re: Need some advice from HVAC experts.

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advice from HVAC experts.

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You've come to the right place. Nearly every OT'er is an HVAC expert....or at least thinks they are.

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Have you run the system since you found the dirty filter? That could have been the problem.

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Make sure this isn’t the problem first. I did ac work for a year or so while in college and you won’t believe how many times we were called out to change a filter. We’d even ask before we came if they had a clean filter to avoid them paying for a call out that they could easily fix themselves. Then show up and what ya know they’d be charged $100 for the call out and to just replace the filter. Crazy

What I meant to say was, do not put a tarp over the condenser.

It could be low on refrigerant, but it could also be dirty coils. A dirty coil will prevent the coil from working properly. If you can get in there, lightly rub you finger along the coil and see if it’s dirty. If it is, use a soft hair brush to brush away the larger particles. Home Depot or Lowe’s will have coil cleaner. It’s not the best, but it’ll do.

Since you brought up dirty filter, exactly how long had it been since you changed the filter and how dirty was/is the filter? If the filter looked like a pillow, then this is probably your problem. Also, your evaporator coil needs cleaning. And get the condenser coil cleaned at the same time. A dirty filter (bad airflow) is an a/c man's best friend.

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Checked in the attic just now and the drip pan was bone dry so I'm not sure that it ran long enough last night to before I caught it to freeze the evaporator coils.

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I'll follow up to this comment. The drip pan you're viewing is the secondary (emergency) pan, not the primary pan. If you opened the evaporator coil cabinet you would have seen a pan with water in it unless it had completely drained. If you have water in the secondary pan then you have a clogged primary pan or primary drain pipe....or cracked/leaking primary pan.