AC Repair in Spartanburg & Greenville County, SC

When you call, tell us what the system is doing, when it started, and whether anything changed recently. That often narrows the problem down before anyone is in your driveway.

What's usually wrong

After the thermostat and breakers, these are the failures that account for most AC repair calls here:

A failed capacitor

The capacitor gives the outdoor fan and compressor the kick they need to start. Heat is hard on them, and a weak one can leave the outdoor unit humming without the fan turning, or the fan spinning while the air inside is warm. It's one of the most common and least expensive repairs there is. As we put it on the Alpine Cool Facebook page after one late call: “A simple fix is the kind you want at 10pm. Fortunately for Cody it was just a capacitor!”

A burned or stuck contactor

The contactor is the switch that turns the outdoor unit on when the thermostat calls for cooling. Pitted contacts can keep it from closing, or a stuck one can keep the outdoor unit running when it should be off.

A clogged condensate drain

Your AC pulls a lot of water out of Upstate air. When the drain line clogs, the water backs up into the pan, and a float switch shuts the system down to keep it off your ceiling. If your system is in an attic, this is the one to take seriously. See water around the air handler.

Low refrigerant, which means a leak

Refrigerant isn't fuel. It runs in a sealed loop and is never used up, so a system that's low has a leak. Topping it off without finding the leak buys a few weeks or months. The right fix is to find the leak, then decide whether repairing it makes sense.

A frozen coil

A clogged filter, a dirty indoor coil, a weak blower, or low refrigerant can drop the coil temperature below freezing until it ices over and airflow stops. See AC frozen or iced-up line.

A failing blower or outdoor fan motor

Motors wear out. The tell is usually noise first, then a motor that runs hot, runs slow, or won't start.

What we check on a service call

1. What you've seen. Your description, the thermostat settings, and how long it's been happening.
2. Power and controls. Breakers, the outdoor disconnect, the thermostat wiring and the low-voltage safety circuit.
3. The outdoor unit. Capacitor readings, the contactor, fan motor, compressor start, and the condition of the coil.
4. The indoor unit. Blower operation, the filter, the evaporator coil, and the drain pan, line and float switch.
5. Refrigerant readings. Pressures and temperatures to see whether the system is charged correctly, and signs of a leak if it isn't.
6. Airflow. Supply and return temperatures and anything restricting air, from the filter to the ductwork.
7. The answer. What failed, why it failed, and what the fix involves, explained in plain words before any work starts.

What it costs

Ask what the service call costs when you call. For what drives the price of a repair or a new system, see what HVAC work costs.

When repair stops making sense

Sometimes the honest answer is not to spend the money. Three things decide it: the age of the system, what failed, and what the repair costs compared with what a replacement would. A capacitor or contactor on an older system is usually worth fixing. A failed compressor, a leaking indoor coil, or a second major refrigerant leak on a system well into its second decade often isn't, and you should hear that before you pay for the repair, not after. If replacement is the smarter move, see AC installation and replacement.

Local detail: attics, crawlspaces and humidity

Many Upstate homes put the air handler in a hot attic or a tight crawlspace, and that's where problems hide. An attic drain pan that overflows stains a ceiling. A crawlspace unit sits in damp air all summer. And because July afternoons here average above 90°F at GSP (National Weather Service, 1991–2020 normals), a system that's barely keeping up in June will usually quit in the first long heat wave. If yours is running but not keeping up, call before it quits.