AC repair in Tarzana
Valley heat finds the weak part. We find it too, explain it, and price the fix before touching it.
August in the west Valley means afternoons near 97°F, and that is where a Tarzana air conditioner earns its keep.
Tarzana has no weather station of its own; the nearest, at Pierce College next door in Woodland Hills, records an August normal high of 97.4°F. Nights cool off much more than on the coast, and those big day-to-night swings mean long, hard afternoon runs followed by cool starts. Compressors, capacitors and fan motors take the strain.
The land Edgar Rice Burroughs bought in 1919 as Tarzana Ranch is now a neighbourhood running from Victory Boulevard down to Topanga State Park, and much of it was built in one decade.
A neighbourhood built in the 1970s
By the Census count, 39% of Tarzana's homes were built between 1970 and 1979, a bigger share from that decade than in Woodland Hills or Encino, and another 36% between 1950 and 1969. That makes for a lot of systems on their second or third replacement, often still connected to original ducts and wiring. On a repair call we look at those as well as the failed part, because a new capacitor on a burnt contactor or a leaking duct will not last the summer.
Faults we see after a run of Valley heat
Unit clicks but will not start
A swollen capacitor or pitted contactor, the most common hot-afternoon failure.
Ice on the copper line
Low airflow or low charge. We find which before adding anything.
Cools at night, not at 4 pm
Undersized, low on charge, or a dirty outdoor coil that cannot shed heat at 97°F.
Some rooms never cool
Crushed or disconnected ducts in an older attic, more often than the equipment. For the heating side, see furnace repair in Tarzana. Have a photo of the unit's label or the fault? Send us the details and we will come back with a time.
The visit, step by step
Call or send the form
Tell us the symptoms and roughly how old the system is.
Testing
Electrical parts, pressures, airflow and the temperature split across the coil.
Options in writing
The repair, its price, and when it makes sense, a replacement price beside it.
Proof it works
A full cooling run before we go.
AC repair questions from Tarzana
Why does my Tarzana air conditioner quit on the hottest afternoons?
At close to 97°F outside, a weak capacitor, a dirty condenser coil or a low charge pushes the system past its limit. Those are usually repairable.
Is a 1970s Tarzana house worth a new air conditioner or just a repair?
It depends on the age of the system, not the house. A unit on R-22 or with a failed compressor is usually a replacement; see AC installation.
Do you also work in Reseda and Encino?
Yes, the neighbouring areas of the Valley too.
Hot house, tired system? Tell us what it is doing and we will book a visit.
Cool again before the next hot afternoon
Call us, or send the form and we will call you back, every day, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Also look at Home.