What are the first 3 things that you would look for if the air conditioner was blowing warm air?

Answer 1

1. See if the outdoor unit is running. The fan and compressor should be running outside. Put your hand around the smaller line and if you feel refrigerant moving you know the compressor is working. If the compressor is not working, go to your tstat and set it to cool. If you remove the panel on the outside unit you will see a small relay, usually black...in cooling mode these contacts should be pushed in, allowing power to pass to the fan and compressor. If they are not, take a small piece of wire and jump from red to yellow on the tstat...if while doing this the fan and compressor come on the tstat needs to be changed, disconnect power to the air handler, turning of breakers, or if a gas furnace, kill the SSU switch...located beside the unit...this kills power to the transformer allowing you to change the tstat yourself without blowing any fuses or burning the transformer.

2.Check your charge...requires a set of manifold gauges specific to the type of refrigerant in your unit...found on the condenser nameplate, usually R22 or 410A...this requires a multimeter with a temperature adapter on it...depending on your metering device found on, or just outside of your evaporator, you will check a charge through superheat or subcool...very simple process...search the net and see if you can locate the process...can be a bit lengthy to describe...obviously if its blowing hot then there is quite possibly a leak in your indoor or outdoor coil...an ac system should never lose a charge unless there is a leak present...

3.Check your air filter...a blocked air filter wont allow air to pass the evap coil therefore only warm air will be felt...if the filter is bad...might as well take the panel off of the evap and look at the fins on the coil...they might be dirty even if not that bad to the eye...wipe it off with a paper towell...or contact a professional to come clean the coil...