AC advise

Apologies for this one, but don't know where else to go. My bedroom is cooled by a small window unit, a Hampton Bay (Home Depot) unit. It has worked OK since we got here, but last night it iced up. Defrosted it , cleaned it up good, turned it back on, same icy thing within an hour. Any fix for it, or just go get another? Thanks,

Often, they will ice up when you're trying to cool too large an area for an under sized unit. The same thing can happen if you leave the door to the hall open or if your drain is clogged.

Also happens when its high humidity.

Undersized is better than oversized as it takes more moisture out of the air.

clean your filter

SoFla, so high humidity is a given. Small unit, probably too small for the room. Door is always open. Filter is squicky clean- now. Drain may be clogged, I'll check that. Have it running on low now, no apparant problems. If I owned the place, central air would have been done within two weeks, but it's a rental, and landlord, while a nice enough guy, won't spend a nickle on improvements. Just hoping my business does well enough that I can buy a place soon. Won't be in Ft. Lauderdale, tho. It's a little too- uh- "interesting" here.

Often times evaporators freeze up when the refrigerant is low. Take it back under warranty. You have a freon leak. Its also slightly possible that an evap temp thermocouple is bad, but that is highly unlikely.

As with most appliances, you can buy a new one for the cost of fixing this one. But if its under warranty, just get a new one.

No warranty here, it appears to be about ten years pld. Has not repeated the problem. If it does I'll just go get another one. Probably save electric on a more efficient one.

I'm not a HVAC man but I have seen AC units that ice up (for whatever reason) when run to high... maybe the highest level is too much for them as they get older (the icing seems to happen w/ the older units more often than w/ new...)

Running it on medium now, no problems, just not real cool in the BR.

There is a thermocouple that shuts off the compressor if evap temps reach 32F to prevent icing on newer models. Older units just cycle the compressor. If it gets low on refrigerant the pressure differential between the high and low sides gets larger and causes the icing.

Seriously... if its that old, buying a new one for $250 will probably pay for itself in energy savings in the first year. Repairing the old one will probably cost $300 and you'll still be sucking down the kW-hrs at the same rate.

Thanks, guys.