The air conditioning system in your home that keeps you cool during the summer operates using two fans. Inside your home in the evaporator cabinet is the blower fan, which draws in air from the rooms through the return vents and blows it across the evaporator coil (cooling it) and then into the ventilation shafts leading back into your house. Outside your home in the condenser cabinet is a fan that pulls in warm outside air across the condenser coil, releasing heat that then vents out the top of the cabinet.
This pair of fans is crucial for AV performance. If either malfunctions, it can mean a drop in cooling and airflow, resulting in inferior comfort. Here are 3 components of AC fans, each of which can sustain damage that will threaten your home’s cooling.
When you need air conditioning repairs in Spokane, WA, call on the 24-hour emergency services of ACI Northwest. We are committed to quality and your comfort.
1. The blades
The fan blades of the outdoor fan are susceptible to damage from any debris that enters the cabinet, such as rocks, sticks, gravel, even tree branches (yes, this can happen). If the blades of the fan become bent, they will start to strike the edges of the fan casing, leading to an alarming clanging noise. Turn off the system immediately when you hear this sort of noise and call for repairs; the fan will cause more internal damage to the system if it is allowed to continue running.
2. The motor
Older air conditioners used fan belts to connect the fan motor to the fan, and the fan belts could break. More recent fans use direct motors. Motors can wear down from overuse, layers of dirt, or loss of lubrication in their moving parts, and this extra stress will eventually cause the motor to overheat and fuse its wiring together. A motor that burns out will need to have a professional replace it in order to get the fan operating once more.
3. The thermostat wire
Technically, this isn’t inside the fan, but it’s essential to its operation and damage to it will cause the fan to either 1) run continuously, or 2) refuse to run at all. Five different wires originate from a thermostat: one operates the compressor, and the other four turn the two fans on and off. Should one of these wires break or sustain damage, it will affect the connected fan. It’s difficult to determine that a problem with the fan originates with the thermostat, so have technicians look into it. If it is a thermostat problem, it is thankfully an easy fix.
Whenever you hear noises from the fans or notice that one of them has stopped moving, it’s time to call on the professionals at ACI Northwest for professional air conditioning repair service in Spokane, WA. Our NATE-certified technicians are ready around the clock to serve you.