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What is an Aircon Condenser unit?
There are many terms for aircon condenser. Aircon compressor, aircon outdoor unit or simply condensing unit. It is the bulky part of an Air-conditioning system, usually located outside your window. Sitting on an Air-con ledge or metal bracket.
How does an Aircon condenser unit function?
Inside the aircon condensing unit, there is a compressor. The function of the compressor is to pull the refrigerant in and rapidly compress it. As they compress, it will heat up. The hot gas then passes through the heat exchanger, the fan from the aircon condensing unit will eject the heat more easily.
These are the 5 types of common aircon condenser unit issues and the relevant cost to repair :
Refrigerant Leak
Most aircon condensing unit will experience some form of minuscule leak. And you will require an aircon gas top up from time to time. However, if your condenser unit requires a gas top up too frequently, there could be a refrigerant leak inside your AC compressor. You would require an aircon technician to do a surface check, to see if there’s any form of gas leak. Usually if the compressor is leaking, the area around it will be rather oily. If your aircon condenser unit is found to be leaking refrigerant, you might need to replace the entire condensing unit. As the cost of reattaching a brand new compressor will be the same as that of changing a condensing unit by itself. The typical cost of changing the condensing unit will be between $300 – $1500.
PCB error
Any types of electrical component will be subjected to wear and tear. For a non inverter unit, the PCB component is simpler and it wears down less easily than an inverter Aircon unit. Therefore it’s much more rare for a non inverter aircon unit printer circuit board to malfunction. For inverter unit, the PCB is more complex and most electrical components are soldered into the PCB. Hence, any components that have malfunctioned will cost the entire pcb to be replaced. The estimated cost of changing the PCB of a residential Air-conditioning unit is between $350 to $900.
Dirty compressor
This is one of the most common problem of an aircon condenser unit. A dirty condensing coil will cause the compressor to overheat. When it’s overheated, the gas reading will not be accurate. If the gas reading is not accurate, the aircon technician will not be able to tell if the issue is due to low refrigerant. Thankfully, this is a rather inexpensive issue that can be resolved easily. You can do an aircon compressor chemical wash to get rid of the dirt. For overheating issues, it will most likely work after that. If the chemical wash can be done without detaching the condensing unit, the price for Aircon compressor chemical wash will be around $60-$90.
Faulty Valve
For some brands and model. This is a common Aircon issue in their ac condenser unit. The Aircon valve is the outlet where the refrigerant coil is released. The valve is a tricky problem, if the Aircon valve’s EV coil can be serviced, it is a rather cheap fix. However if the valve is found to be faulty beyond repair. The entire condensing unit will have to be replaced. That is because the cost of replacing the valve and the time needed to complete the work, is just as long as changing the entire compressor. Hence, changing the condensing unit might be even cheaper than replacing the valve. If the EV coil for an ac compressor valve can be serviced, it should cost around $80 – $130.
Fan motor problem
This is a seemingly simple problem to diagnose. If your aircon compressor is running, but your condenser unit fan is not spinning. It means that the fan motor has malfunctioned. However the tricky issue is, what if the fan motor issue is caused by the PCB. In that case, both the PCB and the fan motor will have to be replaced. Otherwise, the new fan motor might be damaged by the existing PCB component. By using a second hand aircon fan motor, the price for that can be reduced to as low as $150 for a system 1 fan motor unit.
There are of course more than just the 6 issues that are mentioned above. You will need a team of experienced Aircon technicians to do the diagnosis and repair for you. Here at Silverback Air-con, we pride ourselves on transparent pricing and honest service. Hence, if you think that your Aircon compressor is facing any issue, do give us a call. We will be more than happy to help.