Panasonic Air Conditioner Troubleshooting—Fix Your Issue

In a climate like Australia’s, air conditioners feel like the best thing in the world until they go wrong. If your Panasonic air conditioner is failing to turn on, struggling to cool your home, or has another familiar problem, we’re here to help.

Here are the most common Panasonic air conditioner troubleshooting issues, and guidance on how to fix them.

Table of contents

1. Panasonic AC not turning on
2. Panasonic air con not cooling or heating
3. Panasonic indoor air con is leaking
4. Panasonic AC remote control is not working
5. The remote control works intermittently, or the display is faded
6. Panasonic air con is making a noise
7. Panasonic air con smells
8. Panasonic AC keeps switching off
9. Panasonic AC will not turn off
10. Panasonic AC outdoor unit not working
11. Panasonic air con fault codes

Panasonic air conditioner troubleshooting—the full list

Here’s the full list of Panasonic air conditioner troubleshooting issues, including possible resolutions.

Panasonic AC not turning on

If your system isn’t turning on, there’s a couple of things to check and do:

1. Check the power

• Check your fuse box to ensure the fuse hasn’t blown
• Make sure the system is plugged in
• Check/change the batteries in your remote
• Check to see if a timer has been set

2. Reset the system

If you’ve gone through the list above, you can try resetting your Panasonic air conditioner.

To do so, flip the AC’s circuit breaker in your fuse box, and wait for at least a minute before turning it back on. If you’re still having issues, you’ll need to contact a professional for help.

Panasonic air con not cooling or heating

If your air conditioner is not cooling or heating, you should try checking the following:

• The mode that is set. Do you have the correct mode set on your remote? (COOL or HEAT)
• The set temperature. Is the temperature low enough for cooling to occur? Or high enough for heating to occur?
• The room’s doors and windows are shut. An obvious one, but a common mistake to make.
• The unit’s air filters are clean. Dirty filters make it harder for the AC system to propel cool or warm air into the room. Check out our guide on how to clean your air conditioner, including its filters.
• The air inlets and outlets are unobstructed. For the outdoor unit, make sure there’s nothing surrounding or crowding it, as this will affect its ability to expel hot or cool air. For the indoor unit, check that nothing is blocking the flow of air from the system.

Panasonic indoor air con is leaking

Small drops of water are common for AC systems, but if the indoor unit is leaking considerably, you’ll want to call a professional ASAP. This can be caused by rusty drain pans, clogged drain pans, disconnected drain lines, and more. To learn more, check out our article on why your air conditioner is leaking water.

Panasonic AC remote control is not working

If your remote isn’t working, the first thing to do is change the batteries. If this doesn’t fix the issue, and you’re sure that the batteries are installed correctly, you can try resetting the remote by using a pin to push the “RC” button on the bottom right of the remote.

When you press a button on the remote, check to see whether the LED sensor light activates. If it doesn’t, the problem may be the sensor wire inside the remote, in which case a replacement remote is the cheapest option (you can buy them from about $20 onwards online).

The remote control works intermittently, or the display is faded

If your remote only works sometimes, or the display is faded, your batteries are probably dying. Replacing the batteries should fix the issue.

Panasonic air con is making a noise

Air conditioners are complex pieces of equipment, so when they make strange noises like buzzing, clicking, rattling, or hissing, and are doing this on a regular basis, the best thing to do is call a technician to take a look, because it could be caused by all kinds of issues.

Panasonic air con smells

These are the two common Panasonic air con smells you can encounter, and how to fix them:

• Musty—usually caused by mould and bacteria build up inside your AC unit, or by dirty filters. Follow our guide on cleaning your air conditioner to fix this issue.
• Rotten egg smell—usually a dead animal inside your unit like a gecko or rat. You can check the easy-to-reach areas of your system, but unfortunately, you’ll probably need to contact a professional.

Panasonic AC keeps switching off

If your system is turning itself off, you may have set a timer incorrectly. Locate the timer section on your remote, and hit the “Off” button for it.

If that doesn’t solve the issue, the system might be doing something called “short cycling,” which can be caused by overheating, a faulty thermostat, or a lack of maintenance. Again, the best thing to do here is to contact a professional.

Panasonic AC will not turn off

A Panasonic air conditioner that won’t turn off may have a dirty condenser coil, a faulty thermostat, or a damaged control board. You can diagnose the first two issues yourself, but you will need the help of a technician to fix them. Here’s how to diagnose:

• Dirty condenser coil: check the cleanliness inside the top part of your outdoor unit. If there’s leaves or dirt, they will need to be cleaned.
• Faulty thermostat: if the room temperature seems to fluctuate, this could be a sign of a faulty thermostat

Panasonic AC outdoor unit not working

If your outdoor unit is failing to start, first check that it’s plugged in. Next, check that the circuit breaker is turned on in your fuse box. If those things fail, you’ll need to call a technician.

Panasonic air con fault codes

If the “timer” light is flashing on your indoor unit, there’s a system error. But the error doesn’t automatically show on the unit or remote, so you’ll need to complete the following steps to get the error code:

1. Push a pin into the “check” hole on your remote. Hold for about 5 seconds until the screen goes blank.
2. Hold the up button until you hear a long beep, then the fault code will show

Here’s what each Panasonic air con error code means: