Ice on the copper line outside
Low airflow or low charge. Filters and a dirty indoor coil cause it far more often than a leak does, so the cheap causes get ruled out first.
Heating & CoolingPriced as an emergency callout10,702 businesses licensed for it
Split system and mini-split repair
A split system puts the compressor outside and the air handler inside, which is what most salons, small offices, clinics and back rooms actually run on. Mini-splits are the same idea with a wall or ceiling head per room. Faults show up as an error code on the head, ice on the line set, water dripping from an indoor unit, or an outdoor fan that will not start. Diagnosis needs both ends of the system, so make sure the outdoor unit is reachable.
Enter your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with their phone numbers.
- Free to searchno account, nothing to submit
- Public registersevery listing names its source
- License numberswhere the state publishes one
- Directyou call the business yourself
- Our estimate
- $200-$2,600
- Time on site
- 1.5-5 hrs
- Fault patterns covered
- 2
- Licensed for this trade itself
- 10,702
What split system and mini-split repair costs
Most of these jobs land near $480. The full spread runs $200 to $2,600, and the gap between those two ends is diagnosis against replacement rather than one business being dearer than another.
What moves it: how much of the job is parts, whether the fault is found in the first hour or the third, access to the equipment, and the hour of the day you call. We never speak to the businesses listed here, so there is no rate card behind any of this. It is our own band for the category, and there is no regional index: the figure does not change with your metro.
| How soon you need it | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled visitBooked in advance, no urgency multiplier applied | $480 | $200 to $2,600 |
| Same dayOur band multiplied by 1.12 | $540 | $225 to $2,910 |
| Emergency calloutOur band multiplied by 1.35 | $650 | $270 to $3,510 |
Our estimate from national cost bands, not a quote from any business. Every row is the same band with the urgency multiplier the site applies everywhere else, so this table can never contradict the headline number. Ask for a written price before the work starts.
Who is licensed to do this work
In California the classification that squarely covers this is C-20 warm-air heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, and the register says who holds it. Every listing on this site shows the classification, the license number and the date we read it, with a link back to the register entry so you can check it against the state rather than against us.
Overlapping classifications exist and are labeled as overlapping rather than as a match: C-38 refrigeration, C-4 boiler, hot water heating and steam fitting, C-43 sheet metal and D-62 air and water balancing. A general building contractor may hold the job and subcontract the trade, which is a real answer and a different one, so the card says which of the two you are looking at.
One thing worth being plain about: CSLB classifications do not distinguish commercial work from residential. There is no separate commercial license to hold and no register field that would prove one. That is why this page describes the equipment rather than the contractor, and why nothing here says a business has been checked out. We read a public record on a stated date. That is the whole claim.
If it is down right now
Everything below is about our mechanism. We hold no hours for any business on this site, have never contacted one, and cannot tell you who is awake, so none of this is a promise that somebody answers.
- Enter the ZIP of your premises. We measure from that ZIP to the address each business filed with its licensing authority and keep everything inside 25 miles.
- The order is distance, nearest first. Nobody buys a position in it and there is nothing here to sell.
- If fewer than three businesses clear the filters, the ring steps out toward 75 miles and the page tells you it widened. The distances you then see are the real ones.
- Each listing carries the phone number the register publishes. You call it yourself. We have no phone line, take no fee and pass nothing on.
- Our band for an emergency callout is the category band multiplied by 1.35. That multiplier is ours and describes our estimate, not a rate anybody has quoted.
Before you pay for a callout
Two minutes of checks that sometimes end the problem
We would rather you did not need a callout at all. These are the checks that end the most calls for this fault.
Try a quick fix first
Some issues resolve without a truck roll. Two minutes now can save the callout.
- 1
Write down the error code from the indoor display or the blink pattern on the board. Manufacturers publish these, and it often points straight at the failed component.
- 2
Clear anything stacked against the outdoor unit. Bins, pallets and fencing put right up against a condenser starve it and cause exactly the fault you are calling about.
- 3
Clean the indoor filters. On a mini-split they are behind the front panel, they are washable, and a blocked one causes icing that looks like a refrigerant leak.
- 4
Make sure the outdoor unit can be reached. If it is on a roof, behind a locked gate or over a neighbor's fence, say so when you call.
What the visit actually includes
- Fault code read and both-ends diagnosis
- Indoor and outdoor coil cleaning
- Condensate pump and drain line check
- Refrigerant charge and line set inspection
- Capacitor, fan motor or control board replacement as needed
Diagnosis
How split system faults usually present
Written from how these faults actually present on a working premises, not from a manual.
Water running down the wall under the head
A blocked condensate line or a failed pump. It is a small repair and it stops before it takes the drywall with it.
Listed for this trade
Businesses listed for split system
Read from public license registers, so there is no ranking here and no distance: this page has no location to measure from. Enter your ZIP to sort by who is nearest to your site.
By location
Split system and mini-split repair near you
Local pages show which businesses are listed for that metro, how far out they sit, and the local conditions that drive demand.
Counted from the businesses we have imported for each metro center inside a 25 mile radius, and counting only those whose own license classification names this trade. General contractors licensed widely enough to take it on and subcontract it are excluded here, and still appear in a search. A metro reads “none yet” until we load a register that covers this trade there.
All coverage areasQuestions owners ask
Split system FAQs
Short, specific answers. If yours is not here, ask the business you call before you agree to the visit.
Is a mini-split cheaper to fix than a rooftop unit?
Usually, because the components are smaller and one head serves one room. The exception is a compressor or a leaking line set, where the labor to recover, repair and recharge dominates.
One head works and another does not. Is that one fault?
On a multi-head system it is often a single indoor unit, an expansion valve or a branch box, not the outdoor condenser. That is good news: the expensive part is probably fine.
Who is licensed for this?
C-20 in California, the same classification as any other air conditioning work. The listings here show it against each business from the state register.
Related work
Often booked in the same visit
Batching jobs into one mobilization is the cheapest way to buy this kind of work.
Rooftop HVACRTU not cooling or heating, tripping breakers, noisy fans and belt failures.from $260Commercial ACWarm air from the vents, weak airflow, condensate leaks and thermostat faults.from $190Commercial heatingNo heat, short cycling, ignition lockouts and unit heater failures.from $210ThermostatBlank displays, wrong readings, schedules nobody set and controls that lost the unit.from $150
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Ready when you are
Need split system sorted?
Search your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with the license numbers and phone numbers we hold, then call them yourself.
- Cost to search
- Free
- Account needed
- None
- Who you call
- The business