Where’s The Reset On My Rheem AC Unit?

It could be a Ruud unit also. Rheem Manufacturing Company also sells under the Ruud brand name. Your Rheem AC reset button location is indicated in the picture below right next to the copper refrigeration lines.

Rheem/Ruud are one of the few manufacturers that have a reset button on the outside near the bottom of there outdoor heat pumps and air conditioners. It’s available to anyone who wants to push it, but be aware, there is a reason that this reset has stopped your AC from working.

The Rheem outdoor ac unit reset button is a high pressure reset that is meant to protect your system from further damage. Go ahead, push your air conditioner outside unit reset button once and if it seems to carry on in good order, then fine. But if it trips again, call a professional to figure out the problem.

I’d get it checked out anyway. If it tripped, there’s a reason.

Compressors in heat pumps and air conditioner, pump refrigerant, which most people refer to as Freon. Freon is a brand name like Kleenex and we’ve all gotten used to those little paper tissues being called Kleenex.

So in the HVAC trade it’s called refrigerant (or freaky frost).

It’s also very possible that a system could have too much refrigerant and the pressure switch would trip.

A dirty filter in a heat pumps air handler (furnace) will cause the high pressure switch to trip while in the heat mode. I’ve found systems that had filters in places the customer was unaware of and they get plugged and cause those resets to trip.

The customer would change the filter he knew about and the hidden filter got left to plug up like a board in the duct, stopping nearly all the air flow.

Another strange event that seldom happens is a outdoor fan running backwards. Everything seems to be operating normally. The last one I caught running backwards was really weird.

I didn’t notice the backward fan until I stood right next to the unit and felt only slight air flow and it was in the wrong direction.

A weak capacitor can cause a fan motor to run sometimes or even quit completely.

These are really good reasons for a manual reset.

When an AC compressor pumps refrigerant it pumps it into a hot, high pressure state. The fan in your outdoor unit is meant to help cool that refrigerant before it travels into the coil in your house that is closely attached to your furnace.

If something happens to that fan and it quits spinning, then that red reset button is going to trip and shut off the unit.

Other situations can occur to also trip the reset. Anything that blocks the air flow that the outdoor fan is meant to create can also cause a tripped high pressure switch.

Things that block airflow can be anything from brush too close to the unit or debris, like leaves and junk left to accumulate on the coil.

Some outdoor unit have coils that are not easy to see, being covered up mostly by a louvered shroud completely surrounding the unit. You may need to get down on your knees and look up into the coil through the louvers to see if the coil looks clean.

Some of the coils are doubled and the debris gets stuck between the layers of the coil. These a significantly difficult to clean and many of them get neglected throughout the life of the unit.

Is There Such A Thing As A Nuisance Trip?

Nuisance trips would be as the word connotes, a trip for no reason. That’s always possible. The thing to do would be to either replace it or bypass the reset if you have proven that it trips for no apparent reason.

It’s not a common problem for these pressure switches to fail. They are generally very dependable. But the can fail.

Special tools and skills would be require to diagnose the problem.

Why Rheem and Ruud, kind of like saying Chevrolet and GMC, has to have a pressure switch is for the protection of there equipment. But every other manufacture has auto reset high and/or low pressure switches.

Some come with just high pressure switches and others have both high and low pressure switches. High pressure switches protect the unit from situations that run up the head pressure and low pressure switches mostly protect the system from loss of refrigerant.

What Could Happen If I Keep Pushing The Reset Button?

If your heat pump keeps tripping off on the little red reset button and you continue to push it to reset the unit, you are pushing your luck. The compressor could be damaged internally.

The cost to replace a compressor could exceed $2000 and potentially cause other problems in the system.

Best to leave well enough alone and call a professional after the first attempt to push the reset.

Conclusion

If your system is old, closely examine the coils. You may need to remove the top of the unit to see what’s really on or even in the coils.

On the outdoor coil you can use a hose with a nozzle and spray directly on the coil and you will probably see all kinds of junk come out.

Be careful not to use too much pressure as you can damage the aluminum fins and then you would be blocking air flow in another way.

Indoor coils are a little harder to clean. A vacuum cleaner does not do a proper job. Chemicals are the only way to get indoor coils cleaned. The stuff is embedded in these coils.

If your Ruud air conditioner reset button goes off get it checked out. Brand doesn’t matter. Reset buttons are prejudice, they are a button installed to protect your pocket book. It would always be a good idea to have it checked professionally and make sure the symptom is identified.