When The Heat Index is 106 And Your AC Dies

[wood714]

I was watching Yellowstone last night around 1:30 AM. Noticed it was kinda warm in the house. Checked the thermostat and was reading 80. Had it set to 76.

My AC is in the garage, and it was running, checked the condenser, and it wasn't running, but made a humming sound. Put a screw driver down and turned one of the fan blades, and it took off. Thought all was well at least till morning.

I was wrong. Called the AC people at 7 this morning, and got their answering service. They called at 8:30 and said they'd be out between 4 and 6. Wish I'd called last night!

Gonna hit up Home Depot for a small window unit if they cant fix it today.

 

[wood714]

Just noticed...I never set the time on my thermostat. I never tell time by it anyhow.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I don't recall the brand but when my in-laws central AC evaporator coil failed in FL about a year ago, there was a recall on it that covered the cost.
Usually when it stopped cooling, the condensate tray drain was clogged and tripped the float switch. A pull with the wet vac and a bleach flush cleared it up.
Good luck keeping cool.

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[65-2x2]

Look on the bright side, you can replace the whole unit for under $7,000.00. Ask me how I know this?

I am calling capacitor for your problem. You will probably get out of your issue for $150.00. Good luck.

 

[wood714]

I don't recall the brand but when my in-laws central AC evaporator coil failed in FL about a year ago, there was a recall on it that covered the cost.
Usually when it stopped cooling, the condensate tray drain was clogged and tripped the float switch. A pull with the wet vac and a bleach flush cleared it up.
Good luck keeping cool.

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Float switch was the first thing I checked. Pour vinegar down it every couple months. Use to use bleach, but when I had this unit put in they said vinegar works best.

Second year we had the house built I learned about that. Took my shop vac out to where the pipe drains and pulled what sounded like a few dead lizards out of it.

 

[wood714]

Look on the bright side, you can replace the whole unit for under $7,000.00. Ask me how I know this?

I am calling capacitor for your problem. You will probably get out of your issue for $150.00. Good luck.

It's only 5 years old and all the parts are still under warranty.

Got a little storm heading my way now, if they don't show up I'll be heading to Home Depot to buy a small window unit for my spare bedroom. It's about half the size of my master bedroom and will be nice and cool tonight.

 

[shell627]

I hope it's a easy fix.And you get it done soon.I just cancelled my trip
to El Paso this week my son was having problems with his AC and in the middle of other repairs. So I rescheduled until late fall.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Float switch was the first thing I checked. Pour vinegar down it every couple months. Use to use bleach, but when I had this unit put in they said vinegar works best.



Second year we had the house built I learned about that. Took my shop vac out to where the pipe drains and pulled what sounded like a few dead lizards out of it.

LOL, oh yeah "a few dead lizards" are par for the course down there. Lost count of the petrified geckos we found while packing up my MIL in Boynton Beach a few months ago.
Just remembered, there were some tablets we placed in the drip tray to lessen the scum buildup and associated clogging.

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[BC38]

When the heat index is 106 and your AC dies it is time to go stay in a motel until it is fixed

 

[tlawler]

Look on the bright side, you can replace the whole unit for under $7,000.00. Ask me how I know this?

I am calling capacitor for your problem. You will probably get out of your issue for $150.00. Good luck.

Agree on the cap, especially if you can spin the blade and get it running. It's a $5 part at the supply house. Grainger and Johnstone both sell to homeowners. Easy replacement. Just kill the power and use a screwdriver across the capacitor terminals to bleed off any residual stored voltage.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

My sympathies, I can't sleep without it. I came home one summer night a few years ago, found the window unit in my bedroom kaput. I paid good money for it, too-$20 at a yard sale, GE, PRC made. Got about 300 days out of it. Wrestled it out of the housing, wrestled the GE made in Thailand unit I paid $45 at a Goodwill in place. Still going strong.

 

[wood714]

Agree on the cap, especially if you can spin the blade and get it running. It's a $5 part at the supply house. Grainger and Johnstone both sell to homeowners. Easy replacement. Just kill the power and use a screwdriver across the capacitor terminals to bleed off any residual stored voltage.

Yep, it was the capacitor, just like last time. Charged me $119 for the service call and labor. Took about 5 minutes. Probably be a couple hours before it gets down to 76. I'm gonna go out in the next few days and get the numbers off it, and buy a couple spares.

My sympathies, I can't sleep without it. I came home one summer night a few years ago, found the window unit in my bedroom kaput. I paid good money for it, too-$20 at a yard sale, GE, PRC made. Got about 300 days out of it. Wrestled it out of the housing, wrestled the GE made in Thailand unit I paid $45 at a Goodwill in place. Still going strong.

I called them at 5:00 to make sure they were still coming out. Said they would be here between 6 or 7.

Hopped in my truck and went to Home Depot and bought a little 5000 BTU for $159.00. Just in case they couldn't get it fixed. It's still in my truck kinda thinking about keeping it. If we got hit by a major hurricane it would be most nice to run in a bedroom to sleep at night if the power was gonna be out a few days. Got a generator.

 

[Bugkiller99]

Agree on the cap, especially if you can spin the blade and get it running. It's a $5 part at the supply house. Grainger and Johnstone both sell to homeowners. Easy replacement. Just kill the power and use a screwdriver across the capacitor terminals to bleed off any residual stored voltage.

What fun is that? (bold).

 

[grover99]

AC died of old age a few years ago so spent $5000 putting in a new one. Came with a 5 year warranty. After a year a major part failed. The replacement part was free but cost me $450 labor to get put in. I was less than happy.

 

[doublesharp]

capacitor just died on mine a few minutes ago. House was up to 76. Lucky to have a friend in the business who lives 1/2 mile away. He showed up 10 minutes after my wife called, replaced the cap and charged $20. We forced a $50 on him and it's chilly inside now.

 

[wood714]

AC died of old age a few years ago so spent $5000 putting in a new one. Came with a 5 year warranty. After a year a major part failed. The replacement part was free but cost me $450 labor to get put in. I was less than happy.

The cheap one that the builders put in when I had this place built lasted 11 years without a problem.

In 5 years the new one has needed a new fan motor and capacitor, and another capacitor today.

 

[wood714]

Anyone able to tell what type capacitor this is from these numbers?

I want to have a couple spares on hand.

 

[tlawler]

Anyone able to tell what type capacitor this is from these numbers?

I want to have a couple spares on hand.

It's a dual capacitor. The 40mfd is for the compressor and the 5mfd is for the condenser fan motor. They do that to save space in the electrical box. You could just buy a couple of 5mfd caps and if the fan portion goes again, just zip tie it to the bigger one and make a jumper wire with a female spade terminal on each end and go from where the yellow wire(power to cap) is to one of the terminals on the fan cap. If your fan motor has two brown cap wires(one will have a white stripe), the power comes from one of the motor leads and you just use those wires.

Edit to add: I looked on Amazon and found an Amrad 40+5 cap for $20: [ame]https://www.amazon.com/Round-Universal-Capacitor-Replacement-USA2235/dp/B00GSU440I/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=40%2B5+440v+capacitor&qid=1593560426&sprefix=40%2B5+&sr=8-6[/ame]

 

[tlawler]

What fun is that? (bold).

A capacitor can give you a pretty good bite even after power is off. You need to bleed the voltage off and that's a quick way to do it. The operative words here are "with power off" (and verified with a meter).

 

[Heymatt]

It is a 40/5 Mfd 440 volt. Looks like a generic cap. And by the bracket holding it you have a Carrier family condenser.
It also looks like one of the screws for the hold down bracket is missing. The cap could pivot and touch the contactor coil and short it out.