ATOT Handy men: A/C Question

[Corporate Thug]

So I live on the third story of my building (last story) and all the AC units are on the roof. My neighbor's AC unit, located right next to mine, sits directly above my bedroom. Anyway, my A/C unit is whisper quite but when my neighbor turns his on, it's like someone has parked an idling car in my room. I can't even sleep at night (of course the damn thing comes on at 3 in the morning for some reason). I've even resorted to sleeping on the couch or my roommates room when he isn't there.

Could this be the result of a poorly maintained A/C unit?

 

[FelixDeCat]

If it isnt mice in the unit, I dont know what it could be.

 

[PottedMeat]

Could this be the result of a poorly maintained A/C unit?

sure, it could be a bunch of other things though.

has it been like that since you've lived there? it could be an older unit than yours. maybe something's loose.

what did the landlord say?

 

[RPD]

It could be a number of things, fan out of alignment etc or simply a bad installation and the vibrations are just being transmitted.

How long has the noise bothered you? If you've only noticed it recently I'd suspect something recently changed with the unit.

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe the fan's out of balance.

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

Go put an axe through it.

Hopefully it's replacement will be quiet.

 

[MarkXIX]

Stick a mouse in it, that seems to cause people to care.

 

[Corporate Thug]

sure, it could be a bunch of other things though.

has it been like that since you've lived there? it could be an older unit than yours. maybe something's loose.

what did the landlord say?

live there for three weeks...noticed it from day 1. Definitely an older unit. it's about a quarter of the size of my AC.

It's condos so no landlord. I was thinking about calling the property management company but they'll probably just tell me to f off

 

[DrPizza]

Get a thick sheet of rubber, go up on the roof, put the rubber under the AC to try to dampen the vibrations. Make sure no one knows you're doing this, in case you screw things up.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Get a thick sheet of rubber, go up on the roof, put the rubber under the AC to try to dampen the vibrations. Make sure no one knows you're doing this, in case you screw things up.

Wouldn't the whole unit have to come off?

 

[RPD]

Wouldn't the whole unit have to come off?

To do it correctly, yes. It's most likely a fan out of balance.

 

[Sea Moose]

It could be a DOL compressor and those are noisy by nature. All you can do is complain

 

[Wingznut]

Definitely an older unit. it's about a quarter of the size of my AC.

Most likely, there's the reason.

Although I have no idea what kind of legal recourse you have, a friendly conversation is probably your best start. If the owner isn't willing to address it all themselves, and you want to take the gamble, you could offer to split the cost of a HVAC tech to come out and give their opinion on what can be done. Or even flip the entire bill, since it's your life being directly impacted. At the end of the day, it may be worth it.