{"id":733,"date":"2022-06-20T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/?p=733"},"modified":"2022-06-17T17:07:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T21:07:57","slug":"watch-out-for-the-overcharged-ac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/watch-out-for-the-overcharged-ac\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Out for the \u201cOvercharged AC\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/air-conditioning-manometer-pressure-refrigerant-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"air-conditioning-manometer-pressure-refrigerant\" class=\"wp-image-507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/air-conditioning-manometer-pressure-refrigerant-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/air-conditioning-manometer-pressure-refrigerant.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The overcharge we\u2019re talking about here has nothing to do with the initial price of an air conditioner. An AC system is <em>overcharged<\/em> if it has too much refrigerant in it. The amount of refrigerant in an air conditioner is known as the system\u2019s <em>charge<\/em>, and each AC model is designed to use a precise charge. Either too little (undercharged) or too much (overcharged) is bad news for the AC. It leads to malfunctions, poor performance, and an eventual system breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you get into your <a href=\"\/air-conditioning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">summer preparation in West Chester, PA<\/a>, we want to address the danger of the overcharged AC. Unfortunately, unscrupulous people posing as HVAC experts often advise homeowners they need to \u201crefill\u201d or \u201ctop off\u201dtheir AC\u2019s refrigerant before summer. This is 100% false! We\u2019ll go into the overcharged AC problem more below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How an overcharged AC can happen<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are several sources that can lead to an AC having too much refrigerant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The AC received a poor installation and the wrong amount of refrigerant was put in from the start.<\/li><li>A DIY attempt to repair refrigerant leaks put excess refrigerant into the system, believing (falsely) it\u2019s better to err on the side of too much rather than too little.<\/li><li>An amateur repair for leaking refrigerant created the same problem.<\/li><li>Shady \u201ctechnicians\u201d pushing for adding refrigerant when it\u2019s unnecessary.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The problems with an overcharged AC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The major trouble that too much refrigerant causes for an air conditioner is that it changes the pressure throughout the system, leading to a decline in performance. The excess refrigerant also creates a huge threat to the compressor: if cold liquid refrigerant moves backwards into the compressor (called <em>slugging<\/em>), it will often cause the compressor to burn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch for these problems that will warn you have an overcharged air conditioning system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>A decline in cooling power: <\/strong>You might think the opposite would happen\u2014extra refrigerant would mean too much cooling. But an overcharged refrigerant creates a condition called <em>subcooling<\/em> because the refrigerant is starting to gather inside the compressor and lowering the temperature inside it. You\u2019ll notice your home receives less cooling power when this occurs\u2014and it means the compressor is already in danger.<\/li><li><strong>Ice on the evaporator coil: <\/strong>When there\u2019s too much refrigerant moving through the evaporator coil, the cold liquid won\u2019t be able to warm up enough as it absorbs heat. Because the refrigerant stays too cold, it will freeze water moisture on the coil surface and further restrict cooling power.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Compressor noise: <\/strong>The warning sound you\u2019ll hear from the compressor when the AC is overcharged is squealing. This is another sign of liquid refrigerant entering the compressor. The spray of refrigerant into the compressor should be as a gas. If it\u2019s a liquid, it will create this squealing noise.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Please don\u2019t attempt to bleed out excess refrigerant on your own. If you suspect an overcharged AC, call our technicians and we\u2019ll see the system is restored to its factory-set charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Michall Daimion Heating &amp; Air Conditioning, Inc. has been the Main Line&#8217;s Premier Service Provider since 1976. <\/strong><a href=\"\/contact\/schedule-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\"><strong>Call us for all your AC repair needs.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watch for these problems that will warn you have an overcharged air conditioning system,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[90,91],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-service","tag-air-conditioning-system-repair","tag-west-chester"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":735,"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions\/735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.daimion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}