Home AC quit - capacitor???

[Snattlerake]

Agree 100% with your post. AC capacitors discharge themselves because they are AC.
DC capacitors on the other hand are an entire different animal.
They actually store current and need to be discharged manually by shorting between the poles with a shorting rod like a screwdriver for low voltage caps. (480v and below)
High voltage DC caps may require grounding rods that can be 8’ in length and flash suits to discharge.
Sounds like a high power rifle shot going off when the grounding rod gets close to the pole which generates an arc that is brilliant enough to cause vision damage if not wearing the protective gear.
Quite the experience to do that.

Sometimes a loud boom is created by reforming the caps with A/C. Ask how I know.

 

[Snattlerake]

Since my old unit is gone and the new one has been installed, I have a new drain into a flower bed. Condensation has been pouring out and now I have a puddle/small pond. I want to install a cage on the pipe to prevent critters and I want to route the water elsewhere like a lateral line setup in a leach field. My problem, everything I can think of will just be an algae growth within a few months.

 

[sh00ter]

Well guys, my last post summed it up. It is fixed and now I have a coupler I can remove whenever I need to if it ever gets clogged again (probably will in a few years). Thanks again to my fellow OSA member. Same guy has helped me before with my heater; let's keep this board this way regardless of the few debates & disagreements we sometimes have.

 

[Fredkrueger100]

Funny I read this just now, it’s 71 in the house, I’m freezing to death here, when I was heavier I sweated all the time. I lost 75 lbs with all my surgeries, I got no insulation anymore!

Dadgum I would be sweating to death! I am skinny but get hot really easy. I keep my thermostat on 67! Sadly though my master bedroom and bathroom is always warmer because my unit is a little too small for my house and it’s almost 14 year old. I want a new one but dang they are expensive. I should have became a heat and air guy!

 

[mr ed]

Something to watch out for is ants. 2 units at my parents place quit and the ac guy found the contactors were full of ants.
Shooter, on a well plumbed drain pipe, where the pvc comes out of the A-coil the pvc should have a piece sticking up 2-3 inches with a cap or plug.
you can undo that and blast it out with an air hose and then place a funnel there and pour a cup or so of bleach in. The bleach will kill the algae that grows in the pipe. also you can run a 20 ft flimsy drain snake thru it each way. I've had some really plugged up ones over the years. they get full of bugs and other creatures in the off season.

 

[Rooster1971]

Something to watch out for is ants. 2 units at my parents place quit and the ac guy found the contactors were full of ants.
Shooter, on a well plumbed drain pipe, where the pvc comes out of the A-coil the pvc should have a piece sticking up 2-3 inches with a cap or plug.
you can undo that and blast it out with an air hose and then place a funnel there and pour a cup or so of bleach in. The bleach will kill the algae that grows in the pipe. also you can run a 20 ft flimsy drain snake thru it each way. I've had some really plugged up ones over the years. they get full of bugs and other creatures in the off season.

I’ve seen ants get in the contactors quite a bit. Something about the magnetic field of the coil attracts them.

 

[dennishoddy]

I’ve seen ants get in the contactors quite a bit. Something about the magnetic field of the coil attracts them.

I’ve fixed a couple of water well issues for folks by finding ants in the pressure switch contactor after they were told the pump had failed and needed replacement.

 

[TerryMiller]

Something to watch out for is ants. 2 units at my parents place quit and the ac guy found the contactors were full of ants.
Shooter, on a well plumbed drain pipe, where the pvc comes out of the A-coil the pvc should have a piece sticking up 2-3 inches with a cap or plug.
you can undo that and blast it out with an air hose and then place a funnel there and pour a cup or so of bleach in. The bleach will kill the algae that grows in the pipe. also you can run a 20 ft flimsy drain snake thru it each way. I've had some really plugged up ones over the years. they get full of bugs and other creatures in the off season.

Spectracide Bug Stop does the trick for us.

Just don't use it in confined areas.