re: AC Frozen in a Block of Ice UPDATE

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Responding to a couple questions here: No freon leak was detected in july. No freon appeared to be leaking then. Filter gets replaced every 6 weeks or so on average. The leak seems to have come from a line right outside the main unit. But there is ice coating the entire unit and seeping our from inside the unit. It is literally a block of ice at this point. Its also been slowly dripping into my pan and causing way more drainage to the outside than normal.

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Loss of refrigerant on a 10 year old unit seems just to be coincidence and nothing to do with they did in July including changing the contactor, capacitor and cleaning the condensate drain. Refrigerant leaks in HVACs that age, particularly in the evaporator coil, are common. But you are stating the leak appears to come from a line outside the main unit - what main unit are you referring to - the outside condensing unit or the inside air handler containing the evaporator coil? Did a HVAC tech use a refrigerant sniffer to identify the leak followed by a “bubble” test? A leak in a line set should be able to be repaired, but a leak in the evaporator coil will usually require replacement of the coil.

Once the refrigerant pressure from a leak declines below the point of a saturation temperature of 32 F (freezing) - the inside evaporator coil is going to freeze as well as other non-insulated areas on the suction/low pressure line set - regardless where the leak is the system is.

Probably with a 10 year old system, a sales HVAC tech is going to suggest replacement of the system. The “average” life of HVAC in the Deep South is said to be 13-15 years. Ultimately it’s going to be your decision to make once the problem is identified but you are going to need a good honest diagnostic HVAC tech to identify the issue - I wish I had one to recommend to you, I don’t, but perhaps others will.