I "fixed" my AC unit at home today with a hammer. I'm in the south so it's hot, and I came home and the system wasn't blowing cool air.
I pulled shit apart on the outside unit and went through everything I could think of, and also took the opportunity to clean the fins and the drain line. I had plenty of pressure in the system, although the valve on the high pressure line was leaking a little. Was able to crank on that a bit and got it to stop leaking (for now). Put a volt meter on and the relay was getting power, and the amperage to the compressor was fine until it tried to kick on. So at this point I was assuming my compresser was toast.
For good measure I thought it would be a good idea to whack the compressor with a rubber mallet. Damn thing kicked on after the second hit, and has been running good for the past few hours. No idea why, but it was seized up and I guess it just needed a couple love taps to set it free.
The unit is about 20 years old, so it is likely time to replace soon. No idea how long this will last, but it's working for now!
Edit/update:
So I had to get up twice in the middle of the night to whap the compressor with the mallet again. It keeps locking up every few hours, but I have been able to get it going again each time with the mallet (lol).
Got somebody coming by this evening to get me a quote for repair vs. replacement. The outside unit is about 20 years old, so probably going to replace it. A new one will be a lot more efficient. The old one is only a 13 SEER, new ones I'm looking at are between 17-21 SEER. We've been needing to get our flexible ductwork replaced too, so getting a quote for that as well. The ductwork is old, I'm sure we have some leaks and the insulation on it is pretty deteriorated.
Fuck. Gonna have to open my wallet wide.