Fan blows, outside unit clicks, but doesn't turn on -- only at night?!

by Dunaway
(San Antonio, TX)

March 30, 2011


At the duplex we are renting, the technician has been out to service our central air conditioner unit multiple times. He has recently cleaned the coils, cleaned the points, fixed a Freon leak, filled the Freon, replaced the filter, and replaced the thermostat, and who knows what else.
During the day, our central air conditioner usually works fine; however, in the evening and at night (after about 7 pm) about 50% of the time we try to turn the central ac on, it won't turn on.

I set the thermostat to one degree cooler than the room temperature. The outside unit goes "thunk" and the blower inside turns on, blowing room-temperature air.

The outside unit goes "click" and nothing happen. 20 seconds later, it goes "click" again. This keeps happening for thirty minutes, an hour, all night if we let it! The clicks get louder but the central ac unit never turns on. We give up and go to bed hot.

The next morning, it is the same story and in the afternoon, the central ac unit is working fine. My landlord thinks I'm crazy and we fight every time I have to call him about this. HELP!!!

Comments for Fan blows, outside unit clicks, but doesn't turn on -- only at night?!

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fan Cycle Switch NEW
by: Anonymous

Can someone explain fan cycle switch , please ?

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PLEASE HELP NEW
by: Anonymous

My centra air is running but the outside fan will not come on?????? Do I need to turn it off or what !??? WHAT IS WRONG???????????

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Fan blows, outside unit clicks, but doesn't turn on -- only at night?! NEW
by: Anonymous

maybe not enough head pressure try putting in a fan cycle switch to help raise head pressure

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outdoor condensor/compressor issue NEW
by: Anonymous

if unit not turning on check cap or if that's good try your contactor maybe not pulling in maybe loose wire or loose wire at pecker head if compressor notbad try putting in a fan cycle switch maybe its not building enough head preesure

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solved
by: Georgia in July

Wires to contact board of blower were loose and not making good contact...there fore the ac would work occasionally....if problem persist then the issue is the contact board in the blower not the ac unit itself. Stripped wires and re attached been fine for 4 days now....

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Compressor Not Turning
by: Anonymous

It won?t turn on; it could be the compressor. It could also be the compressor relay or the intermittent problems.

The HVAC guy should have permanently fixed the problem not provide temporary solution.

Call a different HVAC technician to fix the problem. He will understand it and permanently fix it.

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Almost Identical
by: Georgia in July

At first I could get the compressor to click on by flipping the breaker....then the AC guy I used gave me a jumper at the thermostat and that worked a couple of times...but only at night.

Now it won't come on at all.. I have been told one of three things, thermostat, contact and now someone else is suggesting compressor relay.

Any guesses which it is more likely to be?

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SAME PROBLEM
by: Anonymous

Same deal, replaced contactor, checked charge, replaced capacitor, cleaned coils. Still does it.

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I have same problem
by: Anonymous

Hi, I have a same problem. Please help.

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Outside unit clicks
by: Chester

Intermittent problems are very frustrating. It runs fine at times and does not run at other times. You will not be able to get much help without someone on site to determine the problem.

A good HVAC technician should be able to find the problem, but he may have to catch it while it is acting up.

Wish I could be more help. You may just have to camp on your landlords doorstep until the thing is fixed.

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