Portable Air Conditioner doesnt cool

[cardinal24]

Model: DeLonghi PAC-260 this is a discontinued model)
9000 BTU. I have the manual (only 16 pages)
I trash-picked the unit.
It is in my 3rd floor bedroom.
It blows but the air isn’t cold. It might be cool. I can’t
tell if I’m just feeling the cool caused by a fan.
It does make a click noise every 4 minutes or so, as if a
compressor were going on.
It is near a window with a short, straight exhaust hose and
the proper window bracket.
There is a reset button. I’ve pressed it. Not sure if
that helps.
There are 3 lights: “Conditioning”, timer and alert.
The Conditioning (cooling) light NEVER goes on.
The timer light goes on if I set the timer.
The alert light is always off.
It’s not good enough to let me rest and it’s not
bad enough to deliberately drop 3 floors.

 

[yogitunes]

not sure if this will help you...…

but on mine...if it takes on more water faster than it can evaporate it, the pan at the bottom fills up, and shuts the compressor down......you have to pull the plug on the back and drain the water, then it will reset and continue on....

also, when making changes on the control panel, such as temperature....it may take up to 60 seconds or more for it to 'activate' and the compressor to come on....

 

[DADoES]

Compressor not running

 
Probably that's why it was in the trash.
 
Get temperature readings at the air intake (where you feel it sucking air in), and at the output (where you feel air blowing out into the room).  The outflow should be cooler than the intake by at least 10°F if the compressor is running.

If it's a one-hose unit, then it also pulls room air and blows it out the exhaust hose to dissipate collected heat from the compressor and condensor coil.  The air blowing out of the exhaust hose will be considerably warmer than the room air if the compressor is running.

Repeated clicking (every 4 mins) could be the compressor trying to run but it can't get started so keeps kicking-out on overload protection until the protector device auto-resets and it tries again ... repeatedly.  That would mean the compressor is getting power but can't get going for whatever reason.  Could be a bad capacitor, or the compressor is bad.  Capacitors are relatively simple fixes but disassembling those portable units to get at the guts can be a challenge.  Replacing a compressor is pretty much a no-go.

 

[superocd]

Check the filter for dust and clean it if you haven't already. If you are handy, disassemble the unit and check for additional buildup on the evap, which is possible since most portable and window ACs filters are of similar material of dryer filters and aren't all that effective. Also, look around for a float switch and check its continuity. If the float switch is defective, my guess is that it may not cycle the compressor and so it's just an expensive, bulky window fan with a hose hanging out the back of it at this point. Check for a condensate pump too, some units may have that and you'll usually see a nipple in the rear where the condensate hose attaches to the back and traces out to the window shroud. A bad condensate pump is like a bad float switch, although the condensate reservoir may overflow unlike the former if there is no override.

Observe the unit with the cover off if you can. Normally when you run an AC you can hear more than a click when the compressor starts. Do you hear a more pronounced sound typical of a compressor after the click?

If you do all that and you still don't get the kind of cool you're used to with, say an Emerson Quiet Kool from the 80s, realize that these are basically portable dehumidifiers adapted to condition the air. Because there is some efficency lost with the fact that all of the components are in one package in the room and the exhaust hose has no insulating value, it isn't going to perform as well or as efficently. It will get the job done but will not be as efficient as a mini-split, wall unit or dare say a properly installed window AC.

 

[dartman]

Could be low on freon too if it tries to fire the compressor and kicks back off. I don't know what type it uses but for cars you can buy the charge in a can things of 134a and if it is just low it will top the low side up and they cool again. That worked for my Neon till the compressor blew a seal and died a year later.
I spose you could research it and see if there is a way to top it off or if any of the other suggestions here will help. At least it was free so your not out anything yet.