AC Repair in Pearl, MS
Air conditioners here run from May through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Rankin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Six months of Pearl summer wears on your AC
Your air conditioner runs from May through October here, and on afternoons that hit 91°F it does not get much of a break. That kind of run time adds up on the compressor and the capacitor that helps start it. When the capacitor weakens, the unit hums but the compressor won't kick on, or it shuts off on its own a few minutes after starting.
Rankin County has also logged 213 damaging wind events and 64 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.75 inches. That kind of weather bends the fins on the outdoor coil and can knock the unit out of alignment. Bent fins block airflow across the coil, so the system runs longer to cool the same house.
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 64 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 213 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $60 a year off cooling for a typical Rankin County home.
Estimates for a typical Rankin County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Mississippi 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.
Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Mississippi's license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job. It covers a repair on your air conditioner the same as it would a full system replacement, so the contractor standing in your driveway is the one the state has on record, not just the crew they sent out that day.
Anyone who opens the refrigerant lines on your air conditioner also needs EPA Section 608 certification. That is a federal rule and it applies in every state, on top of whatever the state itself requires. For this repair, the state license backs the contractor, and the federal certification covers the part of the job where refrigerant is handled.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time it's low refrigerant from a leak, a dirty air filter choking airflow, or a coil frozen over from that same lack of airflow. A blocked filter is worth checking first since anyone can do it. If the filter looks fine and the air is still warm, the system needs a technician to check refrigerant levels and inspect the coil, since low refrigerant means there's a leak somewhere that has to be found and sealed.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- The condensate drain line is clogged, or the drain pan has rusted through. Your AC pulls moisture out of the air as it cools it, and that water is supposed to run out through a drain line to the outside. Algae and dirt build up in that line over months of summer use and block it, so the water backs up and drips inside instead. A frozen coil that then thaws can also flood the pan faster than it can drain.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Check the thermostat batteries and the breaker first, since those are the two most common culprits and both are easy to check yourself. If the breaker keeps tripping when you reset it, don't keep resetting it. That usually points to a bad capacitor or a motor drawing too much current, and running it repeatedly can damage the compressor. A technician can test the capacitor and motor to find which one is failing.