You probably know the blower in your air conditioner is what pushes air through the ducts and keeps your house cool. You may not realize blower problems are a common cause of air conditioning repairs. There might be a problem with the blower itself or with one of the parts that make it spin. Here are some things that can go bad with an AC blower.

The Blower Is Caked With Dust

If your air handler hasn't been cleaned recently, the blower might be so caked with dust mats that it can't create airflow. When this happens, there may not be very much air coming out of the vents, so your house won't get and stay cool. The extra weight caused by the dust accumulation might even cause the motor to strain and fail.

Ideally, your AC service will clean the blower before this happens, but once a dirty blower keeps your AC from working, an air conditioning repair technician can pull the blower out to clean it thoroughly and then replace it so it can spin freely and create the proper amount of airflow through the ducts.

The Blower Is Loose And Wobbly

The blower is held in place with screws, and when the screws vibrate loose, the blower can scrape against the air handler and make a loud noise. If the blower isn't securely in place, it won't spin properly, and that affects how well your AC can cool down your home.

An air conditioning repair professional can fix this problem by tightening the screws so the blower is held in place tightly when it spins. This stops odd noises caused by the scraping and relieves strain on the motor.

Parts That Operate The Blower Are Bad

The blower needs power to spin, so any problem with the wiring can cause the blower to go bad. Also, there's a capacitor that connects the power to the motor. The capacitor adds power to give the motor a boost when it first starts. If the capacitor is bad, the motor can go bad too. Sometimes, a bad motor can be repaired depending on what's wrong with it. If repairs aren't possible, then the motor has to be replaced.

Capacitors that go bad need to be replaced. Wiring can sometimes be repaired, but if wiring is damaged too badly, it might need to be replaced too. The air conditioning repair technician can often tell by sight and sound what part is bad, but they can also rely on a multimeter and test individual parts to find out what parts are malfunctioning when your AC needs repairs.

For more information on air conditioning repair, contact a company near you.