AC outside unit not coming on

VortecJeep

VortecJeep

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Aug 24, 2005
Location
Concord, NC
The outside unit on our AC is not coming on. I can hear a hum and a click, but the fan doesn't come on. The fan that circulates the air in the house is working fine. Breaker is not tripped. What's going on? Is there a motor starting capacitor on that outside unit that has went bad? Any simple checks I can do before calling someone?
 
I HAD THE PROBLEM LAST YEAR AND THE REPAIR MAN SAID THEIR IS CONTACTS OUTSIDE ON THE UNIT THAT STARTS IT AND 1 ANT GOT IN THERE AND IT WASN'T GETTING GOOD CONTACT GO FIGURE 1 ANT 70 DOLLAR FIX
 
VortecJeep said:
The outside unit on our AC is not coming on. I can hear a hum and a click, but the fan doesn't come on. The fan that circulates the air in the house is working fine. Breaker is not tripped. What's going on? Is there a motor starting capacitor on that outside unit that has went bad? Any simple checks I can do before calling someone?
Click to expand...
capacitor is what was wrong with mine
 
Yep, already had my capacitor replaced ( I didn't know that was what it was ) this year. It was bulged out on top. But they don't always do that when bad.

Matt
 
Id bet on a capacitor as well.

BTW they sell them at Trane/Carriers etc. stores for less than $20, an HVAC tech will probably charge you $200 for them.
 
I just pulled the capacitor. Black dot on top is a bad sign. The capacitance is in the nanofarad range instead of the microfarad range. Now, I wonder if anywhere is open now that sells them?
 
VortecJeep said:
I just pulled the capacitor. Black dot on top is a bad sign. The capacitance is in the nanofarad range instead of the microfarad range. Now, I wonder if anywhere is open now that sells them?
Click to expand...

You can also try CC Dickson and United Refrigeration.
 
From my experience not just anybody can buy parts for heat pumps/AC. You have to be a liscensed HVAC guy. But if you have any connections by all means use them cause the ''GUY'' will stick it to you. And yes I had the same problem last year and costed me like $200 to replace the $25 part. This is the reason I now have a new HVAC guy. I can't remember exactly but you can jump the wires momentarly to see if your fan comes on to be sure it is the capacitor.





















Not responsible for accidents.
 
Jumping the wires *could* damage the compressor dont do it.
You can buy capacitors all day long, but not freon. You will pay list where as a contractor may get 50% off list...again you will pay $25 he may pay 13, he will charge $250...its the going rate.

hell you are in concord. Trane on S tryon will sell to anybody, and a cap is a cap (provded that the ratings are equal) they are proprietary to brands
 
X whatever on teh capacitor, sounds like you nailed it.
Same thing happened to me last year, nice big bulge on it.
Call up Tran and just ask if they have it.
If you were in Winston I could tell where I bought parts from that had no trouble selling to me.
 
Just an FYI to add to the knowledge base.... My a/c died today. Just got in from getting it fixed (yes, it's 12:45a.m....and yes, my next door neighbor happens to a hvac tech). Outside unit was coming on, but air circulating fan would not kick in...so outside promptly froze over. Bad transformer. Tech's helper (brother) said it was a 220 to 24 transformer, there are two of them, common point of failure on the Carriers (don't know how accurate that info is...he wasn't up under the house fixing it, his bro was).
 
SkyHiK5 said:
Jumping the wires *could* damage the compressor dont do it.
You can buy capacitors all day long, but not freon. You will pay list where as a contractor may get 50% off list...again you will pay $25 he may pay 13, he will charge $250...its the going rate.

hell you are in concord. Trane on S tryon will sell to anybody, and a cap is a cap (provded that the ratings are equal) they are proprietary to brands
Click to expand...
That's just the way my HVAC guy showed me how to do it. just Passing on the info.
 
kaiser715 said:
Just an FYI to add to the knowledge base.... My a/c died today. Just got in from getting it fixed (yes, it's 12:45a.m....and yes, my next door neighbor happens to a hvac tech). Outside unit was coming on, but air circulating fan would not kick in...so outside promptly froze over. Bad transformer. Tech's helper (brother) said it was a 220 to 24 transformer, there are two of them, common point of failure on the Carriers (don't know how accurate that info is...he wasn't up under the house fixing it, his bro was).
Click to expand...

Huh - same thing happened to my old unit as well... it a carrier too...
I dug around online and ordered a whole new circuit board for $25, vs the $215 quoted from the HVAC co.
 
One of our HVAC guys here at work has the capacitor I need in his car, so I should have cool air tonight. Makes me think that next time I go to my parents' place at the beach I'm going to open the cover and get the numbers off that capacitor and buy a spare...No A/C in a mobile home in the summer on the coast would be miserable.
 
most of the time its the capacitor, if its sweled is a sighn of it being bad. it can olso be a bad fan motor. try to turn the fan blades if it spins kinda free its ok if its hard the motors proly bad
 
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