been meaning to order a spare A/C capacitor all summer

Nothing is more satisfying than when it starts working, whether a capacitor for AC in the summer or clearing out that pesky pressure sensor for the exhaust fan on the heater in the winter.

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Did you follow a specific video on how to change it? I have a spare but I don’t want to electrocute myself if mine goes out.

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If you have any basic tool skills you can do it. The most important part is to pull the disconnect at the unit and then discharge the capacitor. This video is pretty good at showing the steps:

LINK

Better than hitting the lottery.

yup...already on order ;-)

if you know or can find you unit's model number you can likely look it up on the internet, but it's easy to just remove the cover on the unit and see what is currently in it

you are looking for the capacitance value on your capacitor's label...it's a number followed by either MFD or uF (for microfarads)...some have 2 capacitors internally, one is the capacitor for the compressor and the other is the capacitor for the fan, so they'll list 2 numbers...mine was a 40/5 MFD meaning it has a 40 MFD and 5 MFD capacitor bundled together internally and so has 3 terminals

you also want to match the max rated AC voltage that yours lists...in the picture below this one was rated for 370 or 440 VAC...as long as the replacement meets or exceeds this max VAC you are good

Call the AC guy. He has to eat too

im really curious about how the unit is going to react if the capacitor goes bad while having a soft starter on it, will the soft starter detect it and not start the compressor? the thing is the soft starter actually has a starting capacitor in it that temporarily goes in parallel with the main capacitor while the TRIAC ramps the current on the run winding, will it still be able to start the compressor?

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Now order another to have a back up.

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I’ve got 3 on the shelf. Also spare fan motor, contactor, another cap for blower fan along with a spare transformer.

And all that for less than one service call.

Not this again. AC guy is fat and happy this summer.

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The hardest part is dealing with the wasps that are nesting in the breaker box and area where the capacitor is.

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Had to have a guy come out earlier this summer for a capacitor(I did not know that was the issue) and he found three nests.