An air conditioning system has the purpose of keeping your environment and your home cool and comfortable amid hot weather. What’s the worst that can happen to you other than your Ac breaking down in extremely hot weather conditions. These appliances are always prone to issues and defaults, sometimes they cannot perform to the extreme of what you expect them to.
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What’s even worse is when you are not financially prepared for these situations or cannot call a repair service provider immediately. In this case, good news for you is that it’s actually possible for you to perform the job on your own as well. If your AC unit has stopped functioning as well as it used to, you can easily reset it on your own.
Situations in which you might need to Reset your AC
Usually why you might feel the need to reset your AC Unit is when the circuit breaker of your Air conditioner engages and doesn’t allow the compressor of your AC to start. There’s a risk of circuit breakers popping in cases of sudden brown-out or black-out. In this case your AC performance will not be as good and efficient as you want it to be.
This is called a risk because the circuit breaker is a significant part of the system and works to prevent any explosion and to protect the air conditioning unit as a whole. A default in this will cause a further issue that will require professional attention.
Not only AC, but the circuit breaker is also a significant component of many units and appliances and should be taken care of. This is why it may be important to reset your AC unit to prevent any further malfunction and damage.
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How to Reset the AC System
Before you move ahead and reset the system be sure about a couple of things that are the current is flowing consistently or uniformly throughout the system and that the system has a regular power supply available to it. Once you’re certain about these factors you can move ahead and follow these steps to reset your unit;
1. Search for the Reset button which you should be able to locate easily as many AC units have a reset button on them. However, this button is actually very small in size and is of the color red. You can easily locate the button by the label reset on it. To be more careful with your performance you can consult from the instruction manual for assurance and find the button’s location.
2. Once you have found the reset button, press and hold on it for at least 3 seconds, continuously, and after 3 seconds release it. Repeat and press the reset button again for another 3 seconds. After this, your AC Unit must respond to the reset with a beep sound thrice. This will ensure that the system has reset successfully.
In case your Air Conditioner is working fine otherwise but is not providing you with cool air then you might want to reset the thermostat. It’s very important for the thermostat to function properly because in the absence of it no temperature will be detected and no cool air will be provided to you by the AC system.
Although companies do their best to make sure that the thermostat in your Ac system is the most reliable and durable, as said just like any other appliance it also has the probability of breaking down. For this reason, you might need to reset the AC thermostat and following are the steps for you to do so
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Ask a Repairman Live NowResetting the AC Thermostat
1. Turn off your AC system before you proceed to reset the thermostat. After shutting off the unit, be sure that the thermostat of the system is off as well.
2. Search for the circuit breaker box of the unit and the control of it. Circuit breaker boxes are often located at your basements and if not you might have to search in places in closets or crawl spaces.
3. Once you have successfully located the circuit breaker box, carefully find your AC unit on it as they are labeled with many controls. Flip the circuit breaker and shift the power of the AC to off position.
4. Wait for a time period of 30 seconds. This is important before you turn the circuit breaker back on. Once 30 seconds pass, you can carefully shift the power to the AC’s circuit breaker to ‘on’ again.
Following these steps will reset the thermostat of your AC system. But the job is not done here. Turn the thermostat to back on, along with this turn your Air Conditioner back on as well. Set your desired temperature and check for the cool air to see if it returns.
These procedures must reset your thermostat and solve any issue you are facing regarding your AC involving the thermostat.
What if there is no Reset Button on the Outdoor Unit
Usually, there’s always a reset button on the outdoor compressor units, which is very visible and red as mentioned earlier and you reset your unit by simply pressing it for a couple of seconds. However, the case is different and you might have to follow different steps in the absence of this reset button and reset your system manually;
1. Shut the power of your compressor unit off. You will find the power source in the shutoff panel that is located next to the unit itself or the outdoor compressor unit.
2. After shutting the compressor off, shut your AC unit off through the circuit breaker box as mentioned above. From the main electric panel of your home, switch off the 240V circuit to completely cut each power supply of the AC system.
3. You then have to unplug the entire unit apart from the power supply and then disconnect the whole system. This is to be a hundred percent sure that no power is being supplied to the unit and the unit is totally off the grid.
4. Wait for 30 minutes before you unit again back in. You generally don’t have to wait for this long to allow the power supply back but it’s good to wait at least 30 minutes before you reconnect for safety.
5. Be sure that the thermostat temperature was cool before you switch the circuit breaker on again. Plug the entire system back in. You can wait to turn on the AC after this, there is no need to plug it in immediately.
6. Once you plug and turn back the AC on as well, switch back on the 240-volt circuit from the main electric panel.
After this, your unit should work perfectly fine. If not there may be a different reason for the issue such as the filter would be dirty or any other technical issue with power supply for instance. In this case, you must contact a technician and get the job done professionally.
When should you Call Professionals for Help?
There might be a need or calling a professional or a technician if the job is too critical for you. This may be when the circuit breaker of the unit is tripping continuously and is not cooling down as fast as it should. This situation is a severe indicator of an issue that would be too critical for you alone to handle.
Often the wiring of the system has an issue and their protective covering, and the wires that lead to the compressor outdoors are exposed, this is where you shouldn’t proceed to do the job on your own and call a professional immediately to do it for you with their precautionary measures.
We are well aware of how exposed wires are the sole cause or sparks and fires. An exposed wire or even loose connection can cause a surge and trip the entire circuit breaker leading to a bigger issue. What’s worst is when you think of doing the job on your own within these circumstances. So be aware that it’s better to reset the AC Unit carefully rather than trip the system and find an AC replacement.
You might also need to call professionals if you feel like the AC is requiring a reset too often that it should. Rather than resetting it repeatedly, ask technicians to look in-depth of the issue and find the reason behind the repetitiveness.
Be sure to Maintain your System Properly
Maintain your unit or system regularly to ensure that it’s working and functioning properly to avoid any future interruption. If you don’t maintain your appliances, their performance will obviously be poor and the outputs can be worse. Annual service, once a year, for instance, is very important and necessary.
Technicians should annually check your system to spot any frayed or uncovered wire that will reduce the risk of entire circuit breaker tripping when you try to reset the unit on your own. If you find annual maintenance difficult, do the job on your own and maintain your unit by cleaning the filters regularly!
Max Anthony
Mainly Max Anthony is an athletics tutor & lives in Texas but that's not it. He's is also a music producer, content creator, record producer, writer, and session musician. He has been producing music and engineering at a lower level for over 5 years. His passions include quality music gear and that's what he loves to write about on HifiBeast. ( Shoot him an email now )
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