Fluke Accident: A/C unit

[Nazir's]

Today, I left my house for about two hours. When I returned home and opened the door, it was so hot. I thought that it was a fire. No exaggerations, I was in shock! I immediately looked over at Iris and you could tell that my baby had been suffering. And for how long? I don’t know. My a/c unit went wrong. Something went terribly wrong! It was blowing hot, not warm, but hot air. It felt as though I had set the thermostat to 110 degrees. Iris was sitting at the bottom of his cage panting heavily and slightly weakened by the heat . I removed him from the house, took him outside where there was a nice cool breeze. He came around but in the meantime, you should have saw me going crazy. I was grabbing every book that I could, giving him cold water, etc. I have not ever been the type to run to the vet for every little thing. I am an experienced vet assistant so it didn't take rocket science to figure out what was going on here. I knew exactly what to look for in the books. Iris was suffering from heat exhaustion which could have easily lead to a heatstroke. I followed the directions that I found in the book. Now, if I wasn't noticing any type of improvement and quickly, then off to the vet we would have went (ran).

My dogs were suffering too but I consider them to be a lot stronger than Iris. I mean, they can withstand a whole lot more. Anyways, so I put the dogs in the backyard, gave them some cold water, a treat, and they were good to go. But Iris, I was so worried about Iris.

While Iris sat in his travel cage outside with a friend of mines watching him I went back in the house. I turned the a/c unit off for a few minutes and then back on. Nope, still nothing. It was still blowing hot, not warm, but hot air. I picked up the phone book and called a repair man but despite all of my effort he wouldn't been able to get out to my house until 7:00am the next morning. Gawd! It was too hot to bring everyone back in. It was just too darn hot. Now, because it was a nice day we could have easily been comfortable without the a/c on. However, because the house was already too hot, it would have taken too long for the house to cool off by just relying on the nice breeze to flow threw the windows. I went back outside and sat there beside Iris while contemplating where I was going to get a hotel room from. I mean there’s plenty within 10 miles from my house but I am sure that not all of them accept pets. As I was wondering, it started drizzling. Great! GREAT!! GREAT!!!

My neighbor came out and attempted to indulge in some small talk about how nice of a day it was . She stated that she didn't blame me for sitting outside enjoying and taking it all in. Things aren‘t always what they seem and that‘s exactly what I told her before I started explaining the situation. It really wasn't about the nice day, it was more about my kids (bird/dogs') safety. She then advised me that she had an uncle that lived up the road. He was a licensed electrician without a phone or a car. She was kind enough to go get him and tonight my a/c was fixed. Thank God!

The problem was that the rely wire had went bad. It gives no warnings, it just happen to go bad. Before we found that it was the rely cord/wire the electrician was almost convinced that it had to be that the thermostat went bad. Okay, he named quite a few possibilities. All of which he mentioned could have just happen without any prior warnings. So with all of his assumptions (prior to looking at the outside unit), they all could have very well been possibilities that gave no previous warnings. Scary huh?

So, take from this story what you may. I know one thing, I will always think twice before I leave my house with the a/c unit turned on. See, it would have never blew that hot of air without me knowing if the unit was just turned off for that short period of time, while I was gone. Another thing to think about is this... I was only gone for approx. two hours. Could you imagine what my ending of this story would have been if I, like 90 % of people do, would have left to go to work and didn't return until 8-9 hours later? Could you imagine?

Yes, this was a fluke accident and there's no one to blame. We all try our very hardest to protect our babies and to keep them safe from harm. Therefore, I just wanted to share my story with you all. By doing so, at least you’ll know of other hazardous possibilities. Those, that are rarely discussed, mentioned, or talked about.

Thank you for listening. By the way, Iris is doing just fine. He killed his toys as he always does right before bedtime. He should now be sound a sleep.

Lisa B: Thank you for being there, to be my ear when I needed you. Thank you for caring and extending your time. You're a !

[Nazir's]

Bump. Please read.

[Valo's Moirana]

wow, thanks for the warning... i sometimes turn on the a/c unit in the summer when it's really hot, but paranoid as i am, i usually go home for lunch to check on the temperature (in addition, valo is sensitive, but my cichlid tank even more so)

i'm glad iris is fine.... great reaction too

[Nazir's]

Yes, Iris is still doing great! I watched him very closely throughout the day.

Hey guys, sorry for the typos in the original message. I was a nervous wreck the other night. I just had to quickly get that news off of my chest. Correction: It was the relay wire that went bad, not rely.

[featherfanatics]

Oh wow, I'm glad everyone was ok. (((hug))) That is something I never would have thought about. I worry about the heat going off but not the other way around! Thank you so much for posting that!

[Lisa B]

Thanks for posting this L. Its important we all know about this, because as I said, this is the first house I had with central air, and I had no idea such a thing could happen.
I am Glad Iris is doing well......and you have calmed down...it was nice to speak with you. Remember dont hesitate to call if you need to!
hugs to your baby from our house!

[Xray Susie]

Wow, what an ordeal. I'm so glad that Iris was ok. You're quick thinking helped, I'm sure.

[Monica]

Glad all is well!

Sadly, I have a similar experience... however, not nearly as bad as yours... Our swamp cooler pump broke and it stopped blowing cool/cold air into the house. Without it, the temps rise to 80-90* F in the house... although the birds themselves are used to temps between 50's (if not low 40's) to low 90's, and none can really be affected by the swamp cooler much... other than Charlie. We had already replaced the connection to our water pipe (to the hose outside), the tiny hose from there to the swamp cooler, as well as the connection of the tiny hose TO the swamp cooler, and the valve inside (to shut the water off on it's own).

It was pain enough not having cool air go through the house, but I'd hate it worse if it only blew hot air!

[jimpierce7]

well folks, we don't get A.C.s in my part of the world. But that is a good thing to keep in mind for sure.

[Nazir's]

Originally Posted by jimpierce7

well folks, we don't get A.C.s in my part of the world. But that is a good thing to keep in mind for sure.

Oh, where are you?