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Air Conditioner Compressor & Condenser Installation Errors InspectAPedia®  -     Air conditioner compressor installation errors Air conditioner compressor defect diagnosis

This chapter of "How to Inspect the Central Air Conditioning or Cooling System" discusses the installation errors in air conditioning compressor and condensing units. Maintenance tips including attention to compressor support pads and avoiding air conditioning refrigerant leaks are addressed. If readers return to the first chapter or view the A/C chapter index, the major components of an air conditioning system are described, sketches and photographs are provided, and common defects for each component are listed along with visual or other clues that may suggest a problem or probable failure of A/C components.

We explain how an air conditioning service technician will diagnose certain common air conditioning system failures or defects. If your air conditioning system has lost its cooling capacity or won't start see REPAIR GUIDE for AIR CONDITIONERS. See How to determine the cooling capacity of air conditioning equipment if the system seems to be working but is inadequate to cool your building.

Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. . Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

INSTALLATION ERRORS - Air Conditioning Compressor Installation Errors & Damage

Air Conditioning Compressor Location Problems

Inadequate air circulation clearance around an air conditioner compressor/condenser unit

Typical outside air-cooled A/C compressors require a minimal clearance around the unit to provide adequate air flow so that the condenser coils will be cooled efficiently. Both of the air conditioning installations shown here are tipping and the right hand one was actually leaning on the house wall!

Tipped or leaning air conditioner compressor/condenser units

Tipping or leaning air conditioner compressors can lead to so much movement that the refrigerant lines crack and leak, leading to loss of cooling ability. In extreme cases, a tipped condenser unit may fail to operate properly. In the first photo above the compressor is leaning and creeping away from the building and has pulled its connecting wiring and refrigerant line taut.

I expect a problem soon with this unit. In the second photo everything looks awful: the two compressors are too close together and too close to the building wall for adequate air circulation, especially in the larger rear unit in the photo. The safety electrical switch for the air conditioner is falling off of the wall, and the rear unit is sliding off of its support pad. This was a poor air conditioning system installation.

Air Conditioner Compressor/Condenser Units Overgrown with Shrubbery

Air Conditioner Refrigerant Line Defects

Absence of slack in the coolant lines at the compressor units can cause leaks: should the compressor move, perhaps because its supporting pads settle, there will be likely leaks at these lines. You should review this question with your HVAC service person. This item may be deferred until next maintenance or service.

Missing insulation on the refrigerant lines, particularly on the larger suction line, will cause condensation and drips from the lines in humid areas. I've seen very costly building damage where lines were not properly insulated indoors: condensate drips wet gypsum board walls, leading to a costly mold remediation project. Missing insulation also probably increases system operating cost.

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AIR CONDITIONING & HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
AGE of AIR CONDITIONERS & HEAT PUMPS
AIR CONDITIONER BTU CHART
AIR CONDITIONER COMPONENT PARTS
  Indoor A/C Components
  Outdoor A/C Components
AIR CONDITIONER TYPES, ENERGY SOURCES
AIR CONDITIONER NOT WORKING
AIR FILTERS for HVAC SYSTEMS
AIR HANDLER UNIT
BACKUP HEAT for HEAT PUMPS
BLOWER DOORS & AIR INFILTRATION
BOOKSTORE - Air Conditioning "How To" Books
CLEANING & Legionella BACTERIA
COMPRESSOR & CONDENSING COIL
  BURNED-OUT COMPRESSOR
  CAPACITORS for HARD STARTING MOTORS
  CONDENSING COIL FINS, SUPPORT PADS
  HARD STARTING COMPRESSOR MOTORS
  INSTALLATION ERRORS, COMPRESSORS
  MOTOR OVERLOAD RESET SWITCH
  NOISY COMPRESSOR UNITS
  PRESSURE READINGS, COMPRESSOR
  REPLACING A COMPRESSOR
  TIGHT or SEIZED AC COMPRESSORS
CONDENSATE HANDLING
CONTROLS & SWITCHES
COOL OFF HEAT Thermostat Switch
COOLING CAPACITY, RATED
  FROM MODEL #
  FROM EQUIPMENT RLA #
  COOLING RULES OF THUMB
COOLING COIL or EVAPORATOR COIL
DATA TAGS on AIR CONDITIONERS
COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
DEFINITION of Heating & Cooling Terms
DEW POINT CALCULATION for WALLS
DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE
DUCT SYSTEMS
DUCTS - Asbestos
DUCT SYSTEM DEFECTS
DUCT INSULATION, Asbestos Paper
DUCT INSULATION for SOUNDPROOFING
DUCTS, Asbestos Transite Pipe
DUST FROM HVAC?
ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS
EVAPORATIVE COOLING SYSTEMS
FAN AUTO ON Thermostat Switch
HEAT LOSS (or GAIN) in BUILDINGS
INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS
INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE
INSPECTION LIMITATIONS
LOST COOLING CAPACITY
  What to check first
  Compressor failure diagnosis
  Duct & Air Handler diagnosis
MOTOR OVERLOAD RESET SWITCH
OPERATING COST
OPERATING DEFECTS
OPERATING TEMPERATURES
  Air Conditioning System Temperatures
  Instruments Used to Measure A/C Temperatures
  Procedures for Making Temperature Measurements
REPAIR GUIDE for AIR CONDITIONERS
REPAIR & DIAGNOSTIC FAQs for A/C
REFRIGERANTS
  REFRIGERANT LEAK DETECTION
  REFRIGERANT LEAK REPAIR
SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS
SYSTEM OPERATION
  OPERATING CONTROLS
  SAFETY CONTROLS
THERMOSTATS
THERMOSTATIC EXPANSION VALVES
CRITICAL DEFECTS
Air Conditioning "How To" Books

• Thanks to Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, for assistance in technical review of the "Critical Defects" section and for the photograph of the deteriorating gray Owens Corning flex duct in a hot attic. Mr. Cramer is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator.
• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Thanks to Scott at SJM Inspect for suggesting the EPA air conditioning and IAQ document and for technical editing remarks regarding our air conditioning website, SJM Inspection Service LLC, serves the entire state of CT, sjminspect.com 203-543-0447 or 203-877-4774 5/16/07
• Thanks to Diaz, Domingo I. CIV NAVAIR Bldg.2118, rm. 131: domingo.diaz@navy.mil - Ming Diaz, Great Falls, MD for editing help with the text about discharging air conditioning compressor capacitors - 3/07 DF]

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• Complete List of Air Conditioning & Heat Pump Design, Inspection, Repair Books at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, A. D. Althouse, C.H. Turnquist, A. Bracciano, Goodheart-Willcox Co., 1982
• Principles of Refrigeration, R. Warren Marsh, C. Thomas Olivo, Delmar Publishers, 1979
• "Air Conditioning & Refrigeration I & II", BOCES Education, Warren Hilliard (instructor), Poughkeepsie, New York, May - July 1982, [classroom notes from air conditioning and refrigeration maintenance and repair course attended by the website author]
• Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, 5th Ed., William C. Whitman, William M. Johnson, John Tomczyk, Cengage Learning, 2005, ISBN 1401837654, 9781401837655 1324 pages
• Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment ($69.00 U.S.).
• ...

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