whats the black wire on my Kenmore window AC Unit?

Ive had it for about 9 years, so its taken a beating. The front cover broke off, so theirs no filter on it anymore. every few weeks i have to clean it out with a vacuum or a tooth brush…recently its not been as cold as it was, so i was cleaning it making sure that wasn’t the problem. i was wandering if that black wire in the crappy picture i drew was a thermometer of some sort and if i put it behind the blinds if it would make it cooler? also, what are some good tips for making the air cooler? do they need freon? I have no idea so please help as much as possible…thanks

http://i339.photobucket.com/albums/n462/rpwalters/ac.jpg
WILL, Im not sure if it was because I cleaned the crap out of it, or if I moved the black wire, but not that I turned it back on, its blowing very cold again… Thanks for your help, you will get BA

1 COMMENT

  1. First off, the copper things are the tubing carrying the refrigerant, and the aluminum "slivers" are the fins attached to them. These need to be clean and not mashed down to allow the maximum amount of air to flow through the cooling coil (the copper tubes & fins). The "Black wire" you’re referring to is actually the thermostat sensing bulb. It senses the temperature of the air in the room that is entering the coil, and shuts off the compressor when the room temperature reaches the set point, or if ice builds up on the coil to cover the sensor. Moving the sensor will not make the unit work any better.

    You could try to get a replacement grille (the front) from Sears, and you can get that sponge mesh filter media from just about any appliance store or big-box home center – if the unit is actually working right and you think it’s worth the investment. My local Sam’s Club has 5,000 BTU units on sale now for $75, and 8200 BTU for $189. Also, the fins on the coil at the back (outside) of the unit need to be clean and not mashed. If the fins are mashed down, you can use one end of a pocket comb to go through them one at a time and re-straighten them.

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