What should be done if an air conditioner stops working, instead of getting rid of it or calling an expert?

What are you asking? Maybe call your cousin Bob to see if he can fix it? Find a tutorial on YouTube? I’m not sure what you want to know, here.

Make sure it is plugged in. Then check the breaker box and turn on if off. Nothing else you can do.

Did your air conditioner stop working @flo ? Sometimes some personal context might help.

Read @canidmajor‘s question about how to beat the heat without one?

Um, try to fix it yourself.

Freon can freeze your eyeballs on contact so it’s best to call an expert or have it hauled away and recycled properly, then buy a new one.

Is this a central unit, or a window mounted one?
And if it stopped working did it blow a breaker, did it make some horrible noise then stop?
If it’s a central unit it could be low on coolant, and low coolant can cause the unit to freeze up.
If it’s a window mount one check the breaker.
If it’s a central one check the lines where it goes into the furnace and if they are coated with ice it’s froze up and will work again when it thaws out, but if you don’t recharge the coolant it will just do it again.
That is about all you can do,without calling a service person to come and check the unit out.
If it is a window mount sometimes it’s cheaper to just replace it.

Thanks, @RedDeerGuy1 and @kritiper and @SQUEEKY2 (in order of appearance)

I don’t have an AC. Fans are perfectly good enough I find. I was just curious someone was saying something about washing some part of it (the window kind) ...

@janbb I should have added “I don’t have an AC” in my detail.

Sometimes the cooling fins on the outside get dirty or clogged with debris and need to be cleaned, just like the cooling fins on the outside (back or bottom) of your refrigerator.

@kritiper I suppose so. I’ve never read the instruction booklet of a fridge, etc., Does it say_If it stops working check and clean up the dirt…_ If not it should imo.

@flo No, the cleaning is preventative maintenance. If it quits working, you have to call a repairman. (I have heard that a good remedy for a fridge in questionable condition is a long ride in the back of a pick-up truck on a dirt road. But I would just get a new one…)

@kritiper Got it.