Frozen Evaporator Coil Block of Ice Inside Attic Air Handler in Heatherwilde Pflugerville

Laura_B_Heatherwilde Homeowner

Posted in Pflugerville Homeowner Forum • Travis County

Question: Our AC in Heatherwilde was running for 6 hours straight without dropping the indoor temperature. I went into the attic and the entire aluminum coil housing is covered in thick white ice, and the copper line outside looks like a popsicle. What causes this and should I leave it running?

✓ VERIFIED PRACTIONER DIAGNOSIS

Cody_R_TDLR_Tech Texas TDLR Class A Master Tech

Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation Certified

Severe airflow starvation caused by an overloaded 4-month-old air filter dropped coil surface temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, causing condensing humidity to freeze solid into an insulating ice block.

Diagnostic Procedure & Field Restoration:

Shut off cooling mode immediately and switched thermostat fan to ON to begin non-destructive ice thawing.
High-restriction 1-inch pleated filter had collapsed under negative static pressure, starving the 1,400 CFM evaporator coil.
Once thawed, static pressure across the clean coil dropped from 1.1 in. w.c. to a healthy 0.22 in. w.c.
Replaced with proper low-resistance MERV 11 filter and verified refrigerant pressures stabilized within normal operating parameters.

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