When possible, repairing these coolers without attaching a pressure gauge to the sealed system can avoid creating unnecessary service issues with the cooler in the future.

The customer’s description of the problem: “My air conditioner is blowing warm air.” What's causing this?

While capacitors may be easy to diagnose and replace, here are some things many techs may not know.

There are times when the attempt to do something positive can result in something unexpected. The annual increase in the number of hard-start kits being added to air conditioners is a perfect example.

In this troubleshooting situation, the equipment is a gas pack that has been in service for 18 months. What is the underlying cause for the poor performance of this unit?

Oil-logging is often a major cause of low-side restrictions, and there are many ways in which evaporator and suction lines inside tubing can become oil-logged.

The equipment in this month’s troubleshooting situation is a split system that has only been in service for two years, but there is a lot of history — several service calls since the equipment was installed, and an on-going complaint that the system just doesn’t keep the ranch-style home comfortable.

Much like subcooling, understanding and calculating superheat can be somewhat difficult for newbie technicians.

Troubleshooting the high side of a refrigeration system will often give service technicians valuable information. That’s because what happens in the condenser is a direct reflection of what is happening in the rest of the refrigeration system.

The weird thing about compressor problems is that — well, it’s usually not the compressor.

It’s probably something else. Can the technician on the job today figure out what that something else is? That could determine whether it’s a successful call and a happy customer or a visit that appears successful until the new compressor fails (after several additional costs and a lot of frustration).