What can be the causes of your portable air conditioning unit no longer cooling, and what to do in order to detect the likely cause of this.
You own a portable air conditioner which has offered you the best in convenience when it comes to your cooling needs in the hot summer days, but what happens when your portable air conditioning unit starts to act up?
What happens in the event that your portable unit is no longer delivering the cooling that it used to and what could the possible reasons be for this?
What causes a portable air conditioner not to cool anymore?
One of the most common causes of a portable air conditioner not cooling could be a lack of adequate airflow. The reason for this could be the air filter being dirty or clogged.
When this happens, the portable air conditioner struggles to get enough air flowing over the evaporator coils, causing the coils to become too cold and frost over.
This is what, in turn, will restrict the airflow and result in the portable air conditioner not cooling the room or space you are looking to cool.
It is important to ensure that minor things such as doors and windows have not been left unclosed for cool air to be left to escape; hence, cooling is not provided efficiently.
It is important to note that because portable air conditioners are much smaller than your typical units, they may not be able to entirely cool down bigger spaces.
You may want to check that the air conditioner mode set on your portable unit is correct. Since most portable air conditioners are known to have three settings, namely, “cool”, “dry” and “fan.” In this case, it would be best to check that your portable unit is correctly set to cool.
Another thing to be sure to check is your thermostat temperature. The temperature needs to be set low enough to ensure that the portable air conditioner is able to cool properly. Set it to a temperature that is as low as it can go.
How to fix a portable air conditioner that is not cooling
Checking the most critical components of your portable air conditioner to ascertain that they are in good working condition will help you to avoid unexpected malfunctioning of your unit.
In the case that your portable air conditioner is not providing the cooling that it is supposed to, you need to be mindful of cleaning the air filter and coils if they have not been cleaned in a long time.
A way of doing that is by taking the air filter out and running a vacuum hose with a soft brush attachment over the fins of the two coils.
If your portable air conditioner is not cooling, there could also be a build-up of ice on the evaporator coil as previously mentioned as a cause.
It is good that while you are checking your air filter, you also take a look at the evaporator coil to see whether any frost has developed.
This build-up will eventually melt into the internal reservoir after some time and running the air conditioner in fan mode is said to help make this process faster.
If the exhaust hose contains any blockages, this will result in hot air not being able to escape from the vent. It is therefore important to check that this is not the case.
How to clean the dirty air filter of your portable air conditioner
In order for your portable air conditioner to function properly and deliver the cool air you need, your air filter will have to be checked routinely.
In order to clean the filter, you will need to ensure that the unit is powered off, you will then have to remove the plastic grille covering the filter and remove the air filter.
Clean the filter off by dusting off the build-up of dirt and in the case where dirt has caked onto the filter, it is recommended that you rinse it out with water.
It is also important that the filter is completely clean and dry before you place it back into the unit. Once this is done, you can replace the air filter and the grille.
The Filtrete room air conditioner filter is an example of an air filter and works for all room air conditioners.
Therefore, in order to have a consistently working portable air conditioner, delivering the quality of air cooling that you need, it is crucial to always ensure that components such as your air filter, evaporator coils and others are working and in good condition. Ensure to always maintain this for satisfying results.