Broken air conditioning, sorted properly
Air conditioning repair
Air conditioning repair
in Málaga.
Not cooling, dripping water, making a noise it never used to make? We find the actual fault, tell you what it is in plain language and fix it with the right part, not a can of gas and a shrug. Samsung Certified Installer, our own technicians, working across Málaga and the Costa del Sol since 2010.
Honest diagnosis before any work
Genuine Samsung parts and factory support
Fix it today and stop it happening again with ITAFE PRO
ITAFE PROYour air conditioning looked after all year, from €29 a monthSee plans →
+3000Installations
in Málaga
in Málaga
16Years of
experience
experience
4.9★Google
rating
rating
24hEmergencies
all year
all year
Air conditioning repair in Málaga
Most breakdowns have a reason. We find it before we touch anything.
An air conditioner rarely just stops. It starts cooling a little less each week, it drips once and then every day, it takes longer to start, it throws an error code you cannot find in the manual. By the time you ring someone it has usually been telling you for a while. That is good news: a fault with a history is a fault that can be diagnosed properly.
What we do not do is turn up, connect a gauge, top up the gas and leave. If a system needs gas, it has a leak, and a leak that is not found and fixed will empty the new gas into your terrace by next summer. Air conditioning repair in Málaga done properly means finding the cause, not treating the symptom.
ITAFE has been repairing and installing air conditioning in Málaga since 2010. We are a Samsung Certified Installer with access to genuine parts and factory support, and our technicians are on the payroll, not subcontracted. If you want the repair to be the last one you have to organise yourself, ITAFE PRO takes it from there.
- Diagnosis explained before any repair is agreed
- Genuine Samsung parts; Mitsubishi Electric also serviced
- Refrigerant handled only by certified staff, as the law requires
- Honest advice when replacing is the better option
ITAFE PRO · the Club
Your air conditioning, looked after all year.
Installing or repairing it is day one. What keeps it running, and stops it letting you down in the middle of August, is what happens next. That is what ITAFE PRO is for: one monthly fee and we take care of it, even while you are away.
- Scheduled servicing: we remind you, not the other way round
- Call-out and diagnosis at €0, always
- Priority visit within 48 working hours
- One of our own technicians on your WhatsApp
- 10% member discount on labour, parts and gas
- No minimum term
Got solar panels too, or want your electrics looked after? Add them: two modules and your fee drops by 10%, three and it drops by 15%.
Build your own plan →See everything ITAFE PRO includesWhat the symptoms usually mean
Your air conditioning is talking to you. Here is a rough translation.
It runs, but it is not cooling
The most common call we get in Málaga from June onwards. In order of likelihood: filters and indoor coil clogged with dust so the air cannot get through; outdoor coil caked in salt and dirt so the heat cannot get out; low refrigerant because of a leak; a fan or compressor that has given up. The first two are a service, not a repair. The third needs a leak found and fixed. The fourth is where the repair-or-replace conversation starts.
It is leaking water inside
Water dripping from the indoor unit is almost always the condensate drain. Every air conditioner pulls litres of water out of the air on a humid Málaga afternoon, and it has to go somewhere. If the drain pipe is blocked with algae or dust, if the pump has failed, or if the unit was installed slightly off level, the tray overflows and it ends up on your wall. Occasionally it is ice melting off a frozen coil, which points to airflow or refrigerant. Either way, do not put a bucket under it and hope.
It is making a noise it never made before
Rattling from the outdoor unit is usually a loose panel, a fan blade out of balance or a mounting bracket that has rusted in the salt air. A grinding or squealing noise is a fan motor bearing on its way out. A gurgling from the indoor unit is refrigerant and is normal in small doses; constant gurgling is not. A loud hum with no airflow means the fan has stopped and the compressor is running against nothing, which is a switch-it-off-now situation.
It smells
A musty, damp smell when it starts is mould on the indoor coil and in the drain tray, very common in flats that are closed up for months and then switched on. It is a deep clean, not a repair, but it should not be ignored. A burning or electrical smell is different: switch it off at the isolator and call us. A sweet chemical smell can be refrigerant and is also a switch-off-and-call.
There is ice on the pipes or the coil
Ice on the copper pipe at the outdoor unit or on the indoor coil in the middle of summer means one of two things: the airflow across the coil is so poor that it is freezing the moisture in the air, or the refrigerant is low and the pressure has dropped to the point where the coil runs below zero. Either way the unit is doing almost nothing useful and the compressor is under strain. Switch it off, let it thaw, and have it looked at before you run it again.
It shows an error code
Modern Samsung and Mitsubishi Electric units are quite good at telling you what is wrong, but the codes are written for technicians. A code can mean a sensor, a communication fault between indoor and outdoor units, a pressure problem or a fan motor. Take a photo of the display and send it to us with your model number: it lets us arrive with the right part in the van rather than making two trips.
- Photograph the error code and the model plate before you call
- Switch the unit off at the isolator if it smells of burning or the fan has stopped
- Do not keep restarting a unit that trips the electrics
- Tell us what changed: a storm, a power cut, building work next door
Why ITAFE for the repair
The difference between fixing it and fixing it for now.
Diagnosis first
Pressures, temperatures, electrical readings and a leak test where needed. Then we tell you what it is and what it costs. Then you decide.
Genuine Samsung parts
As a Samsung Certified Installer we fit the right part with factory backing. No generic compressors, no second-hand boards.
Our own technicians
The person at your door works for ITAFE, has done since the job before yours, and will be the one who comes back if needed.
Straight advice
If the repair costs more than the unit is worth, we say so and quote a replacement. We would rather lose a repair than sell you one.
The gas top-up myth
If it needs gas every summer, it is not a top-up. It is a leak.
An air conditioner is a sealed circuit. The refrigerant does not get used up, wear out or evaporate. If the pressure is low, the gas has gone somewhere, and the only place it can go is out through a leak: a flare joint that was never tightened properly, a pipe rubbed through by vibration, a coil corroded by salt air. Charging it again without finding the leak is putting petrol in a car with a hole in the tank.
It is also illegal to do it carelessly. Refrigerant gases are regulated under the EU F-Gas Regulation and only certified companies may handle them. That is why the annual top-up from the man with the van is a bad deal twice over: you pay every year for gas that leaks away, and the leak gets bigger each time. When we find low refrigerant, we find the leak first, repair it, pressure-test the circuit and then charge it. Once.
- Leak detection and pressure test before any recharge
- Refrigerant recovered and handled by certified staff
- Written explanation of where the leak was and what was done
How a repair works
From your call to a cool room.
Diagnosis first, price second, work third. Never the other way round.
1 · Tell us what it is doing
Symptoms, model, error code if there is one, and where you are. A photo helps. We tell you straight away whether to switch it off.
2 · Diagnosis at your home
A technician checks the whole system, not just the bit that is complaining: filters, coils, drain, pressures, electrics, fan motors, leak test if pressures are low.
3 · Clear quote, your decision
You get the cause, the fix and the price in plain language. If replacing makes more sense than repairing, you hear that too.
4 · Repair with the right part
Genuine parts, the circuit pressure-tested if it was opened, the drain tested with water, the unit run and checked before we leave.
5 · Make it the last one
Join ITAFE PRO and the same technician comes back every year so the next fault is caught at a service, not in a heatwave.
The HomeServe question
Fix it today, or fix it today and make sure it does not happen again.
Without the Club
Repair and hope
- You pay for this repair at full price
- Nobody looks at the system again until it breaks again
- Next July you are back on the phone with everyone else in Málaga
- A different company, a different diagnosis, a different opinion
- The small fault nobody caught becomes the big one
ITAFE PRO
Repair with ITAFE PRO
- Priority assistance in under 48 working hours from now on
- Call-out and diagnosis at €0 whenever you need us
- Repairs priced before we touch anything, with your 10 % member discount
- An annual service by a technician who knows this exact unit
- PRO Clima Esencial from €29 a month; PRO Clima Total €59 a month for up to five units with two visits a year
Repairs we see every week
Three faults, three honest outcomes.
The unit that needed gas every June
Illustrative example. A wall split three streets from the beach that had been topped up by three different companies in three years. Our leak test found a flare joint at the outdoor unit that had never been tightened properly. Repaired, pressure-tested, charged once. The owner joined ITAFE PRO so it is checked every year before the season.
Water on the wall, not the compressor
Illustrative example. A landlord was quoted a new outdoor unit by a previous caller because the indoor unit was leaking. It was a condensate drain blocked with algae and a tray that had been installed off level. Drain cleared, unit re-levelled, no new machine. The tenant was back in a cool flat that afternoon.
The repair we recommended not doing
Illustrative example. A cooling-only unit from the early 2000s with a failed compressor and an obsolete refrigerant. The repair would have cost more than half of a new Inverter heat pump that also heats in winter. We quoted the replacement instead, installed it and recovered the old refrigerant legally.
Certified installer
Samsung Certified Installer.
Don’t just take our word for it: ITAFE is listed in Samsung Climate Solutions’ official installer finder as a certified installer for Málaga and the Costa del Sol. That means genuine parts, factory technical support and the official warranty on every installation.
Find us on Samsung’s official site →Frequently asked questions
Air conditioning repair in Málaga: what people ask us.
Why is my air conditioning not cooling?
In Málaga the usual suspects, in order, are clogged filters, a dirty outdoor coil, low refrigerant from a leak, or a failed fan or compressor. The first two are solved with a proper service. The third needs the leak found before any gas goes in. Only the last one is a genuine repair-or-replace decision, and we tell you honestly which side it falls on.
Does my air conditioner need its gas topped up every year?
No. A healthy system never needs gas. It is a sealed circuit and the refrigerant does not get used up. If it is low, it is leaking, and the leak has to be found and fixed before it is recharged, or you will be paying for the same gas again next year. Anyone offering an annual top-up without a leak test is selling you the leak, not the fix.
Should I repair or replace my air conditioning?
Our rule of thumb: if the unit is over ten years old, uses an old refrigerant, and the repair is a compressor or a major part, replacing is usually the better use of your money. A modern Inverter heat pump uses far less electricity and heats in winter. If the unit is young and the fault is a fan, a board or a leak, repair it. We give you both prices and our honest opinion. For what a new system involves, see air conditioning in Málaga.
Do you repair brands other than Samsung?
We are a Samsung Certified Installer, so on Samsung systems we have genuine parts and factory support. We also service Mitsubishi Electric systems. For other brands, tell us the model and the fault and we will be honest about whether we are the right people for it.
Can you come today?
Call us on 678 167 946 and we will tell you honestly when we can be there. In summer the diary fills fast. ITAFE PRO members get priority assistance in under 48 working hours, which in July is the difference between a cool weekend and a hot one. It is one of the main reasons people join the Club after their first repair.
What happens if the repair does not solve it?
The repair is done to fix the fault we diagnosed and we test the system before we leave. If the same fault comes back, we come back. If something different fails, we diagnose that separately and tell you straight. As ITAFE PRO members, our customers have the same technician who knows the unit's history, which makes second visits rare and short.
Where we repair
Air conditioning repair across Málaga and the Costa del Sol.
Our own technicians on the road every day. Tell us where you are and what it is doing.
- Málaga city
- Torremolinos
- Benalmádena
- Fuengirola
- Mijas
- Marbella
- San Pedro de Alcántara
- Estepona
- Rincón de la Victoria
- Vélez-Málaga
- Nerja
- Torrox
- Alhaurín de la Torre
- Coín
- Antequera
Can't see your town? We repair across the whole province of Málaga. Ask us about your area →
Book a repair
Tell us what it is doing. We will tell you what it is.
Symptoms, model and a photo of any error code, and we will call you back with a straight answer. No repair starts without a diagnosis and a price you have agreed.
24h emergencies · 678 167 946 · Diagnosis before any work