With the warm weather here—and probably here to stay for a good while—your home’s air conditioning system will start to put in a lot of regular work. Make sure that you have regular spring maintenance done, which will give the system the best chance of making it through the summer without a major malfunction or a loss of energy efficiency.

But nothing can stop all malfunctions, and during the early part of the air conditioning season, pay close attention to any warning signs that something’s starting to fail in your AC. That way you can have the repairs done before even hotter weather arrives. Strange noises are one of the most common kinds of warning signs, and we’ve listed a few below… and what they might mean:

• Hissing: This usually means that there is a refrigerant leak somewhere in the system or a broken valve on the compressor. Both can result in serious damage to the compressor, which is a repair issue you want to avoid at all possible.
• Mechanical screeching and grinding: These noises are usually coming from motors suffering from problems, such as the bearings wearing down or too much stress because of low lubrication. You should have the motor repaired fast before the motor itself will need to be replaced.
• Striking or slapping sounds: This may indicate a bent fan blade, either in the blower or the outdoor unit. The bent blade is striking the housing and needs repairs before it causes more damage.
• Clicking: If you hear a clicking noise as the air conditioner comes on, then it is probably “hard starting” because of issues with one or more of the capacitors. The failing capacitors will need to be replaced.

Don’t attempt to self-diagnose the malfunction based on the noise. It takes trained professionals to get to the root of the problem and apply the correct repair.

For fast air conditioning repair work, call Bud Matthews Services in Durham, NC.