Air conditioning
Condenser, evaporator coil, blower motor, refrigerant charge and controls on split systems, heat pumps and mini-splits.
AC serviceSERVICE OPERATION · TRACK 01
A technician’s day, traced stop by stop.
Residential and light commercial air conditioning, heating, ductwork and preventive maintenance. Every visit starts the same way: read the complaint, read the equipment, read the measurements.
- 01 Intake — symptom logged
- 02 Site read — static pressure, superheat, subcooling
- 03 Diagnosis confirmed
- 04 Repair or set-and-match
INDEX · 04 LINES
Service categories
Four disciplines, one diagnostic method. Problems often overlap — a “no cooling” call can end up as a refrigerant charge issue, a airflow restriction, or both.
Heating
Furnaces, heat pumps and air handlers: ignitor, inducer blower, heat exchanger, gas valve, limit switches and low-voltage control wiring.
Heating serviceDuctwork
Flex duct runs, trunk lines, registers, return air and static pressure problems. Duct sizing and balancing where airflow is the root cause.
DuctworkMaintenance
Filter changes, coil cleaning, drain line flush, current and voltage checks, and seasonal changeover on systems you already own.
MaintenanceDISPATCH LOG
Common call types
What callers actually describe, and what the visit usually turns into. Stop numbers follow the order a technician works the complaint.
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01
No cooling
Thermostat is calling for cool, unit runs, but the air is warm. Usually a failed run capacitor, a tripped breaker, a closed or locked-out contactor, or low refrigerant from a leak.
Check first: breaker, filter, thermostat mode, then nameplate data.
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02
Weak airflow
Every vent blows, barely. A dirty evaporator coil, a clogged filter, a failing blower motor or a collapsed flex duct run can all produce the same complaint.
Check first: filter condition, coil face, blower amp draw, static pressure at the return.
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03
Thermostat not responding
Blank screen, no calls to the equipment, or schedule that won’t hold. Often the thermostat itself, the 24 V transformer, low-voltage wiring, or a R-C wire left open at the changeover.
Check first: voltage at the sub-base, battery or C-wire, terminal labels.
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04
Furnace not firing
No flame, no heat. A failed hot-surface ignitor, an open flame sensor, a tripped high-limit switch, an inducer that never proves out, or a gas valve that won’t open.
Check first: limit switch continuity, inducer proof of operation, flame sensor rod.
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05
Outdoor unit not starting
The fan never comes on and the compressor stays silent. Contactor pitting, a bad capacitor, a low-voltage control signal, a seized motor or a tripped breaker all present the same way from inside.
Check first: contactor pitting, capacitor microfar reading, control voltage at the outdoor unit.
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06
Water dripping from the indoor unit
Condensate overflow. A plugged drain line, a dirty coil, a mis-set float switch or a pan that’s out of level all end up dripping into the room or into the return plenum.
Check first: pan level, drain slope, float switch continuity, algae in the line.
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07
Frozen coil
Ice on the evaporator or line set. Low airflow and low refrigerant both starve the coil; so does a dirty filter or an undersized duct system running long call periods.
Check first: filter, coil freeze pattern, superheat and subcooling, charge by weight.
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08
Breaker trips
Repeated trips on the HVAC circuit point at a short, a failed capacitor, a seized motor winding or an overcurrent unit drawing more than it should. Treat a repeat trip as a diagnostic request, not a reset.
Check first: which circuit, what was running at the trip, motor amp draw.
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09
Short cycling
Runs for a few minutes, shuts down, repeats. Undersized charge, a cycling-capable thermostat set too tight of a differential, an oversized unit on the load, or low airflow hitting the low-pressure switch.
Check first: low-pressure switch behaviour, superheat, thermostat differential, load match.
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10
Noise complaint
Rattling, squealing, buzzing or grinding. A loose panel, a failing bearing in the blower motor, a worn condenser fan blade, a vibrating compressor, or refrigerant in the wrong line set.
Check first: where the noise starts, panel fasteners, motor bearings, blade damage.
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11
Annual maintenance visit
Scheduled changeover work: coil cleaning, drain line flush, filter, belt or motor inspection, electrical connections, refrigerant pressures and a written reading of system performance.
Also a good moment to note SEER2, AFUE or HSPF data for future decisions.
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12
Filter question
Which filter, how often, where does it go. The right answer depends on the return: a high-MERV filter or a media filter in a tight return needs a properly sized system and a clear filter rack.
Check first: filter size against the return opening, not the cabinet door.
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13
Thermostat installation
Swap or upgrade with wiring done to the equipment it controls — common or C-wire, R-C handling, humidity or smart features that need a compatible equipment board.
Check first: equipment type, wiring length, whether the existing stat matches the system.
STOP 04 · AIR CONDITIONING
AC service
A cooling complaint is a measurement problem before it is a parts problem. Service on a split system or heat pump generally follows this sequence:
- Confirm the call. System type, refrigerant type (R-410A, R-22 or R-454B), system age, SEER2 rating, and what changed.
- Read temperatures. Return air and supply air at the indoor unit, ambient at the condenser, and the line set temps before and after a set period of run time.
- Read pressures. Suction and head pressure, then superheat and subcooling. Those numbers, not the pressure alone, describe the charge.
- Read electrical. Compressor amp draw against nameplate, capacitor microfar, contactor condition, low-voltage control voltage.
- Read airflow. Static pressure and a rough CFM estimate at the return, plus filter condition and coil face.
- Repair or set-and-match. Charge by weight for the leak found. If the system can’t hold a proper charge or the airflow is fundamentally wrong, that’s a bigger conversation and it gets written down clearly.
If a leak is found, the repair location matters — a line set or coil replacement changes the approach to setting the charge, and a repair without finding the leak means the call comes back.
STOP 05 · HEATING
Heating service
Gas furnace, electric furnace, boiler-side hydronics and heat pumps all fail in recognizable patterns. A no-heat call usually resolves to the flame proving sequence, an airflow or limit problem, or a control fault.
- Flame proving. Hot-surface ignitor, flame sensor rod, and whether the inducer blower actually proves out before gas is released.
- Heat exchanger. A cracked or corroded heat exchanger is a shutdown condition, not a comfort adjustment.
- Airflow and limits. A dirty filter or closed registers trips the high-limit switch, and that reads to a homeowner as “the furnace died.”
- Gas valve & pressure. Manifold pressure, valve operation under load, and a proper leak check at every accessible joint.
- Ignition system. Transformer, ignitor amperage, and continuity on the low-voltage safety circuit chain.
- Heat pump mode. Reversing valve, defrost cycle, and auxiliary heat staging when the defrost control calls for backup heat.
Furnace efficiency is quoted as AFUE; heat pumps are quoted as HSPF. Comparing two systems with different fuel types or different vent sizes is misleading without those numbers.
STOP 06 · DISTRIBUTION
Ductwork
When the equipment is fine and the house still isn’t comfortable, the distribution system is the suspect. Duct problems are common in attics, crawlspaces and retrofits where the original design was a guess.
Static pressure
The number that explains most weak-airflow calls. Measured at the return plenum with the system running, it shows how hard the blower is working. Too high means restriction somewhere; too low often means a leak or an oversized system.
Sizing & load match
Duct sizing sets the CFM, and the CFM sets what the coil can do. An oversized unit on a small duct system will freeze coils and short cycle regardless of how clean everything is.
Flex duct damage
Crushed runs, kinked inner liner, disconnected joints and insulation peeled back in a vented attic. A single collapsed run can take out half the bedrooms on one floor.
Registers & return air
Registers that are undersized or blocked behind furniture, and returns that are choked off. Both quietly reduce the airflow the system needs to move heat.
Trunk lines & transitions
Galvanized trunk, transition tapers, and takeoff fittings that were added after the fact. Metal ducts can also corrode at the return, pulling air in where it should be contained.
TAB work
Testing, adjusting and balancing. Balancing means measuring each room’s airflow and adjusting dampers so the system delivers what the design intended, rather than overfeeding one side of the house.
STOP 07 · PREVENTIVE
Maintenance
Preventive maintenance is the least glamorous part of the trade and the reason equipment lasts. Most no-cooling and no-heat calls are a deferred filter change and a coil that was never cleaned.
- Filter replacement, with the size matched to the return opening
- Evaporator and condenser coil cleaning
- Condensate drain and pan flush, float switch test
- Blower motor, belt and bearing inspection
- Electrical connections, contactor, capacitor, amp draw
- Thermostat schedule, batteries, low-voltage terminals
- Written readings so next year has a baseline to compare against
Keep a small log per system: filter dates, what was found, what was measured. When a unit is eight years old, that log is the only thing that narrows a fault down.
STOP 09 · INTAKE
Contact
Describe the symptom the way you’d say it out loud. The more specific the complaint, the faster the diagnosis lands on the right part of the problem.
- System type
- Split, heat pump, mini-split, furnace, package unit
- Symptom
- No cooling, weak airflow, no heat, water, noise, breaker trips
- Phone
- +1(929)871-3801
- [email protected]
- Address
- 215 E 85th St, New York, NY 10028
- Hours
- 7am to 8pm, Mon to Sun