Ice on the suction line, or a coil frozen solid inside the air handler, is a cooling failure that looks like a water leak only after it thaws. Stop the system. Set the thermostat to Off. Leave the fan on Auto if you can do that without turning cooling back on. Give the ice time to melt into the pan. An ice pick, a screwdriver, or a hair dryer aimed into the cabinet bends metal you cannot see. A can of refrigerant from a hardware aisle is the other mistake people make on a hot Tucson afternoon. Adding refrigerant without gauges does not tell you whether air simply stopped moving across the coil.
Airflow is the first Tucson explanation. Desert dust packs a filter that was fine in April. A return grille hidden behind a sofa, a rug pulled over a floor return, or a flexible duct in the attic that has kinked will all starve the coil. The blower may still run. The refrigerant gets colder than it should. Moisture freezes. That pattern overlaps short cycling, but a system that runs and then ices is not the same report as one that clicks on and off every few minutes. If the outdoor fan is turning, the large insulated copper line is white, and the supply air is warm or barely cool, write those three facts down before the ice disappears.
A low refrigerant charge can freeze a coil too. So can a metering device that is not feeding the evaporator. Neither one is settled from the yard. The AC not cooling guide already says to shut an iced system off. This page is the one for the freeze itself. If a licensed contractor later finds that refrigerant is the cause, national figures on the AC repair page come from HomeAdvisor’s AC repair cost guide, updated June 17, 2026: a recharge is listed around $100–$600, and finding and repairing a leak around $225–$1,600. Those are not Sabino Creek prices. Use them only when refrigerant is actually the cause. An airflow repair is priced after the equipment has been seen. The nameplate refrigerant, if someone has been adding it every summer, is explained on R-22, R-410A, and newer refrigerants.
Do not start the system again to “see if it holds” while ice is still on the line. A frozen coil dumps melt water the pan may not carry, and a compressor that tries to pump liquid can be damaged. If water is already staining a ceiling, leave the system off and say so. That situation is closer to AC leaking water than to a charge question. A little water at the air handler after a normal thaw is different from water that keeps coming once the ice is gone.
Sabino Creek Heating & Cooling does not recover refrigerant, braze lines, or stand in an attic with gauges. We are an Arizona referral service. A request may be shared with an independent contractor. The diagnosis, the price, and any warranty are between you and that contractor. Confirm a license at roc.az.gov.
On the form, say which rooms went warm first, when the filter was last changed, whether the outdoor fan was turning, and about how long the ice had been there. ZIP is required. The street can wait. Choose AC not cooling. Sending the form asks for a phone or email follow-up. It does not reserve a repair visit.