AC Repair in St. Joseph, MO
Air conditioners here run from June through September. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Buchanan County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of hard use, then long stretches of quiet
Your air conditioner in St. Joseph works hard from June through September and then sits idle the rest of the year. On afternoons that average 86°F, it runs long cycles trying to hold the house steady, and the capacitor and contactor take the brunt of that work. When the season starts back up in June, a system that sat unused often shows its weak points fast. A capacitor that was already fading gives out on the first hot day, and the unit either won't start or hums without turning the fan.
Buchanan County has seen 24 hail events over the past ten years, with stones up to 2.75 inches, and 72 damaging wind events in that same stretch. Hail that size can bend or tear the thin aluminum fins on the outdoor coil, and wind can rock the unit on its pad or drive debris into it. When the fins are damaged, the coil can't shed heat the way it should, and the air coming out of your vents feels weaker or warmer than it used to.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 24 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 72 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 Buchanan County, so the repair decision comes down to the unit's condition.
Estimates for a typical Buchanan County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Missouri 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 cause is a dirty air filter choking off airflow across the coil, so check that first. A refrigerant leak will do the same thing, and so will a condenser coil caked with dirt or grass clippings outside. If the filter is clean and the outdoor unit looks clear, a contractor will need to check refrigerant levels, since that's not something you can top off yourself.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Most of the time this means the condensate drain line is clogged, so water backs up and drips out instead of draining away. It can also mean the filter is dirty enough that the coil froze, then thawed and overflowed the drain pan. Either way, shut the system off until it's looked at, since a coil that keeps icing up can end up damaging the compressor.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat batteries and the breaker panel, since a dead battery or a tripped breaker is an easy fix. If those are fine, the issue is likely inside the unit, in the capacitor or the contactor that switches power to the compressor. With St. Joseph's summer storms bringing damaging wind and hail most years, a tripped breaker after a storm is worth checking before anything else.