Need some home A/C help/advice/thoughts

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shadango

shadango

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SO at about 8 pm last evening, on one of the hottest days of the year, my A/C at home stops working.

Outside compressor runs and shuts down......the condensor fan runs but very very slowly....like 1-2 revs per sec....

I replaced the capacitor 4 years ago (same scenario -- hottest day of the year ...LOL) ....but at that time neither than fan nor compressor would kick on.

My guess, thru internet searches, is its either the fan leg of the capacitor (mine is a dual start cap) or its the fan motor itself.

I ohm tested the 3 wires coming from the motor (brown, red, black)......none of them are shorted to the case, and when I connect brown to red and then brown to black I get two numbers, one ion the 150s or so and one half that. Red to black gets me 75.

I ohm tested the capacitor from the C terminal to the HERM terminal and then C to the other one and both show a steady buildup in reading til it infinities out, like it is supposed to.

When I pulled the brown wire off the capacitor I did notice a very small amount of oil on the wire where it contacted the case, but nothing of notable amount on the cap itself.

I am stuck at work right now but have the parts with me (fan and cap)...

Any thoughts? I plan on relplacing both, IF the shop I have to go to has the parts....they tell me "95% likely we will have a way to set you up".

Not many other choices and it seems that no one sells to individuals anymore....dammit.

It was 87 in my house when I left this morning...supposed to be 98 outside today ....so I know it will be a sweltering inferno when I get home.....

Anyone have any thoughts they can share? Headed to the shop at around 12:30 or 1 (cant get there any sooner)...I am worried they wont have what I need and there goes my chances to get it fixed until mid-next week.......


ARRRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts...
 
If the cap is bad you should be able to jump start the fan by spinning it with your hand.....be careful....if it's bad the motor should come up to speed if not and the motor does not come up to speed your bushings could be shot or because of the intense heat they may be binding due to thermal expansion of the steel shaft.

Next clean the a-coil/check that it has not frozen over. If the fan is not moving air across the a-colis they will turn into a block of ice and take many hours to thaw out. Clean the condensor coils with water and vacuum them to remove any debris that may hide between the fins....AKA cotton wood tree droppings.

Try Grainger in your area for the parts if you have one of those stores.

Good luck.

Mop
 
if its an older fan motor 7 years or so i would just replace the fan motor and capacitor as a set.
 
Your shop will more then likely have a motor for you, it will be a universal motor that will hook up to most any applications, Do what momoparman said and be sure to shut the main power down.
This does sound like the starter capacitor to me, because if the motor was bad it would just hum and feel locked up. But!! could this be a starter relay sending single leg to the motor ?? Not sure, Is this a heat pump system ?
If your coils are froze up I would call home and have some one turn the a/c off and turn the fan on continuos run, there could be a safety switch letting you know your evaporator coils are froze up and and needs to be cleaned or the fan blades on your air handler is built up with dust and it will not move enough air and have little to no air flowing threw it.
I would turn the fan to the run selection in your house and have someone feel how much if any air flow you have. By running just the fan it will slowly melt the block of ice you may have.
 
EL5DEMON340 said:
if its an older fan motor 7 years or so i would just replace the fan motor and capacitor as a set.
Click to expand...

X2, always replace booth to match the capacitor with the new motor.
never just a new motor, agree 100% :home:
 
momoparman said:
If the cap is bad you should be able to jump start the fan by spinning it with your hand.....be careful....if it's bad the motor should come up to speed if not and the motor does not come up to speed your bushings could be shot or because of the intense heat they may be binding due to thermal expansion of the steel shaft.

Next clean the a-coil/check that it has not frozen over. If the fan is not moving air across the a-colis they will turn into a block of ice and take many hours to thaw out. Clean the condensor coils with water and vacuum them to remove any debris that may hide between the fins....AKA cotton wood tree droppings.

Try Grainger in your area for the parts if you have one of those stores.

Good luck.

Mop
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice guys.....

I tried giving the blades a little boost but it didnt seem to help.

I didnt notice the acrid smell from burnt winding that you usually smell, but the body of the motor was pretty hot....of course it was 98 degress out....LOL...but hot to the touch.

I did smell a "heated oil" smell around the unit, but that could have just been the hot compressor....it starts up , runs a bit then shuts down....I assume due to a heat check switch or something.

I am hoping to get the moor and cap together today.......Graingers wont sell to me becase I am not a "professional"......the one place I used to go, stopped selling to the public as well....

One local shop , like I said.....headed there soon to take a roll of the dice.

I do NOT want to sleep in a 90 degree house again........](*,)

May have to pile the family into the durango to sleep overnight with the AC on .............LOL
 
You won't smell anything from the compressor unless the EXTERIOR wires are burning up from heat

The motor may be bad or good -- you probably got it hot by leaving it on too long "not running," a bad thing

WHAT DO YOU HAVE for a starting circuit?

Many fan motors should have just one run cap, end of story.

Some units have a 'real' start relay/ start cap, others have a chicken sh$$ delay mechanism that is supposed to drop the start cap, a glorified "booster" if you will I've forgotten what they are called, seemed to me either Coleman or Carrier just loved 'em for awhile.

If that is what you have, I'd get a REAL start relay and REAL start run cap combo and replace them.

Depending on your money situation, at this point I'd agree--- buy a new motor if you can afford it. Once the wx cools down, you can always get ambitious and see if the old motor is OK and either toss it or save for a spare.
 
Just a thought, if this is a 220 setup, did you check to see if you're getting 220?
 
yea...220-volts across both legs.....hots....120 to ground or the neutral leg if it has one.

Assumed that you already checked that since you seem to be mechanically inclined.....also a great tip above on the fan to help melt the block o ice you may have. I failed to mention all the details.....and I know from recent experience.

Hope you have a basement....ours stays nice and cool in the summer...60 deg all the time.

My office and my garage are down here:toothy7:lucky me as it's 78 upstairs.
 
Well I am feeling pretty blessed right now..........

The shop had both the capacitor and a motor in stock.....its one of those places where you just know the guys know their stuff.....

The guy tested the capacitor first and that was the issue...dead fan leg on the capacitor.

I bought the new motor anyways, even though he said its probably fine......I figured that for an extra $100 it was worth it.....already had the old one out, which is 25 years old.....

took abouit a half hour tops to install and another to button up the sheetmetal/covers.

I HAVE AC AGAIN! :clapping: Fired right up. Its been running non stop since 2:45, so I guess its fixed.

House started at 88 degrees then and is now down to 76.

Thanks all for the advice and info!
 
shadango said:
Well I am feeling pretty blessed right now..........

The shop had both the capacitor and a motor in stock.....its one of those places where you just know the guys know their stuff.....

The guy tested the capacitor first and that was the issue...dead fan leg on the capacitor.

I bought the new motor anyways, even though he said its probably fine......I figured that for an extra $100 it was worth it.....already had the old one out, which is 25 years old.....

took abouit a half hour tops to install and another to button up the sheetmetal/covers.

I HAVE AC AGAIN! :clapping: Fired right up. Its been running non stop since 2:45, so I guess its fixed.

House started at 88 degrees then and is now down to 76.

Thanks all for the advice and info!
Click to expand...


Ahhhhhh.
 
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