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re: Any way to get an AC capacitor in town without a license?
Posted on 7/3/22 at 12:25 pm to CrawDude
Posted on 7/3/22 at 12:25 pm to CrawDude
Amazing the frequency this stuff fails on weekends, holiday weekends at that.
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My HVAC guy goes out of town for the 4th every year. I can't tell you how many times I've called him in Grand Isle to step me through repairs. I hold my breath.
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My HVAC guy goes out of town for the 4th every year. I can't tell you how many times I've called him in Grand Isle to step me through repairs. I hold my breath.
0
Posted on 7/3/22 at 12:43 pm to gorillacoco
quote:
I have a buddy down the road who has a 10mf capacitor. Mine is 80/10. Can I connect the fan across the 10mf capacitor separately and leave the compressor on the 80/10 one?
Yes, you can - as I recall you pull the fan wire off the dual run capacitor and connect it to one of the terminals on the 10 uF capacitor. Then you need a separate wire, you would have to make one with spade connectors, to jump between between the second terminal on the 10 uF capacitor and one the spade connectors (usually 4 blades) on the “common” of the dual run capacitor in the condensing unit.
I’ve watched several videos of HVAC techs doing just this when they didn’t have the proper size dual run capacitor on their truck - I’m just trying to recall the procedure from memory, you just need to find a video or procedure on the web to verify if this is correct.
ETA: I think I’m correct in the wiring procedure. Using the separate 10 uF capacitor. Here is a video of DYIer who had to do the same thing. LINK. Another LINK. And another LINK
This post was edited on 7/3/22 at 4:31 pm
Posted on 7/3/22 at 12:54 pm to ItzMe1972
Crap he is out of town until tomorrow
Posted on 7/3/22 at 1:02 pm to CrawDude
quote:
Yes, you can - as I recall you pull the fan wire off the dual run capacitor and connect it to one of the terminals on the 10 uF capacitor. Then you need a separate wire, you would have to make one with spade connectors, to jump between between the second terminal on the 10 uF capacitor and one the spade connectors (usually 4 blades) on the “common” of the dual run capacitor in the condensing unit. I’ve watched several videos of HVAC techs doing just this when they didn’t have the proper size dual run capacitor not their truck - I’m just trying to recall the procedure from memory, you just need to find a video or procedure on the web to verify if this is correct.
Yeah I think I understand how it would work now. If I can get that capacitor tomorrow I’ll try it.
Is there any way to test if the fan is bad without replacing the capacitor? Trying to get ahead of it if possible
Posted on 7/3/22 at 1:24 pm to gorillacoco
quote:
Yeah I think I understand how it would work now. If I can get that capacitor tomorrow I’ll try it. Is there any way to test if the fan is bad without replacing the capacitor? Trying to get ahead of it if possible
I linked a few videos in my previous post showing wiring the 10 uF capacitor to the dual run capacitor - my memory was correct. You need to make a jumper wire - get wire and spade connectors at HD, Lowes, etc.
Fan - yes you can check it. You can Ohm out the motor winding on the fan to see if the motor is bad - unfortunately your multimeter doesn’t have an Ohm (resistance) function either - maybe you can borrow one. Here a video how to do that. LINK (note: this tech has a great YouTube Channel, I have his books).
If the motor windings are good, spin the fan blades as I mentioned earlier - if you don’t get several rotations of the fan blade with a hard spin, but rather get less than a complete single rotation, then the bushings are bad. In my case 2 years ago the fan motor ohmed out as being good, but the bushings/bearings were bad. I only got 1/4 fan rotation with a hard spin - the new motor with fan blade attached rotated 4 times with a hard manual spin. Fortunately my issue occurred in March so I had time to order a replacement motor from Amazon and replaced it myself.
Posted on 7/3/22 at 1:31 pm to CrawDude
I think my multimeter measures ohms on the bottom left quadrant. I’ll give the windings a check. Thanks for the help. I’ll also watch the vids before I rewire a capacitor if I can’t get an exact part match.
Posted on 7/3/22 at 1:45 pm to gorillacoco
quote:
think my multimeter measures ohms on the bottom left quadrant.
My bad - it does.
Good luck - hopefully it’s just the capacitor and not the fan motor.
Posted on 7/3/22 at 2:25 pm to gorillacoco
Lay a box fan on top of the condenser blowing upwards. Turn on fan, then turn on central air. You can see if the Condenser fan will stay running to prove its the capacitor. Either way, leave the box fan running to keep everything going till you get the fan fixed. Otherwise when the unit cycles off it won't be able to come back on again.
Posted on 7/3/22 at 2:45 pm to gorillacoco
Grainger
Posted on 7/3/22 at 3:44 pm to gorillacoco
you do not need a license to buy a capacitor. Just Refrigerant .
Posted on 7/5/22 at 10:40 am to gorillacoco
Bought a capacitor at Ferguson’s off Airline last week
Posted on 7/5/22 at 10:00 pm to CrawDude
Well, I replaced the capacitor and it did not fix the issue. I did notice (didn’t before) that on the old capacitor both of the fan terminals were burnt and the insulation was melted at the connection for one of them. So maybe the capacitor was broken too?
Anyway I had the cover off and got the wife to turn on the AC, and noticed that the contactor was chattering. I tested voltage on it and the line side was 250V, coil voltage was 22V (it’s rated for 24VAC) and load side was 0V. I removed the top of the contactor (powered off anytime I was messing with it) and noticed one of the contacts had some soot on both sides of it. I tried to push in the contacts manually (with electricians screwdrivers on top of the plastic) while the wife tried to run it again but I couldn’t get them to actually close. Going to try and get a new one at Grainger tomorrow. Fortunately it’s been raining every day so the upstairs unit has been making the situation pretty tolerable at the house. Just hoping I don’t kill the upstairs unit running it alone so much. Any thoughts/advice is appreciated if I’m missing something. Thanks for the help people.
Anyway I had the cover off and got the wife to turn on the AC, and noticed that the contactor was chattering. I tested voltage on it and the line side was 250V, coil voltage was 22V (it’s rated for 24VAC) and load side was 0V. I removed the top of the contactor (powered off anytime I was messing with it) and noticed one of the contacts had some soot on both sides of it. I tried to push in the contacts manually (with electricians screwdrivers on top of the plastic) while the wife tried to run it again but I couldn’t get them to actually close. Going to try and get a new one at Grainger tomorrow. Fortunately it’s been raining every day so the upstairs unit has been making the situation pretty tolerable at the house. Just hoping I don’t kill the upstairs unit running it alone so much. Any thoughts/advice is appreciated if I’m missing something. Thanks for the help people.
Posted on 7/5/22 at 10:52 pm to gorillacoco
May very well be a bad contractor - easy enough part to change and not expensive. Looks like you are getting the voltage required to the contactor from both the line and the thermostat when it calls for cooling. After changing the contactor and before you fire it up double check to make sure all your electrical connections are tight, and that includes checking that all the electrical spade connectors are firmly seated on the capacitor and the contactor. .
This post was edited on 7/7/22 at 1:08 pm
Posted on 7/6/22 at 11:08 pm to CrawDude
FYI I replaced the contactor this evening and it got back up and running almost immediately. $24 at Notoco. Thanks for all the replies.
Posted on 7/7/22 at 8:53 am to gorillacoco
quote:
FYI I replaced the contactor this evening and it got back up and running almost immediately. $24 at Notoco. Thanks for all the replies.
Good job, thanks for sharing what the problem was. I was watching some HVAC training videos a while back and instructor stated as far frequency of HVAC repairs go, capacitors is #1, contractors #2, condensor fan motors #3. Keep a spare capacitor at the house, particularly if the new you added to replace the old one is made in China.
This post was edited on 7/7/22 at 10:14 am
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