HVAC Maintenance Tips - Hard Start + Solid State Contactor

I just wanted to put this out as a PSA to anyone with A/C servicing coming up.

My previous homeowners were notoriously cheap and neglected this house in certain areas, in particular the A/C units. I have two 3-ton units, an American Standard (2003) and a Rheem (2012). Both were struggling to keep the house cool with the weather starting to crank up. I bought the house last September so I haven't really endured a full summer in here yet.

I had an HVAC tech come clean the coils and check refrigerant recently. Both units had inches of dirt and leaves (some worms and weeds growing for good measure) that were choking out the compressors. After a cleaning and topping off refrigerant, the units are humming now and my house feels like the arctic tundra.

I made two upgrades to increase longevity that I figured I would share with other home DIY-ers. I replaced the old pitted contactors with a solid-state units from Emerson and also added an Amrad Easy Start hard start unit as well.

The Emerson Sureswitch replaces a standard contactor and can survive 4-5 times the number of cycles. If you have bug problems or pitting in your contactor and don't want to have to replace it every few years, this will last a long time:

https://climate.emerson.com/en-us/shop/1/white-rodgers-sureswitch?fetchFacets=true#facet:&partsFacet:&facetLimit:&productBeginIndex:0&partsBeginIndex:0&orderBy:2&partsOrderBy:&pageView:list&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&



The Amrad Easy Start is a hard start kit designed to reduce the duration of inrush current upon startup by getting the compressor up to speed much quicker. The initial jolt of inrush current can sometimes be seen in your house when the lights flicker upon startup. Over time these jolts on the compressor can take a toll since the heat in the windings can wear the unit out quicker. The hard start capacitor is only in the start circuit for a fraction of a second and then disconnects once the compressor is up to speed. Don't buy something cheap though - only buy a high quality unit. Make sure to get one with a potential relay rather than a thermistor. I've seen other people suggest the 5-2-1 kit, which is also a good option.

https://amradmanufacturing.com/products/turbo-easy-start-5/



Just thought I'd share my recent findings with the H&G board.