Outside Fan blowing, no air in house!

[Echohammer419]

Need some help here. I have a 1981 Sears/Roebuck Air Condenser unit. 3 weeks ago, the fan outside stopped and the air inside the house blew warm air. Called a local HVAC company and they said it was dirt on the fan motor. The cleaned it off and filled up the freon and it worked...for 2 days. Same thing happened, same company came back out, and they said the capacitor and fan motor needed replacing ($~200). Paid it and it's been working for the past 2 weeks.

Now, when I came home today, the fan outside was blowing, and all seemed normal, but there was no air what so ever blowing in the house (warm or cold). I noticed that on the back of the compressor unit outside that the pipe between the compressor and house was frozen (well..* between where the pipe goes into the unit and stopped at the insulated black part). Anyway I turned off the unit, let it thaw, went back outside and was able to gently chip off the frozen part... and it's still not working.

Because we've paid a few hundred dollars for this already... if I don't turn on the unit overnight, is there a possibility that it will work tomorrow morning? What else could be wrong? I searched on yahoo answers and various websites, and I've read equal parts low freon, running it too much, and other reasons.

And I know...I'm lucky a 30 year old unit is still working, but we're trying to hold off on plunking down 3k for a new heat pump. Any advice is appreciated!

[skimighty]

The unit is low on Freon. The life of the unit is passed. Time to upgrade.

[nomadpeo]

the reason there was no air moving is because when ice forms, it forms on the entire low pressure side of the system. this includes the evaporator coil situated in the air stream. when you see ice outside, it's usually the tip of the iceberg. the coil surface inside is probably caked with two to three inches of ice, totally blocking airflow. it can take a long time for it to melt.

a low freon condition is probably the problem due to a leak. the leak is probably in the evaporator coil. that estimate of $3000 could unfortuately be low. you are going to need to replace the inside and outside equipment and upgrade to 410-A. your freon lines may need to be changed as well. when this is done, you may need some duct upgrade. i realize this is not good news, but 'retooling' in the industry by epa mandate is upon us. make sure you fully educate yourself on the issues, the laws and the changes. if not, you may be spending money and find yourself with the wrong setup. good luck.

[specialtyclimate]

make sure youre filter is clean, check and make sure the blower motor is running etc. after 30 years it could be a dirty evaporator causing air flow issues. a leak is not out of the qusetion, ive seen units only 3 years old leak, mostly carrier and goodmans, but instead of throwing good money after bad, I would replace the unit, most companies offer financing at very low rates.