{"id":429,"date":"2019-09-16T11:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T15:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/?p=429"},"modified":"2025-09-21T20:15:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T00:15:33","slug":"watch-strain-acs-compressor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/watch-strain-acs-compressor\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Out for Strain on the AC\u2019s Compressor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fall is one of the riskiest times for air conditioning in West Palm Beach, FL<\/a>. The problem is that air conditioners don\u2019t get a big break with our fall weather and they\u2019ve already worked hard through long summer heat. If you remembered to have your air conditioning system professionally maintained in spring, it will have a better chance of making it through this period without trouble. But that spring inspection and tune-up was many months ago, and the build of wear and tear can spell trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially for the compressor, the most critical part of an\nair conditioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Why the compressor is so important<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The compressor is the literal heart of an AC. It causes refrigerant\nto circulate through the system and it applies energy directly to the\nrefrigerant so it can evaporate and condense to move heat out of the house. The\ncompressor works similar to a car engine with a crankshaft, motor, and pistons,\nand it draws on the most electricity of any component in the air conditioner.\nIf the compressor burns out, it usually spells the end of the air conditioner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overworked compressor\u2014and how to avoid it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can hear the compressor turn on and off when the air conditioning\nsystem is running. It\u2019s a distinct deeper hum added to the sound of the fan\nmotors. The compressor works in cycles at least 15 minutes long so it won\u2019t run\nnonstop and wear down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you set the thermostat too low, the compressor\nwill keep running as it attempts to reach the setting. An air conditioner can\nonly lower the temperature in a home by 20\u00b0F, so if you set the thermostat lower\nthan what the AC can reach, the compressor won\u2019t shut off. Aim to have the\nthermostat set as high as you find comfortable (78\u00b0F is a good target) and you\u2019ll\nnot only help the compressor, you\u2019ll also save energy on your utility bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another type of overwork on the compressor to watch for is when the compressor shuts off after only a brief cycle (less than 10 minutes) and then turns back on a short time later. No matter how high you set the thermostat, the compressor should not work on such brief cycles. The compressor uses the most energy during start-up, and if it keeps stopping early, it puts immense and unnecessary strain on it. This condition is called short-cycling<\/em>, and there are many reasons it might happen. Call for an HVAC technician to investigate the short-cycling and find out what needs to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the compressor does die\u2026 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2026you probably need a new AC. It\u2019s not true in all cases: if\nthe compressor is still covered by the air conditioning system\u2019s warranty, you\ncan have just the compressor replaced. But if the system is old enough to be\nout of warranty, the cost of replacing the compressor alone is usually too high\ncompared to having a new AC installed. Please ask our technicians for help in\nmaking the choice. They\u2019ll offer you honest advice and then do the job you\nneed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call Mechanical Air Conditioning<\/a>\u2014Family Owned & Operated over 40 Years in Palm Beach County. Your Trusted Source in AC Repair.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The build of wear and tear in an AC in spring can spell trouble, especially for the compressor, the most critical part of an air conditioner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[23,14,87],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-conditioning-service","tag-air-conditioner-repair","tag-air-conditioning-replacement","tag-west-palm-beach"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434,"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions\/434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mechanicalac.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}