re: Larger copper line on my outside AC was frozen yesterday...advice?

Good luck! Our Maytag system(11 yrs old)crapped out two weeks ago. Put in a new Carrier system but even that took 5 days.

Good way to keep the tweakers away.

quote:

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Wife called me and said it's only getting down

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if you can bang on the back door.

Check the air filter first to be sure it is not restricting air flow across the evaporator. That can cause an evaporator to freeze over but not the likely problem. The problem (low line freeze) is low suction pressure returning from the evaporator caused by low discharge pressure being sent from the compressor to the evaporator because of low refrigerant charge in the system. R-22 will start to freeze up lines at about 30 psi on the low side downstream of the evaporator. A normal system runs at 75-80 psi depending on ambient temps outside. You need a couple of lbs. charge of R-22 which unfortunately these days costs about $100 lb. to be put in by a tech. You have a leak in the system, likely in the evaporator because it works in a corrosive environment in south Louisiana with the humidity. Just charge it first. It might take a year to leak down if its a small leak. If it leaks down fast you will have to just pay up and fix it. I've changed both of my evaporators in my R-22 units over the years.