Guys I know a little about AC's, basically enough to be dangerous mostly 
its not my core job, but i am involved with ac work enough to require certification, though i will admit I dont know everything about it. Type 1 & 2 certified but not universal certified.
Anyhow, alot of my service calls within my area are "AC not cooling at all" or "not cooling enough" calls.
Here have cottonwood trees here which shed alot of fuzz that looks like its snowing and this fuzz completely clogs the outdoor condenser coil to where it is unable to properly cool off the hot refrigerant sent from the compressor. This causes the pressure to rise substantially on the high side which causes the compressor to work harder and hotter (electrically this cost you more money and cools less and the ac runs more often to try and keep up). It is not designed to work so hard or hot and generally leads to a compressor burn out if left unattended.
once your compressor burns out... its dead... and you'll be calling the HVAC guy out to flush your lines and replace your compressor motor or entire ac system if its older.
The outdoor condenser coil in a very generic/basic example is essentially the same thing as your vehicles radiator, if you cover it up half way or fully you will begin overheating your motor & we all know what can happen in that situation.
additionally make sure you've changed your furnace filter this year for the cooling season, a dirty filter will reduce airflow (efficiency) too.
An example of a dirty condenser coil
An example of a passable clean condenser coil
Now there's a multitude of videos online of how to clean your condensing unit, heres a quick example.
Generally, i turn off the power and blast it with the hose carefully (dont bend the fins) and usually have good luck at this point, but sometimes i need to bring out the acid wash to dissolve all the debris stuck between the fins a hose cant get to.
now if your kids or the neighbors kids were drawing words in the coil fins by bending them over, take some time and straighten them back out, this will improve the airflow. There are fin straightening combs for this job but I manage just fine by taking more time by cautiously using a small pick, very tip of pocket razor blade or mini flat blade screwdriver to bend them back straight 1 by 1 as best as i can and dont just stab it in there, you can puncture the pipe the fins are attached to. you can even manage to use your fingernail if you cant come up with anything, just be careful not to slice your finger on a fin. additionally keep plants, grass & weeds free from contacting the coil or reducing airflow to it.
usually you can thank the weed whip guy for getting too close to the condenser and bending the fins over.
example of fin straightening with a tool
Im not going to elaborate much more on ac systems than this because theres many more things that can be done and ways of doing it, but wanted to share a common problem that is overlooked by the average home owner until theres a major issue that leaves you without ac until you can be scheduled for repair or wallet can afford it.
its not my core job, but i am involved with ac work enough to require certification, though i will admit I dont know everything about it. Type 1 & 2 certified but not universal certified.Anyhow, alot of my service calls within my area are "AC not cooling at all" or "not cooling enough" calls.
Here have cottonwood trees here which shed alot of fuzz that looks like its snowing and this fuzz completely clogs the outdoor condenser coil to where it is unable to properly cool off the hot refrigerant sent from the compressor. This causes the pressure to rise substantially on the high side which causes the compressor to work harder and hotter (electrically this cost you more money and cools less and the ac runs more often to try and keep up). It is not designed to work so hard or hot and generally leads to a compressor burn out if left unattended.
once your compressor burns out... its dead... and you'll be calling the HVAC guy out to flush your lines and replace your compressor motor or entire ac system if its older.
The outdoor condenser coil in a very generic/basic example is essentially the same thing as your vehicles radiator, if you cover it up half way or fully you will begin overheating your motor & we all know what can happen in that situation.
additionally make sure you've changed your furnace filter this year for the cooling season, a dirty filter will reduce airflow (efficiency) too.
An example of a dirty condenser coil
An example of a passable clean condenser coil
Now there's a multitude of videos online of how to clean your condensing unit, heres a quick example.
Generally, i turn off the power and blast it with the hose carefully (dont bend the fins) and usually have good luck at this point, but sometimes i need to bring out the acid wash to dissolve all the debris stuck between the fins a hose cant get to.
now if your kids or the neighbors kids were drawing words in the coil fins by bending them over, take some time and straighten them back out, this will improve the airflow. There are fin straightening combs for this job but I manage just fine by taking more time by cautiously using a small pick, very tip of pocket razor blade or mini flat blade screwdriver to bend them back straight 1 by 1 as best as i can and dont just stab it in there, you can puncture the pipe the fins are attached to. you can even manage to use your fingernail if you cant come up with anything, just be careful not to slice your finger on a fin. additionally keep plants, grass & weeds free from contacting the coil or reducing airflow to it.
usually you can thank the weed whip guy for getting too close to the condenser and bending the fins over.
example of fin straightening with a tool
Im not going to elaborate much more on ac systems than this because theres many more things that can be done and ways of doing it, but wanted to share a common problem that is overlooked by the average home owner until theres a major issue that leaves you without ac until you can be scheduled for repair or wallet can afford it.
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