Show All ItemsWith summer approaching soon comes the time to turn on the AC to keep the house cold. You might notice that your electric bill spikes up more than expected or that your house is just having trouble staying cold. If it's been more than a few years sense your last AC unit cleaning (or you cant remember ever having them cleaned) then its probably time for a clean. It's a fairly easy process so save some money by doing it yourself! Step 1: Safety firstShow All ItemsWhenever doing ANY work with electronics its important to turn the electricity off and check voltage on the unit with a multimeter. Again, DO NOT WORK ON LIVE ELECTRONICS. For this particular project the risk isn't as much to do with shock (though this still exists and adding water to the mix is even more reason to be cautious) but more to do with fear of the unit turning on and spinning fan blades. Most units should have an electronics box near the unit on the outside of the building. Open it up and flip the switch to the OFF position.

« PreviousNext »View All Steps DownloadIt only happens occasionally. indoor blower goes off; outdoor unit continues to run and can only be turned off with circuit breaker. Only 2 or 3 things can cause this. The most common is a stuck compressor contactor. Located in the outside unit, the contacts get pitted and eventually weld shut. This can cause serious damage. Some authorities think it is good practice to replace the contactor every few years just like you would replace the spark plugs in an automobile. Other causes would be a shorted thermostat cable or a defective thermostat. Below is a list of possible causes and usually require a service technician to correct. Hope this has been of some assistance, however they are just rough guidelines and not all possible conditions are covered. The company You Choose To Install and Service Your System Will Determine The Degree of Comfort and Satisfaction You Enjoy. Excerpts of the preceding information have been compiled by Hannabery HVAC, which has graciously permitted us to include them on this web site as a service for all homeowners.

" are provided FREE and as a consequence Climatemakers does not assume any liability resulting from any information we provide. vw beetle ac compressorIn all cases where there is any possibility of injury, consequential damage, direct damage to your equipment or when recommended by the equipment manufacturer, your system should be repaired, inspected or maintained by a qualified technician.window air conditioner repair london ontarioHave a constructive comment? 3 ton unit return duct size If you find an error on this page I would appreciate it if you would email us or call 757 468-5800.This guide is meant to assist residential home owners in troubleshooting any HVAC capacitor problems with their split unit air conditioning system.

One hot South Florida afternoon I noticed that our A/C was blowing warm air out of the vents (a.k.a. "registers"). So I began the process of figuring out what was wrong by going outside to check on the condenser unit. The condenser outdoor unit consists of a fan, coils, cooling fins, a hermetically sealed compressor, electrical contactor and a dual start capacitor. Neither the fan nor the compressor wereBut I could hear a distinct electric humming noise. hand on top of the unit's housing where the fan motor is mounted and itThe compressor was also turned off in thermal After doing some online research I suspected that the symptoms of the problem with my air conditioner pointed to a faulty "dual motor run/start capacitor". To be sure, I used a stick to give the fan blades a jump start in the correct direction. Sure enough the fan blades easily began to spin and the motor quickly revved up to normal speed but I

still couldn't hear the compressor making any noise. I checked inside and the A/C was still blowing warm air but slightly less hot than before. fan blades on your motor won't spin at all or take a lot of force to move them, your fan motor has seized and probably needs to be replaced. convinced that my MARS GE (General Electric) air conditioning system needed a new combination or "combo" capacitor to help the condenser fan and compressor get the kick start of alternating current electricity that they needed to operate, I pulled the fuses. Don't let your AC unit just sit there humming and building up heat if your unit has the same problem, at least turn it off at the thermostat and then turn off the power at both the breaker box and condenser fuse box if you're going to open the case. To access the electrical panel I had to remove the top cover where the fan is attached using an 8mm socket (or flat head screwdriver), lift it slightly off to the side and then take out two more screws

on the bottom of the condenser unit housing. With that side panel off I could electrical contactor and the old capacitor. It's a sure sign that your capacitor needs to be replaced when it looks disfigured, bent, bulging, popped, or is leaking an oil like or greasy substance. single pole contactor for any insects, bugs or ants stuck in between the silver contacts but it seemed to be clean and working correctly. stuck in the contactor can cause the outdoor A/C unit to stay on even when you turn it off at the thermostat. The indoor evaporator unit and blower will stop but the condenser outside will remain on because the contactor may have welded itself in the on position. The old capacitor was very swollen and looked like a soda can that had been repeatedly shaken up. sure to write down which wires go to what terminal on your capacitor before removing the old one or just take a few pictures. For home air conditioning

systems that use dual run/start capacitors they will have 3 terminals. terminal labeled "HERM" is for the yellow wire that goes to the The "FAN" terminal gets connected to the brown wire that goes to the condenser fan. Finally the "COM" terminal is for the purple and red wires that go to the contactor and provide power to the Before you remove the old capacitor, you must discharge the stored electricity or you could be shocked! There are several ways to accomplish this task. You could use either a 100 watt light bulb wired up to alligator clips, a 20k to 100k ohm resistor also wired with alligator clamps or just a large screwdriver with an insulated I opted for the screwdriver capacitor discharging method with rubber gloves added for extra safety. Luckily my capacitor wasn't holding a charge so there weren't any dramatic screwdriver welding sparks or loud electrical pops with bright flashes of arching lightning bolts.

Can you tell that I was just a little bit disappointed? sure that the old capacitor is discharged of all electricity, short each of the terminals across each other and also to the metal lip on the body. you can gently wiggle loose and remove the HERM, FAN and COM wires. old part in hand, I took a trip to my local air conditioning supply warehouse to buy a new capacitor. For those of you living in South Florida, I can recommend ASAP Appliance Parts Inc. located at 1100 N. Florida Mango Rd. Suite "H" in West Palm Beach, FL 33409. My old capacitor was a 370 VAC 60 HZ unit which they didn't have an exact match for but they said that it was perfectly fine to replace it with a higher voltage 440 Volt The total cost with sales tax was $31.84. less expensive than the $150 to $250 or more that a professional HVAC company (heating, ventilation, & air conditioning) technician would have charged me for the service call, the part and labor.