Having issues with my A/C short cycling. It kicks on for 2-3 minutes, then off for 2-3 minutes.

Air filters are fine.
Air it kicks out is cold...almost too cold if you stand at a vent.

It's only 6.5 years old. 4 ton. 13 SEER. Goodman is the brand. House is about 2700 square feet with high ceilings.

2 thermostats, one up, one down. The unit primarily short cycles with the upstairs thermostat. Upstairs thermostat is in a room that doesn't have a vent...so it is always hotter in there.

Unit was serviced, cleaned, refrigerant checked about 3 months ago.

Something else to note...the return air vents hardly have any suction...won't even hold up one square of toilet paper. And they're everywhere...2 in master, 1 in each bedroom and bathroom, 1 in kitchen area, one in dining, one in hallway, one in den, one in living room...not sure if that is normal or not.

Located in Billings, MT. Use AC June-September.

Sounds frozen.

Compressor?

had that happen once.
was a loose thermostat wire

This is one problem.

Are you certain these are "returns" is all those rooms and not registers supplying conditioned air?

Evap froze up is my first thought. 

Does it have a low pressure cut out switch?  

could be a few things here.

if it just started happening,
the tech that checked your AC charge did it with empty hoses. typical refr hoses will hold 3-4oz per hose (high and low side = 6-8oz) which CAN make your system undercharged enough to have issues

your tstat is on the fritz.  swap tstats from upstairs and downstairs

upstairs calls for AC, runs a long time, ices up because it doesnt turn off because its not satisfied due to the tstat location, your vents are just blowing the conditioned air downstairs, etc. but it shouldnt ice up if its charged properly.

it could be turning off on a low pressure control.

it could be going off on high head as well.

hows your condenser?

fan working?

is there a fan cycler?

is the condenser clean?



this is a big guessing game.  check what you can yourself first then call a tech.

and since i mentioned gauges hold 6-8oz's of refrigerant, i was at a auto shop getting an oil change, i was in my work van, sitting in it (10 min valvoleen special) and the guy wanted to hook gauges on my AC to check the charge for summer. i hollered at him to stop. he asked why? i replied "what do your gauges read?" he replies "0psi on both". i said "do not hook those on my AC system because it is critically charged, ANY gas removed from the system will mess it up since automotive AC takes close to 16oz's, then ill NEED a recharge, do you do this on everyones cars hoping to get a quick AC recharge money maker?" he said " well then, what do you do for a living?" " i replied, look at the stickers on my van!" he walked away after he saw commercial refrigeration.   if his gauges had close to normal pressures of a system in them, it wouldnt have been a problem but still i would not have let him hook them up.
so when you guys get your systems serviced, take note of this.  if his gauges have pressure in them of the correct gas, and close to normal pressures of a good running system, you wont loose refrigerant. but if they are 0psi, after even 1 service or the next and the next, now your low on close to a pound of gas, which will cause a system to not operate as designed. unless your experiencing low charge symptoms, i wouldnt have anyone touch it with gauges. the more gas your system holds, the less it will be impacted, but ive seen even after 1 hookup, it needed to be topped back off.

check your tstat and condenser and drain line. then call a tech.

Check the condensate drain

It won't turn off just because it gets frozen and if it was frozen it wouldn't be able to blow past the ice worth a piss

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Other than checking the evap coil(indoor coil) to make sure it isn't getting too dirty just let it run, also what kind of return filter are you using? Use the cheapest pleated filter you can find.

Either the charge is wrong or the coil isn't getting enough air flow(dirty filter or coil). Just my guess. Unfortunately there are WAY, WAY more hacks with EPA licenses and an HVAC job than there are good HVAC techs.

Any sign of water around your ac unit in the house?

Any sign of water around your ac unit in the house?

So, as I understand it...the unit was working fine for years but now doesn't?  What changed?  Did someone do some work on it?