Home A/C Problems? Any experienced techs to the rescue?

[PhoenixFirebird]

Yes I replaced both of my capacitors because they both blew at about the same time. We took the paper from an A/C/ tech we called and went to a parts store to get the part.

[PhoenixFirebird]

Originally Posted by Crackpot

Wow, they charge you that much? You could get a new unit for a few thousand (at least in Kingman you can.)

Hope your capacitor didn't blow out. Sounds like your fan moter went on lockout. I learned a few things from my supervisor since he's AC certified, he actually used to work for an AC company which is a huge help. Helping him with a few units, he always replaced both fan motor and capacitor rather than deal with the headache of waiting for one or the other to go out. There is also a blower fan (which is basically a squirrel/hamster cage fan) but don't worry about that.

Also, I believe you need the right capacitor for the motor. If you can see what HP(horsepower) the fan motor is, you should get a capacitor that's compatible with that, and make sure you wire it back up correctly. Sometimes an incompatible capacitor can make the AC go on lockout after a few moments.

I've seen it on Bryant and York brand AC, but not sure if it applies to what brand you have.

It was the motor. I learned that they were drawing in more AMPs then the max. which is 1.1. The tech hooked up a meter and the volts climbed to over .9 over the max! I got it fixed though for a lot more than the tech wanted ($1300 per unit).

[PhoenixFirebird]

Originally Posted by johndTX

If you know someone with a good digital voltmeter, you can use it to test your capacitor. The meter will have an option labeled "MFD" for microfarad.
Before you test anything, shut off the power to the condenser and, using a plastic-handle screwdriver, touch both terminals of the capacitor to discharge it. Capacitors work by storing electricity and can give you a nasty shock (or kill your voltmeter) if you fail to discharge it.
Remove all wires from the cap before testing. Refer to the label on the capacitor to find what the reading should be. For condenser fan motors, it's usually around 5-7 mfd.
The condition you describe sounds like a bad fan motor. Sometimes the fan will run for a few minutes, with a new cap, then stop once it heats up.
If you're unable to test the cap but decide to replace the motor, it's a good idea to replace the cap again, just to be safe. A weak cap will kill a brand new motor fairly quickly.
Good luck.

Caps were fine, motor was frying itself. I called a friend who I thought would know how o fix it and he actually directed me to my neighbor who I had never spoken to before! I called him over and he got everything done in about an hour for only $350 total! : D It's been working fine for the past week with no problems.

[PhoenixFirebird]

Originally Posted by sells500

I was just charged $265.00 for a bad capacitor over the weekend the unit stopped...I am certain the part was under $25.00. I know it is a weekend and all but wow I feel ripped!

Yeah when my capacitors blew the first time he techs wanted about that much too. I just got the capacitors myself for $30 each and replaced them. It only took 10 minutes in all. :/ and I saved $540 since both units were fried at the time.

[PhoenixFirebird]

Originally Posted by movinon

I'm in the Sacramento Valley in California and my fan blower motor quit over the weekend. The tech just left . . . $325.00 for both the fan blower motor and the capacitor. Same thing . . . replace both at the same time. They came with a three year warranty and the tech said the 14 year old unit should run for at least five more years. It's a builder-grade unit, so nothing special. Hopefully this will give you a perspective. I spent the weekend at 87 degrees in my house - can't even imagine 100 indoors.

My tech wanted $1500 for just one and said he'd fix both for $2000. They like to rip you off in Arizona cause they know you can't survive long without an a/c. Wasn't having it so I just paid him the diagnostic fee and cried. When my neighborhood tech came out, he checked the capacitor and said it was like new. He got both fan motors for $120 and installed everything ( both units and motors) for only $350.

I wish I could have been in Sacramento Valley. 87 degrees sounds like paradise. It was cooler outside-about 105 at the time- than it was inside. Sucked not being able to be comfortable in your own home.

[boomtownfunlover]

When you say both units are you refering to the outside condensing unit and the inside air handler? If both units stopped running then it would point to a control problem,otherwise, I've never heard of both units failing at the same time.

[sullyguy]

I recently replaced the "squirrel cage" motor and capacitor in my downstairs air handler. It was very easy to find a correct original spec replacement for both; the hard part was going through all the Google hits until finding a reasonably inexpensive one (Original-Spec motor - found it at a North Carolina online shop right across the border from Good Ol' Virginny (where I am)).

However...

Being totallly naive about these things I had no clue that, when you order a motor and separate-item capacitor, you get a motor and capacitor. Period. What was NOT included were two rubber vibration-absorbing mounting rings/bushings that go on either end of the motor...and the ones the incorrect out-of-spec previous motor had were NOT compatible with the new motor.

Fortunately, about 7 miles away is a Grainger outlet and they had the original-spec bushings (Bushing page) in stock so a quick trip (and another 20 bucks) solved that problem.

The actual old-motor-remove/new-motor-install was VERY straightforward (admittedly, I skinned my knuckles a couple times because of the awkward location but the procedure really was easy).

[howard555]

a/c unit comes on and it was cooling the house but I glanced at the thermostat since it had been on a long time and it seemed too warm. Sure enough the inside temperature of the house was high. I went outside and the fan motor was hot to the touch. I could put the entire palm of my hand on the cover and it was hot but not hot enough that I had to pull my hand away. I went back inside and turned it on again and back outside and the fan blade is not turning. The motor is trying to turn it but failing.
I think my cooling system is fine and the problem is the motor.
Could it just be that the unit was on too many hours and got over heated and overnight it might work. We only have a few weeks left of summer heat.

[wheelsup]

Put an amp clamp on the motor to determine if its pulling too many amps. Otherwise you are just guessing. Running the compressor without the fan motor on will damage the compressor.

Also it might be the cap. If you replace the fan motor good practices say replace the cap as well.

[howard555]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

Running the compressor without the fan motor on will damage the compressor. Also it might be the cap. If you replace the fan motor good practices say replace the cap as well.

I ran it 3 minutes to confirm the blade would not turn. It doesn't. We found a local guy who can get us a replacement motor for $30 or so, and even let us install it. The capacitor is not bulging at all, at the top.