AC Repair in Delaware County, PA
Delaware County is not one housing market, and air conditioning does not fail the same way across it. The dense northern end around Upper Darby, Lansdowne and Yeadon is rows and twins on narrow lots. The riverfront boroughs are older and tighter again. Head west and the townships open into post-war housing with purpose-built systems and room around them. What has gone wrong with your cooling has a great deal to do with which of those you live in.
PJ MAC HVAC Service & Repair covers the whole county from 642 Harper Ave in Drexel Hill, and a person answers the phone at any hour.
No side yard, and what that does to a condenser
On a party wall twin or a row, the outdoor unit ends up somewhere nobody would have chosen: a narrow gap between buildings, a rear yard boxed in with fencing, or a flat roof. All of those limit the air the unit has to work with, and the worst version is discharge air looping straight back into the intake. A condenser in that position runs hot all summer even when every component in it is healthy, which is why it is the first thing we check when a system keeps tripping out and the identical one two doors down does not.
Shared walls change the load
Rows and twins also share heat with their neighbours. An end unit carries an extra exposed wall and a measurably higher cooling load than a house mid-block, so a system sized by copying next door is frequently wrong from the start. In houses divided into apartments, one system often serves spaces with entirely different loads, with the thermostat in whichever one has the hallway.
Attic retrofits in the older stock
Where cooling was added years after the house was built, the air handler generally went into the attic and the duct went wherever it could be made to fit. Two consequences dominate our summer calls. The first is loss into a roof space far hotter than the rooms being served, so much of what the equipment produced never arrives. The second is condensate, which has to leave an attic without finding its way through a ceiling.
The age of what is out there
A large share of the county's cooling equipment is now old enough that the refrigerant is part of the decision. Supplies of R-22 are reclaimed rather than manufactured, so on that equipment a leak becomes a question about the system rather than a repair to it. We tell you what is in yours before anything is added to a system that will only lose it again.
What a proper diagnosis covers
- ✓Whether the outdoor unit has the clearance and air path it needs
- ✓Coil condition on both sides, since a loaded evaporator reads like a low charge
- ✓Capacitor and contactor tested against their ratings rather than judged by appearance
- ✓Compressor and fan current compared with what the data plate calls for
- ✓Airflow measured across the equipment instead of guessed at a register
- ✓The refrigerant on the label, and what that means for repairing a leak
Repair or replace
There is no rule of thumb for that, and anyone offering one before opening the unit is guessing. What decides it is which component failed, what refrigerant the system holds, whether the indoor and outdoor equipment match, and what state the duct is in to serve whatever goes in next. Replacement estimates are free and are a separate visit from a diagnostic.
Delaware County AC Repair — Questions We Get
Why does my neighbour's identical system cope when mine does not?
Because the houses are not identical even when they look it. An end unit has more exposed wall and a higher load than a middle one, and the condensers are rarely in equally good positions. A unit in a boxed-in gap recirculating its own discharge air will struggle in weather the one with an open rear yard shrugs off.
My outdoor unit sits in a narrow alley. Is that a problem?
It can be. The unit needs to draw air in and throw it clear, and in a tight gap the hot discharge often comes straight back round into the intake. That raises head pressure, raises running cost and shortens compressor life. Relocating it, opening the space up, or redirecting the discharge are all worth looking at before spending on parts.
The fan is running but the air is not cold.
Go outside and see whether the outdoor unit is running too. If the indoor blower runs and the outdoor unit is silent, the fault is usually a capacitor, a contactor or a control problem rather than the compressor itself. If both are running and the air still is not cold, that points at charge, a fouled coil or a metering problem, and it needs gauges to sort out.
Does an old system automatically need replacing?
No, and plenty of old equipment is worth repairing. What changes the arithmetic is a refrigerant leak on a system running R-22, because only reclaimed stock of it remains. A failed capacitor on a twenty year old unit is still a small job. A leaking evaporator on the same unit is a different conversation.
Is there really someone there in the middle of the night?
Yes. A person answers, not a machine, every day of the year. You are told what the call costs before anyone is dispatched, so nobody arrives at two in the morning with an unpleasant surprise attached.
Which parts of the county do you cover from Drexel Hill?
Drexel Hill, Springfield, Clifton Heights, Lansdowne, East Lansdowne, Yeadon, Millbourne, Collingdale, Sharon Hill, Glenolden, Folcroft, Holmes, Broomall, Darby Township and Tinicum Township among others. PJ MAC has further offices covering the rest of Delaware County.
Who serves Delaware County
Delaware County calls are handled out of our Drexel Hill office at 642 Harper Ave, Drexel Hill, PA 19026. Call (610) 672-3046 — we answer 24 hours a day.