AC Repair in Brockton, MA
Air conditioners here run from July through August. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Plymouth County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, plus a decade of wind and hail
Brockton only asks your air conditioner to work hard in July and August, with afternoons averaging around 80°F. That short season means the system sits idle most of the year, then has to start up reliably the moment the heat arrives. A capacitor that's gotten weak or a refrigerant charge that's low tends to show up on that first hot day rather than later.
Plymouth County has logged 346 damaging wind events and 21 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.75 inches. Wind can loosen the electrical connections at your outdoor unit or drive debris into the cabinet, and hail that size can dent the fins on the condenser coil. Either one shows up as an air conditioner that runs but doesn't cool the house like it used to.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 21 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 346 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would save little on running costs in Plymouth County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Plymouth County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Massachusetts fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when a part like a capacitor or contactor has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the compressor has failed or the system uses R-22 refrigerant, which is no longer made.
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- The most common reason is a dirty air filter choking off airflow, so check that first. If the filter is clean, the refrigerant charge could be low, which usually points to a leak somewhere in the coil or line set. A dirty outdoor coil can cause the same problem, since it stops the unit from shedding heat properly. Any of these needs a contractor to check pressures and airflow to find out which one it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your AC almost always means the condensate drain line is clogged. As the unit runs, algae and dirt build up in that line and eventually block it, so the water backs up and spills out instead of draining away outside. A frozen evaporator coil that's thawing can also leave water behind, usually from low airflow or low refrigerant. Either way, a contractor can clear the line or find what's causing the freeze up.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it's set to cool and the temperature is below room temperature, and change the batteries if the screen is blank. If the thermostat looks fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will cut power to the whole unit. Brockton sees its share of damaging wind through the summer, and a breaker trip during a storm is a common reason an AC won't start afterward. If the breaker is fine and it still won't turn on, the capacitor or the contactor inside the unit may have failed, and that's a job for a contractor to test and replace.