AC repair is the diagnosis and correction of a fault in a working air conditioning system, as distinct from replacing it. TLS Air Conditioning repairs residential systems only — the air conditioning in your house, not in your car — across ten Florida counties on both coasts. We find the fault first, then price the repair in writing.
Call 941-269-3433. Same-day service is usually available, and the emergency line is answered around the clock by a TLS employee rather than an answering service.
Six things a Florida air conditioner does when something is wrong. Each one points at a short list of causes rather than a mystery.
Lost power to the outdoor unit, a failed capacitor, a refrigerant leak, or a frozen evaporator coil. Four causes, and only one you can check yourself.
Usually a tripped breaker, a failed contactor, a dead thermostat battery, or a condensate float switch that has deliberately shut the system down.
Almost always a clogged condensate drain line. In Florida the line blocks with algae, the pan overflows, and the next thing it finds is your ceiling.
A frozen coil is a symptom, not a fault. Either airflow has dropped or the charge is low. Turn it off and let it thaw before anyone touches it.
The system is cooling the air without removing the moisture. Usually an oversized system short-cycling, which is a sizing problem rather than a repair.
A chattering contactor, a failing motor bearing, or a capacitor that can no longer start the fan. All three are measurable in minutes.
An air conditioner blowing warm air usually means one of four things: the outdoor unit has lost power, the capacitor has failed, refrigerant has leaked out, or the evaporator coil has frozen over. The first is checkable in a minute at your breaker panel. The other three need a technician with gauges.
An air conditioner has a double-pole breaker in the panel and usually a pull-out disconnect beside the outdoor unit. A tripped breaker looks almost like an on breaker — push it firmly to off, then back to on. If it trips again straight away, stop. Something is drawing current it should not be, and resetting it repeatedly is how a fault becomes a fire.
An air conditioner only runs when the thermostat calls for cooling. Set it to cool, drop the setpoint five degrees below room temperature, and check the batteries — a thermostat with dying batteries will display normally and stop calling for cooling.
A filter that has gone months without changing restricts airflow badly enough to freeze the evaporator coil, and a frozen coil stops cooling entirely. If the filter is grey and the indoor unit has ice on the copper, turn the system to off and the fan to on, and let it thaw for a few hours before anyone touches it.
An air conditioner in Florida pulls gallons of water out of the air every day, and a float switch shuts the system down deliberately when that water backs up. If the drain line has clogged and the pan filled, the system is protecting your ceiling. It needs clearing, not resetting.
Two of those four cost nothing. All four check out? The fault is inside the system. Call 941-269-3433
Courtney answers in office hours and books a technician while you are still on the phone. You are told the $125 diagnostic fee before you hang up, given an arrival window rather than a day, and the person who arrives is a TLS employee who diagnoses and quotes in writing before touching anything.
Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, that reaches Courtney in the Pinellas Park office. Outside those hours the same number reaches a TLS employee on the emergency line, not an answering service taking a message for the morning.
She takes the address, the make of the system if you know it, and what the system is doing, and puts a technician on the calendar there and then rather than calling you back to confirm.
Comfort Club members pay nothing. Nobody arrives at your door with a number you have not already heard.
A window, not “sometime Tuesday”. If today is not possible we say so on the call rather than letting you wait for a van that was never coming.
Not a subcontractor. Every technician is background checked, live scanned and drug tested before he is issued a van, and completes 150 hours of training a year after that.
Static pressure, superheat and subcooling, amperage draw, capacitor microfarad values, the condensate system and temperature split — the same six readings on every call, including a fifteen-minute one.
Nothing is opened, replaced or recovered until you have agreed a figure, and under our No Change Order Guarantee that figure does not move afterwards.
Two things we will not do: send someone to your house who does not work for us, and give you a repair price before we know what failed.
The seven most common residential AC repairs in Florida are capacitor replacement, contactor replacement, condensate drain line clearing, refrigerant leak repair, thawing and correcting a frozen evaporator coil, blower or condenser fan motor replacement, and compressor replacement. Heat, salt air and a long wet season drive this order, and it differs from the national pattern.
A capacitor is the component that gives an air conditioner’s compressor and fan motors the electrical push they need to start, and a failed one is the most common air conditioning repair there is. When it weakens, the outdoor fan will not spin, the compressor hums and stalls, and the house stops cooling.
Capacitors are rated in microfarads and they drift downward with heat and age — which is why Florida eats them faster than most states. A technician measures the actual microfarad value against the rating printed on the can. A capacitor that has visibly bulged at the top has already failed; one that reads 15% under its rating is failing and will strand you on the hottest day of the year, because that is the day it is asked to work hardest.
Our technician meters the microfarad value in front of you and tells you the reading, so what you are buying is a number rather than the words “it looked swollen”. A capacitor replacement is usually finished inside an hour, and the figure is on the written quote you agree before the panel comes off.
A capacitor is a small part and a short repair. It is also the repair most often used to open a sales conversation about a new system, which is why we quote a capacitor as a capacitor.
The contactor is the electrical relay that switches power to the outdoor unit when your thermostat calls for cooling. Its contacts pit and burn over thousands of cycles, and in Florida ants nest inside the housing. A failed contactor leaves the outdoor unit silent while the indoor blower runs.
You can often hear it going: a chattering or buzzing at the outdoor unit when the system starts. Contactors are inexpensive and fail in a way that is easy to confirm with a meter, so this is a repair that should never turn into a debate.
We confirm a failed contactor with a meter across the coil and the load side rather than by eye, and we read the capacitor in the same visit. A contactor and a capacitor that both measure low are one repair, and you see both figures on one written quote before anything is unbolted — two visits for two parts on the same unit is two lots of your afternoon.
Water around an indoor air handler is almost always a blocked condensate drain line. In Florida the line clogs with algae and biological growth, the pan overflows, and the safety float switch shuts the system down. It is one of the most common and least expensive air conditioning repairs in this climate.
An air conditioner in Tampa in August pulls gallons of water out of the air every day. That water leaves through a narrow PVC line, and a warm, wet, dark pipe is an excellent place for biological growth. The line clogs, the primary pan fills, and either the float switch cuts the system off or — in a system without a working float switch — the water finds your ceiling.
TLS clears a condensate drain line for a published $189, or $89 for Comfort Club members, which is a price you can read here before you call rather than one worked out at your door. The technician clears the line, flushes it, then confirms the float switch actually closes the circuit instead of merely being fitted. A line that clogs every August is a calendar problem rather than a repair, and that is what AC maintenance and tune-ups exist to handle.
Clearing it is straightforward. The reason it matters is the second-order damage: a drain clog that is ignored becomes a drywall claim.
Low refrigerant always means a leak. Refrigerant is not consumed by an air conditioner the way fuel is burned by an engine — it circulates in a sealed loop. If the charge is low, it escaped somewhere, and adding more without finding the leak means paying for the same repair again next season.
Finding it properly takes a nitrogen pressure test or an electronic leak detector, not a guess. The common locations are the evaporator coil, the line set connections, and the Schrader valve cores.
We find the leak before we price the repair, and we measure superheat and subcooling so the charge is a known quantity rather than an assumption. You are told where the leak is and what the recharge takes before anything is opened up. On an older system with a large leak you get a replacement figure alongside the repair figure, because those two numbers together are the decision and either one on its own is not.
This repair has changed financially. R-410A, the refrigerant in most systems installed over the last twenty years, is being phased down under the AIM Act — production steps down each year until it reaches roughly 15% of current output by 2036. New equipment now ships with R-454B. The practical consequence for a homeowner with an older system is that topping up a leaking R-410A unit gets more expensive every year, which changes the arithmetic on a large leak in a system already past ten years old.
A frozen evaporator coil is a symptom, not a fault. Ice forms on the indoor coil when either airflow across it has dropped or the refrigerant charge is low. The system keeps running, cools less and less, and eventually stops cooling at all while ice builds.
Airflow is the more common cause here, and it is the one most often missed — a blocked filter, a collapsed flex duct, undersized returns, or a blower running slower than it should. Anyone who thaws the coil and adds refrigerant without measuring airflow is treating the symptom. That is precisely why we measure static pressure on every call.
Before anyone touches a frozen coil at your house we take a static pressure reading with a manometer, because that number decides whether you are looking at a coil, a charge or a duct. When the ducts are the restriction we say so and quote the duct work rather than the coil — duct replacement and sealing is a different job with a different price, and calling it a coil repair is how the same coil freezes again in September.
The blower motor moves air across the indoor coil and through your ducts; the condenser fan motor moves air across the outdoor coil. When either fails the system loses its ability to move heat, and both commonly fail because a capacitor failed first and was never replaced.
Motors give warning. A bearing that has started to go sounds different, and a motor drawing amperage above its nameplate rating is close to the end. Both are measurable before they strand you.
Amperage draw on the compressor and both motors is measured against the nameplate rating on every TLS diagnosis, so a motor near the end of its life reaches you as a number rather than as a noise you are not sure about. When we replace a motor we replace the capacitor that killed it in the same visit, and both are on one written price — coming back a fortnight later for the second half of the same fault is a second call-out, not a repair.
The compressor is the most expensive component to replace in a residential air conditioner. It is the pump that moves refrigerant through the system, and on a unit past about ten years the replacement cost usually approaches enough of a new system that replacing the whole unit is the better arithmetic.
Compressors rarely fail on their own. They fail because something else was wrong for a long time — a low charge, restricted airflow, a hard-start condition from a weak capacitor, or a system that was oversized from the day it was installed and has spent its life short-cycling.
A failed compressor is where Thomas Hoerig, our co-founder, gets involved in the judgement rather than leaving it to a price list. We check the parts warranty against your model and serial number first, because a covered compressor and an uncovered one are two different decisions, and you get the repair figure and a replacement figure in writing side by side.
When a compressor fails on a system under ten years old with an intact parts warranty, repair is often right. When it fails on a fifteen-year-old R-410A system, we will tell you plainly that we think replacement is the better decision — and we will show you the numbers rather than asking you to take our word for it.
Most residential AC repairs in Florida cost between $150 and $1,400, with the median repair landing near $400. A capacitor runs about $180 to $450 and a compressor replacement runs $2,500 to $5,500. TLS charges a $125 diagnostic fee, waived for Comfort Club members, and quotes the repair in writing before starting.
Estimates for the Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida market, reviewed August 2026. These are ranges, not quotes — your exact price is confirmed in writing after diagnosis and does not move after that.
| Repair | Typical range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Capacitor replacement | $180 – $450 | The most common AC repair there is, and usually under an hour |
| Contactor replacement | $180 – $500 | Often replaced alongside a capacitor, which is cheaper than two visits |
| Condensate drain line clearing | $120 – $450 | A standalone drain cleaning at TLS is $189, or $89 for Comfort Club members |
| Refrigerant leak, found and repaired | $350 – $1,500 | Where the leak is, and how much R-410A the system takes to recharge |
| Frozen evaporator coil | $150 – $600 | This is the airflow price. If the cause is a refrigerant leak it is priced as a leak repair |
| Blower or condenser fan motor | $450 – $1,300 | Motor, the capacitor that usually killed it, and the labour to fit both |
| Evaporator coil replacement | $1,200 – $4,000 | The low end applies when the coil is still under manufacturer parts warranty |
| Compressor, parts warranty intact | $1,500 – $2,500 | You are paying labour and refrigerant; the manufacturer covers the part |
| Compressor, out of warranty | $2,500 – $5,500 | On a system past ten years, get a replacement number before agreeing to this |
Two figures on that list are ours rather than the market’s: the $125 diagnostic fee and the $189 drain cleaning. Both are published because a homeowner should be able to compare us before picking up the phone.
The TLS technician who diagnosed your system quotes the repair, on site, before anything is touched — not a call centre and not a salesperson who has never seen the unit. You see the figure in writing while he is standing in your house. Under the No Change Order Guarantee it does not move afterwards.
The employee who took the readings. He is a TLS technician rather than a subcontractor, which is why he is still accountable for that repair a year later.
After the diagnosis and before the first bolt comes off. Nothing is opened, replaced or recovered until you have said yes to a number.
The price does not move. Anything we failed to spot at diagnosis is our cost, not a second invoice — that is what the No Change Order Guarantee obliges us to.
TLS charges $125 to diagnose an air conditioning fault, and Comfort Club members pay nothing. The fee covers a trained technician, a stocked van and the time it takes to find the fault properly rather than guess at it. You are told the amount when you book, never when the technician is standing at your door.
Free for Comfort Club members. Covers a trained technician, a stocked van and the time it takes to find the fault properly.
You are told that amount when you book — never when the technician is standing at your door.
$125, quoted at bookingQuoted in writing after diagnosis, once we know what actually failed rather than what probably failed.
Under our No Change Order Guarantee it does not move once you have agreed it. If we misjudged the job, that is our cost.
In writing, before work startsOne thing genuinely is free: an estimate for a new system. That is a sales visit, and we should pay for our own sales visits. A repair diagnosis is a different thing and is priced separately. See what a free estimate includes →
A proper AC diagnosis measures static pressure, superheat and subcooling, amperage draw, capacitor microfarad values, the condensate system and temperature split — then puts a price in writing before anything is touched.
We measure static pressure on every service call, including a fifteen-minute one. Static pressure is the resistance your ductwork puts up against the air the system is trying to move, measured in inches of water column. It is the single fastest way to find out whether the fault is the equipment or the ducts.
A perfectly good compressor on ductwork that cannot move the air will overheat and fail. A correctly charged system with a restricted return will freeze its coil. If a technician diagnoses by looking at the outdoor unit alone, the diagnosis is a guess dressed up as an answer. Measuring static pressure is the part of the job most contractors skip, and skipping it is why the same repair happens twice.
Measured with a manometer against the manufacturer’s design specification.
Tells us whether the refrigerant charge is genuinely correct rather than approximately correct.
On the compressor and both motors, measured against their nameplate ratings.
Measured rather than eyeballed. A capacitor 15% under rating is already failing.
Including whether the float switch actually works, not just whether one is fitted.
Across the evaporator coil, which tells us what the system is actually delivering.
Repair when the system is under about ten years old, the fault is a single component, and the parts warranty is intact. Replace when the compressor has failed on an older system, when repairs are becoming annual, or when the repair cost approaches half the cost of a new system that would run substantially cheaper.
There is a common rule of thumb: multiply the age of the system by the repair cost, and if the result exceeds about $5,000, replacement is usually the better decision. It is a rough tool, not a law, and it ignores two things that matter in Florida.
The first is run hours. A ten-year-old system in Tampa has done the work of a twenty-four-year-old system in Ohio. Age in years understates wear here. The second is refrigerant. If the system runs R-410A and the fault is a significant leak, you are repairing a system whose refrigerant gets scarcer and dearer every year under the phase-down schedule.
Two Florida statutes changed in 2024: manufacturer warranties now run from the installation date rather than product registration, and they transfer to a home buyer at no charge. Separately, an EPA rule effective 27 July 2026 allows R-410A equipment manufactured before 2025 to be installed until existing stocks run out.
Effective 1 July 2024, the full length of a manufacturer’s warranty runs from the installation date when the equipment was installed by a contractor licensed under Chapter 489. The statute states plainly that a warranty may not be conditioned upon product registration.
Every national article still says register within sixty days or drop from ten years to five. In Florida that is no longer true — so a repair on an eight-year-old system may be covered when you assumed it was not. Ask.
What we do about it. We look the warranty up against your model and serial number before we quote, so a covered part shows up as the difference between paying for labour and refrigerant and paying for the component as well.
When you sell your home the manufacturer’s warranty transfers to the buyer and continues as though they were the original purchaser, and the warrantor may not charge a transfer fee.
A properly documented repair history is therefore an asset at closing rather than a question mark.
What we do about it. Every TLS repair leaves an invoice with the parts, the work and the warranty term printed on it, so the history that transfers with your house is documented rather than remembered.
A contract entered into by an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable in law or equity by that contractor. A cheaper repair from an unlicensed installer is not the same transaction.
An unlicensed repair can also void the manufacturer coverage on everything around the part they touched.
What we do about it. TLS holds Florida State Certified licence CAC1822364 under Chapter 489, which is why the contract you sign with us is enforceable in both directions — and why you should check that number, and every other contractor’s, before anyone opens your air handler.
The EPA finalised a rule permitting continued installation of R-410A equipment manufactured or imported before 1 January 2025 until supplies are exhausted. New systems are built for R-454B.
For repairs the relevant fact is the production step-down: R-410A output falls each year toward roughly 15% of current levels by 2036. A refrigerant repair is not a problem today and will not be impossible in five years — but it will not get cheaper.
What we do about it. We tell you which refrigerant your system runs at diagnosis, and on an R-410A system with a large leak you get the repair figure and a replacement figure together rather than one at a time.
TLS provides same-day residential AC repair across Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida in most cases. The office is staffed Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Outside those hours the emergency line is answered twenty-four hours a day by a TLS employee, not an answering service. Call 941-269-3433 for an arrival window.
What decides whether today is possible is where you are across the ten counties, what time of day you call, and whether the part your system needs is in hand. When same-day is not possible we say so on the call. A confirmed appointment for tomorrow morning is worth more than a promise about today that we cannot keep.
Every booking comes with an arrival window — a window, not “sometime Tuesday” — and the person who arrives is a TLS employee. Schedule a service call →
Check the licence first at myfloridalicense.com and confirm it reads Current, Active. Then ask three things: is the technician an employee or a subcontractor, is static pressure measured on the service call, and is the repair price given in writing before work begins. Any evasion on those three questions is itself the answer.
A large share of the air conditioning repair industry in Florida runs on subcontracted labour: the company you called sells the job and a crew you have never heard of does the work, and when something goes wrong eighteen months later the accountability has evaporated.
Every person who arrives at your home is a TLS employee. We do not subcontract any part of any job, which is why the technician who repairs your system is still accountable for it a year later. Every one of them is background checked, live scanned and drug tested before they are issued a van, and our technicians complete 150 hours of training a year after that.
Check us the same way you would check anyone else:
The repair itself carries a written warranty, with the term printed on your invoice. Our other written guarantees — including the price not moving once agreed, and leaving your home cleaner than we found it — apply to a fifteen-minute service call exactly as they apply to a full installation.
TLS repairs every major residential air conditioning brand and is not a dealer for any of them. That matters on a repair: a single-brand dealer has a commercial reason to steer a diagnosis toward replacement. We diagnose the system in front of us.
Parts availability differs by brand and by age, and it is the thing that most often decides how fast a repair can be finished rather than the fault itself. We will tell you at diagnosis if a part is going to be the hold-up, and what the wait is, rather than discovering it on the day we were supposed to fit it. Not seeing your make? We still repair it. Ductless mini splits →
TLS Air Conditioning repairs residential systems in ten Florida counties: Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier and DeSoto — 151 communities from Tarpon Springs to Naples. The company operates from one building at 6210 44th St N in Pinellas Park and runs the same crews and the same price list across all ten.
Seasonal residents in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier should say so when they call — a vacant home has a different humidity problem than one that is lived in year-round, and it changes what a repair needs to achieve.
These are the questions homeowners in Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida ask most often before booking an air conditioning repair — timing, lifespan, what we do and do not work on, and what is safe to attempt yourself.
Call 941-269-3433 — during office hours that reaches Courtney, and she can book a technician while you are on the phone. Outside office hours the same number reaches a TLS employee. Not urgent? Use the form at the top of this page and we will call you back to confirm an arrival window.
TLS Air Conditioning · Licence CAC1822364 · 6210 44th St N, Pinellas Park, FL 33781