Every technician on TheHire sees the same ten faults week after week. For each one: what it usually is, what you can safely try first, when to call, and what the call should cost in a typical Indian city.
1. The AC runs but does not cool
Usually: dirty filters and coils, by a wide margin. Then a weak capacitor, then low gas from a leak, then a fan motor, then the PCB or the compressor. A unit that cools weakly on day one of summer has been breathing dust since October.
Try first: clean the filters. Look at the outdoor coil with a torch; grey felt on the fins means it needs a wash. Check the outdoor fan spins. Check the set temperature is below the room's and the mode is cool, not fan or dry; it is the top cause of a wasted visit.
Call for: a wet service at ₹500 if the coils are dirty. If they are clean, a diagnosis at ₹400, adjusted against whatever follows: a capacitor at ₹500, gas with a leak repair at ₹2,500, a fan motor at ₹1,200.
2. Water drips from the indoor unit
Usually: a blocked drain pipe, slime in the tray, a drain pipe that sags or has no slope, or a coil that froze because the filter was dirty and is now thawing over the tray's edge.
Try first: clean the filters. Go outside and see whether the drain pipe drips; if nothing comes out while the room is humid, it is blocked. Switch the unit off and let any ice melt before running it again.
Call for: ₹500 to flush the drain and clean the tray. A drain extension or re-routing is ₹300. If the unit is level or tilted the wrong way, the technician re-hangs it in the same visit.
3. The AC trips its MCB, or stops on the hottest afternoon
Usually: the compressor overheating because the outdoor coil is dirty or the unit is boxed in, a capacitor on its way out, or an electrical fault: a shared circuit, a loose neutral, a wire too thin for the load. A trip the moment it starts is electrical or a seized compressor; a trip after an hour at 3 pm is heat.
Try first: check whether the AC shares its MCB with the kitchen; if the microwave is on the same breaker, that is the answer and it is the electrician's. Reset once. Do not keep resetting.
Call for: if the AC has its own line, a technician at ₹400 to test the capacitor and the compressor current. A capacitor is ₹500; a compressor that is drawing far above its rated current is on its way out and the ₹2,500 conversation starts. If it does not have its own line, the electrician first.
4. The compressor hums but does not start, or the outdoor fan is still
Usually: the capacitor. It gives the compressor and the fan their starting kick, and Indian summers kill it. Occasionally a seized fan motor or a compressor with a locked rotor.
Try first: switch the AC off. A compressor humming without starting overheats within minutes and the hum is the sound of its life being shortened.
Call for: ₹500 with the part, and the technician should test the compressor current after fitting it. A fan motor is ₹1,200 plus the motor.
5. The AC does not respond to the remote, or shows an error code
Usually: the remote's batteries, then the receiver on the indoor unit, then the PCB. An error code on the display is the PCB reporting a sensor, a fan or a communication fault between the units; the manual lists the codes.
Try first: new batteries. Point a phone camera at the remote's end and press a button; the LED should flash on the screen. Switch the MCB off for a minute and on again; it resets the board.
Call for: a receiver or sensor is ₹600. A PCB repair is ₹1,800; a replacement board is the brand's price, higher for an inverter unit. Ask for the old board.
6. Ice on the pipe or the coil
Usually: too little air across the coil, from a dirty filter or a failed indoor blower; or too little gas, so the coil runs colder than designed; or a thermistor that is not telling the board the coil is freezing.
Try first: switch off, let it thaw completely, clean the filters, run again. If it ices again with clean filters, it is gas or a sensor.
Call for: gas with a leak repair at ₹2,500; a sensor at ₹600; a blower motor at ₹1,200.
7. Noise and vibration
Usually: a loose bracket or a stand whose rubber pads have perished, so the outdoor unit vibrates against the wall; a fan with dust on one side of the blades; a bearing in a fan motor; or copper pipes touching the wall and transmitting the compressor's hum. A new rattle after a storm is a fan blade with a twig in it.
Try first: with the power off, look for leaves or a twig in the outdoor fan. Push the outdoor unit gently; if it moves on its bracket, that is the noise.
Call for: ₹600 to re-fix the unit, pad the stand and clear the fan. A fan motor bearing is the ₹1,200 job.
8. The fridge is not cooling, or runs without stopping
Usually: on a frost-free fridge, a failed defrost timer or heater, so ice builds on the evaporator until air cannot circulate. A door gasket that no longer seals. A thermostat or a start relay. Less often, low gas from a leak in the coil, or a compressor.
Try first: close the door on a sheet of paper; if it pulls out freely, the gasket is gone. Listen for the compressor; a click every few minutes with no hum is the relay. Switch off a frost-free fridge for a day to defrost it fully; if it then runs normally for a few weeks, it is the defrost circuit.
Call for: a diagnosis at ₹400; a thermostat, relay or fan at ₹700 plus the part; gas at ₹1,800; a compressor at ₹2,000 plus the part.
9. The washing machine does not drain, does not spin, or bangs on spin
Usually: a drain pump blocked with a coin or a hairpin; an inlet valve that has failed so it fills slowly or not at all; a belt on a top-loader; suspension rods or a drum bearing on a front-loader, which bangs on spin and then grinds. A front-loader that leaks from underneath with a grinding spin has a corroded drum spider.
Try first: open the filter at the bottom front of a front-loader and clear it; it is designed to come out by hand. Check the drain hose is not kinked. Check the machine is level and all four feet touch the floor.
Call for: a diagnosis at ₹450; a drain pump or inlet valve at ₹800; a motor or belt at ₹1,200; drum bearings or suspension at ₹1,800; a PCB at ₹1,500. A spider that has corroded through is the bearing job plus the spider, and on an old machine it is the moment to price a new one.
10. The chimney, microwave or purifier has stopped
Usually: a chimney with a saturated filter so the motor labours and the kitchen smokes; a microwave that runs but does not heat, which is the magnetron or a fuse; a purifier that does not fill, which is a float, a solenoid or a filter so blocked the pump cannot push through it.
Try first: wash the chimney's baffle filters; they are designed to come out. Do not open a microwave; the capacitor inside holds a dangerous charge even unplugged. Check the purifier's inlet valve is open and the tank is not already full.
Call for: chimney service at ₹600, a motor or switch at ₹900; microwave repair at ₹600 plus a magnetron if needed; purifier service at ₹400 plus filters; dishwasher repair at ₹900.
Two rules that apply to all ten
Clean before you diagnose. Filters, coils, the drain, the pump filter, the chimney baffles. Half the calls on this list end with a technician cleaning something, and the ₹300 visit is money you could have kept.
One visit, several machines. If the bedroom AC is weak, the fridge gasket is gone and the washing machine bangs, post one request with all three. The technician prices each on its own rate, discounts from the fourth item, and you pay one visit charge instead of three.