Q. I'm living in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. I live on the 9th floor of our 34 floor apartment building, and just had to have our external air conditioning serviced. I was alarmed and amazed as our air conditioning technician tied a rope around himself, and then went out the window to the external air conditioning unit to give it a dose of freon (as I held the rope!). My gf asked, what do they do in the USA?

A. In the USA buildings have central Air-Conditioning and the equipment is usually located on the roof of the building.

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Q. Unit is only 5 yrs. old, not sure if I'm quoting right I had about 5lbs. of pressure they took it up to 60-70 I believe.

A. Average range $175- $250. unless there is a leak on the line. than it's more.

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Q. I have an outside central air conditioning unit, it is approx. 80 degrees outside and extremely humid, also very hot inside the house with fans running. The air is set to 70*, yet the air coming out of the vents feels to be room temperature and is NOT cooling the house down. Approx. two months ago, the landlord had a technician come out, and he said we had a slow freon leak, and although he filled it with freon, I was told he did not fix the leak. What is causing the air conditioner to do this? I cannot go in 100* weather without air conditioning. Any help would be appreciated :) and thanks in advance!

A. It almost sounds like the tech overcharged the unit. Either way he is supposed to fix the leak. He was not supposed to add refrigerant to a system known to be leaking. Make sure the fan is working on the outside unit. If it is not the system has no way to remove the heat from your house. Ask your landlord to call a different tech out to look at it. This guy was a fool.

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Q. The recent problem seems to be related to the outdoor cooling fan. The air conditioning system seems to be working properly, but there is a loss of cooling of the air coming from the indoor air conditioning vents. I inspected the outside unit, and yesterday the cooling fan was stopped with a humming/grinding sound. The capacitor looked good (no bulging), but I'm not an electrician and I have no way (or the knowledge) to test voltages and amperages and such. Anyway, I blew on some dust/dirt/cobwebs around some of the wires, and started the system back on and the fan moved at normal speed and the system worked and cooler air came out. However, today, the indoor temperature wasn't maintained and I went outside and the cooling fan was running much slower (but it was running). After I turned off the system, I felt the metal cover of the outside unit, and it was very hot, and it seemed that the source of the heat came from directly above the cooling fan motor. Please contact me!

A. Replace your outdoor fan and while your at it replace the capacitor and everything will be fine. But turn your unit off untill you get it fixed or you'll be changing a compressor or buying a new unit.

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Q. The filter is completely frozen over with ice we cant even remove it.

A. Shut the AC off and let it defrost. Thats usually caused because the filter clogged from not being changed or cleaned. When the filter clogs, air can't circulate and the coils freeze up.

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Q. The central air conditioning in my apartment is getting repaired and won't be working for 4 or 5 days. I want to improvise something. Maybe taking a fan and pointing it a a bag of ice. Heck.. I don't know... Any tips ?

A. Use the principle of evaporation. Depending on the humidity, it can work wonders. Lightly soak and wring out a sheet before bed, and have a fan blow across you. You will be comfortable enough to get to sleep. Some people get a large amount of ice, put it in a shallow pan, and have a fan blow over it. Another is to fill an ice chest with 70% ice and 30% water, take a hand towels, soak and wring out, then place over head and breathe the cold air. Do it once more but this time leave on your wrists for a couple of minutes. As for a whole house fix, there is no other DIY method I know of. The ice cold towel on the head is really amazing relief even though temporary.

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Q. What is it, and they claim that it can cut air conditioning costs by upto 50% where can i find such contractors

A. There are some cold roofing that is available to make sure the roofing is not only NOT leaking but also it reflects a lot of heat back( if you are in a tropical climate) or act as insulator if you are arctic climate. there are many types roofings that you can do . you can google them, or check the site, you can at least get some basic information on what to expect.

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Q. My friend has a drug problem and needs serious help. I told him to talk to his boss at work, tell him you have a problem and you need help. I wanted to find out what type of policy his company offers, make sure he's covered by them. Does anyone know where I go or who I should call to find out??

A. Your friend will only have insurance coverage if he opted for it on the job application AND after he has been employed for a certain length of time. He can look at the employee manual to find out that time period to see if he has met it. If he has he needs to talk to the HR department about it. As far as finding the type of policy etc...Only your friend can do that. You are not entitled to that information. I work for an HVAC contractor (air conditioning) so I can tell you that they will not give you any private information about your friend. They also will not discuss their insurance policies with you since you are not employed with them.

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