So yeah, Brooke and I have been having some “issues” with our air conditioning unit. Perhaps we weren’t nicer to it earlier in the year…I dunno… Either way, it is being rather uncooperative…
A few weeks ago, we noticed that the air being pushed around wasn’t all that cold… I walked outside and saw that the A/C unit wasn’t even on, but the fan inside still was. We came to find out that it, apparently, had tripped the breaker. The A/C guy (that our landlords promptly called in) said that the A/C unit itself was fine, but it was probably pulling too much current for the 20 A circuit installed in the breaker – we should put in a 30 A circuit instead (like the clothes dryer has).
So, we didn’t have any problems again, really, until this past weekend. On Sunday, we had this happen two times or so, and then another two times overnight (once around 2:00 am and then Brooke had to trip it again when she got up at 7:30 am). We called BSB (our landlords) again and they sent out an A/C person (who said the same thing as the last guy), and an electrician was called out. This person switched out the 20 A circuit for the 30 A and it worked just peachy keen…
…until about 6:00 pm. I was about to go outside and get picked up by Brooke to go to dinner when I noticed it was getting warmer again in the apartment, and again, the fan was still running. This time, however, the breaker wasn’t tripped. I went downstairs to the A/C unit and the thing was running (i.e. you could feel it vibrating as it normally would…), but the fan in the unit itself wasn’t spinning. It was also rather hot to touch (as compared with the A/C unit next to it for the apartment below us). I turned off the system and went to dinner, came back a few hours later, and turned it back on – it worked again!
…but then the same thing happened a little later, so we just left the A/C off all night. We pulled the futon mattress downstairs and turned some fans on us, but the humidity didn’t make sleeping easy. I think I got 4 hours of sleep, but Brooke fared a bit better…
So yeah, now I’m at work (which is air conditioned, thankfully…) awaiting a call from BSB again to tell me what they’re going to do. Edie and Sam are still at home, and I’ve got water and fans turned onto their typical sleeping areas to hopefully keep them as comfortable as possible.
It’s just Murphy’s Law, I guess, that the A/C would go out during the hottest week of the year. I guess it’s better than the power outage last year, when we didn’t even have fans to cool us down or keep the refrigerator/freezer running, but still…it’s damned uncomfortable to sleep in!
Hopefully something gets worked out shortly…otherwise, I think we’ll go nuts…and/or more nuts than we already are…
Update #1: As of 3:00 pm on Wednesday, BSB has decided to spring for a new A/C unit for us. The guy came back today multiple times, and on the third time, found problems with the motor and fan. Hopefully, the new unit will be installed tomorrow or Friday at the absolute latest.
Update #2: Our new A/C unit was installed today (Thursday), and it’s taking forever to cool our place down from 105 F to 80 F…but it’s a start… At least we get TV and internet again!
My a/c was out over Memorial Day weekend a couple of years back. It was pretty much unbearable and it was no where near as hot then as it is now. If it helps you, I found that taking a cold shower whenever I woke up at night helped me get back to sleep despite the otherwise unbearable sleeping conditions.
And to think when I was a kid, we didn’t even have air conditioning. I think I went to college by the time my parents bought an air conditioner. Maybe that is still one reason why I sleep with a fan.
Sounds like a compressor going bad to me. I just spent 3 hours on the roof of a KFC with the kitchen air conditioning unit down. I was there to “coach” a young and inexperienced technician through the basics of air conditioning 101.
We got it going much to the pleasure of the employees working in the 100+ degree kitchen. When the compressor of an air conditioning unit begins to fail it draws more amperage due to having to work harder to compress the gas refrigerant to start its journey through the condensing unit (the part outside) that dissipates the heat and then to the evaporator (the part inside your furnace) which your blower moves air across the cold coils to fill your living space with “conditioned air”. There are also relays that control the fan, compressor, etc. but from your description, it sounds like a compressor. The good thing is that as a renter you just hope that your landlord takes care of you and it sounds like they are making a good faith effort. Hope your air is working soon.