Home AC quit - capacitor???

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sh00ter

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Not cooling, condenser fan not running but no buzzing and the capacitor isn't leaking or swollen. What should I check?

Also, how do you cut off power using this style switch? There is no obvious way to turn it off and it has warnings all over it for high voltage. I flipped the breaker panel in the garage for the AC for now, but wanted to know if I have to further cut power to swap in a capacitor to see if it fixes it?

Also, is this capacitor in the link a direct replacement for the one in my picture?

https://www.sears.com/maxrun-capacitors-k61z711-maxrun-60-5-mfd-uf-370/p-A092491972
capacitor.jpgswitch.jpg
 

xseler

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Most of those with the labels like that just pull out. It just completes the circuit. If you flip it over, and push it back in, it shouldn't complete the circuit and also covers the contacts for an additional safety measure..

Word of warning --- even a bad capacitor can hold enough charge that could kill you if you should touch the prongs. I usually discharge them with a plastic handle screwdriver (after you remove the wiring leads).

Also, Johnstone Supply in Moore will probably have this capacitor in stock.
https://www.johnstonesupply.com/store359?
Good luck!


Just an FYI, if that doesn't fix it, there will probably be another capacitor on the ducted blower unit.



.
 
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sh00ter

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This reminds me that I probably should take pictures of the 2 capacitors on my unit and get their replacements before I need them.

Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks to you too but I have more questions :)

How can I take off the leads to the capacitor safely if it is charged? Also, when you say you discharge the capacitor, are you jumping the prongs or what? Can you describe it more; I knew generally capacitors stored energy, but thanks so much for the caution because I wasn't even thinking about that right now.

Also, are you saying that even if a garage breaker is off, the outside power switch still needs to be "turned around" as you put it, to turn it off outside too?

Finally, I forgot to mention earlier that if I switch the fan to "on" on the wall thermostat instead of "Auto", nothing happens. So does that indicate the failure is at the blower unit in the attic instead of the outside condenser?

The other times I've run into this, when the capacitor was bad, (on a different house), it was buzzing. Then another time, I had a bad capacitor and it wasn't buzzing, but a new one fixed it. Then a year later, same thing but that time it was the actual fan motor that was bad. I had a friend's dad at the time (he was heat & air guy) fix the capacitor so I didn't have to mess with the voltage thing, but I replaced the fan motor myself.

So I just need more guidance; thanks again for you and anyone else who can help further in this thread.

If I find out I'm in over my head, and and anyone is a real HVAC person who knows what they are doing, I'd pay for some help. PM me if you think you can help if I get stuck because I want this fixed today (Friday).

Thanks!
 

El Pablo

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Thanks to you too but I have more questions :)

How can I take off the leads to the capacitor safely if it is charged? Also, when you say you discharge the capacitor, are you jumping the prongs or what? Can you describe it more; I knew generally capacitors stored energy, but thanks so much for the caution because I wasn't even thinking about that right now.

Also, are you saying that even if a garage breaker is off, the outside power switch still needs to be "turned around" as you put it, to turn it off outside too?

Finally, I forgot to mention earlier that if I switch the fan to "on" on the wall thermostat instead of "Auto", nothing happens. So does that indicate the failure is at the blower unit in the attic instead of the outside condenser?

The other times I've run into this, when the capacitor was bad, (on a different house), it was buzzing. Then another time, I had a bad capacitor and it wasn't buzzing, but a new one fixed it. Then a year later, same thing but that time it was the actual fan motor that was bad. I had a friend's dad at the time (he was heat & air guy) fix the capacitor so I didn't have to mess with the voltage thing, but I replaced the fan motor myself.

So I just need more guidance; thanks again for you and anyone else who can help further in this thread.

If I find out I'm in over my head, and and anyone is a real HVAC person who knows what they are doing, I'd pay for some help. PM me if you think you can help if I get stuck because I want this fixed today (Friday).

Thanks!

if the capacitor is bad, you generally see the fan stutter and fail to start spinning when someone turns the thermostat from off to on. The job of the capaceter is to give the motor extra juice to start spinning.

I just had to replace fuses on my sisters outside unit.

No need to bother turning off power at the breaker in the garage if you can do it at the breaker panel at the unit. No mater what I’d be turning it off at it at the unit.
 

Shinneryfarmer

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If the power is still on and you switched to fan from auto the inside fan should come on even if there is a issue with outside unit. Sounds like to me you need to verify you have 24volts at thermostat. You could have a bad transformer in inside unit or a break ( mouse chewed into) in your thermostat wiring. Not a A/C guy but usually repair my own.
 
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Snattlerake

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The disconnect you have is also a fuse holder. The absolute very first thing I would check is the two slow-blow fuses to the unit.
Pull out the fuses using this handle here.

Us an Ohm Meter to check the continuity of the two fuses.



You also mentioned a clacking noise on a previous unit. That was probably the contactor which can go bad too.

 

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