh, you need a new compressor.  This could have been handled days ago! 

Gina, good luck to you.  I hope you get your warranty renewed and can get a new A/C in due time.  I just wrote the check for mine last week and boy am I glad I did!  With all these contractors that have come out here lately, I have already paid for my entire year and now that they are replacing the A/C with me out $350, it has made it well worth it.  But for now, I just hope you have some cool air blowing again soon!  I know how miserable it is without it.
 
ETA: I am really bad about remembering to change the filter.  I use Outlook religiously so I set 3 important tasks for each month and that is one of them:
 
check the oil in my car
change the air filter
self breast exam
 
I don't know if you are calendar driven but maybe if you aren't you could have DH put it on his.