Reminder, now is a good time to pick up a spare capacitor for your HVAC

Repair Clinic

This is one option to order from, the cost will be around $20.

Just don't stick your tongue on the contact points

Here is a video to discharge. How To Safely Discharge Your Air Conditioner Run Capacitor

Wish you would’ve reminded us a week ago!

How much was the HVAC tech bill and how long were you without AC?

Do you know how to check a capacitor to see if it is bad - very easy, numerous YouTube videos - you need a multimeter with a capacitance setting - many multimeters have this, but not all. Of course if it puffy/swollen it’s bad.

Two things that kill capacitors more than anything - heat and voltage spikes. Though you can’t do anything about heat, one can install a surge protector on the HVAC disconnect to mitigate issues with voltage spikes/fluctuations.

Lastly, cheap Chinese capacitors have the most problems. Many HVAC techs on professional HVAC forums I peruse like the American made AmRad capacitors which come with a 5-year warranty, they are only $20-30, just a little more expensive. But there are some other manufactures that make better capacitors with 5-year warranties, Powerwell being one.

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Any ideas on what to check if the capacitor didn't get it running? Blade spins freely, and the air handler inside is running fine.

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Are you getting sound as though the unit is try to start? Humming of the compressor? Have you tried to spin the fan blade through the grill with a stick or screw driver to see if the fan will start when the unit is turned on and calling for cooling?

Let’s assume the new capacitor is good and not bad from the factory - even the HVAC techs on YouTube videos I watch check the capacitance (uF) of new capacitors with a multimeter before they install them which tells me that some new ones must be bad from the factory.

Pull the outside dissconnect, to remove 240 V power to the condensing unit, then check all your electrical connections on the capacitor, to make sure they are tight, also check for loose electrical wire connections at the contactor.

It’s possible it may be a bad contactor or bad fan motor. I had to replace a fan motor on mine last year - the motor windings were good but the bushing/bearings were bad. With a strong flip of the fan blade with a finger, the fan blade on a motor with good bushings may turn a few complete revolutions, but with bad bushings the blade will turn a 1/4 or 1/2 a revolution. You can easily check that your yourself without removing the fan motor - just try spinning it through the grill. You said the fan it’s spinning freely so the motor windings might be bad

Contactors can become pitted with age, insects (ants, etc,) get inside the contactor and cause the contacts not to closely. Check the two very small 24 V wires that attach to the contactor to make sure one of them is not broken - they send the signal from the thermostat to close the contractor when the unit calls for cooling. And it could be an issue with the thermostat even though your air handler runs.

Aside from refrigerant leaks, the 3 most common service calls that HVAC techs need to fix/repair in order are 1. bad capacitor, 2. bad contactor, and 3. bad fan motor. I learned that from watching a YouTube HVAC training video.

Beyond these simple things to try, looks as though you’ll need call a HVAC tech.

New year, new bump

New year, same stance.

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I'm gun shy of capacitors ever since I took the one off a ceiling fan and was re wiring it on the couch and got lit up like a Christmas tree.

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