I need your help with Kenmore air conditioner
troubleshooting. The E1 error code means the evaporator temperature
sensor failed. Turn it off and check the harness for a broken
or pinched wire, and if that is not obvious, the problem is probably the control board. That’s rather expensive to replace. It might be a malfunctioning evaporator temperature
sensor too, and that’s not as expensive to replace. If you get the AS error, that’s a problem
with the air temperature sensor. The unit is not putting out much cold air. I wonder if that’s because the sensor is
too hot. A sensor can get too hot and malfunction because
of a wiring problem, or the control board may be misreading it. That’s like a thermostat that’s off, meaning
the AC does not kick in until the house is set to be a scene from the movie Frozen. And before you ask, yes the thermostat is
set low and actually set to cool.
If you have the E5 error code, that means
the low voltage protection kicked in. Turn it off, wait ten minutes, turn it on
and see if the error code goes away. You’re essentially telling me to hard reboot
the air conditioner. At least I’m giving you something you’re
free to try before you call an HVAC guy to try the same thing for a hundred bucks an
hour. I know that people say to do that kind of
thing at the circuit breaker, and that if it does not come on in the first place, check
the fuse box. The unit will turn off if there was a voltage
surge too, whether due to a lightening strike or electrical problem. In those cases, it won’t let you turn it
on for a few minutes. It comes on and stays on, it just runs for
a long time to do any cooling. A lot of indoor temperature sensor errors
like F2 and F4 can be troubleshot by turning off the power to the unit and thus control
board for at least ten minutes too. I’m not getting a specific error code, just
burning up while my electric bill burns a hole in my budget.
But if you do not have specific errors and
it is not cooling, I’d say there’s probably a refrigerant leak. Does it make funny sounds? All ACs make a lot of noise. There’s the standard motor noise, and then
there’s hissing because the unit has to defrost the ice build up from a refrigerant
leak and the bubbling and banging of refrigerant leaking from a compressor or – So if it makes extra noises, recharge the
refrigerant and call tech support. Due to EPA regulations, you cannot recharge
the refrigerant, only a pro can, so you have to call for service even to do that.