AC Repair in Mobile, AL
Air conditioners here run from April through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Mobile County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat wears an AC down fast in Mobile
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months of the year, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That kind of stretch doesn't give the system much rest. The compressor cycles on and off for hours at a time, day after day, and the capacitor that helps start it takes the brunt of that load. When a capacitor weakens, the outdoor unit hums but the fan won't spin, or the whole system trips off on a timer that never used to trip.
Mobile County has also logged 155 damaging wind events over the past ten years, along with 26 hail events, one leaving a hailstone 2 inches across. Wind can knock debris into the outdoor unit's coil or fan, and hail that size can bend the fins on it. If your system is blowing warm air, cycling more than it used to, or the outdoor unit sounds different than it did last summer, that history is often why.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 26 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 155 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $80 a year off cooling for a typical Mobile County home.
Estimates for a typical Mobile County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Alabama 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.
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state board tests contractors before they get that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license that lets someone install a system also covers a repair call like this one.
On top of that, anyone who opens the refrigerant side of your air conditioner to repair it has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That's a federal rule that applies no matter which state you're in, and it exists separately from the state license. For a repair job in Mobile County, the state license tells you Alabama has tested and tracks the contractor, and the federal certification tells you the person handling the refrigerant is qualified to do that specific part of the work.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most of the time this comes down to a dirty filter, low refrigerant, or a frozen coil. A clogged filter chokes off airflow, and once the coil behind it gets too cold, it ices over and blows warm air until it thaws. Low refrigerant means a leak somewhere in the line, and that will not fix itself or refill on its own. With 91°F afternoons common here through October, a system running low or short on airflow shows the problem fast. A contractor can check the filter, look for ice on the coil, and test refrigerant levels to find which one it is.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- This usually means the condensate drain line is clogged or the drain pan has cracked or rusted through. Your AC pulls a lot of moisture out of the air, especially across a Mobile summer that runs April through October, and that water is supposed to travel out through the drain line. Algae and dirt build up in that line over time and block it, so the water backs up and finds another way out. A frozen coil that then thaws fast can also flood the pan faster than it can drain. A contractor can clear the line or replace the pan depending on what they find.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat and the breaker, since those cause a lot of no-start calls. Check that the thermostat is set to cool and below room temperature, and check the breaker panel for a tripped switch. If both of those are fine, the problem is more likely a bad capacitor, a failed contactor, or a tripped safety switch inside the unit itself. After 155 damaging wind events here over the past ten years, outdoor units also take hits from debris or power surges that a homeowner cannot always see from the outside. A licensed contractor can test the electrical components and tell you which part failed.