Posted by: Glenn on June 06, 2000 at 11:07:42:

In Reply to: Re: Air conditioning problem Posted by: Joe on June 05, 2000 at 18:46:16:

: : : : : My central air conditioning unit is not running properly. It is not turning on outside the house in the unit, when I turn on the switch at the thermostat. Further, the fan on the outside unit is only running intermittently; there is also a slight burning smell coming from the outside unit. It still seems to be cooling the house though. I have turned it off for now. Is it a major or minor problem? I would welcome your advice asap. Thanks.

: : : : :: Hello, it could be the fan motor gone bad. In that case replace with same
: : : : type motor. Your contactor may be riddled with fire ants. In that case replace contactor
: : : : and put fire ant chemicals around base of unit(do this anyway). Check fan capacitor for
: : : : bulging out or leaking. Replace if necessary.

: : : Thanks for such a quick reply! I will check all of those you mention. Where is the contactor? Also if it is not making the noise it normally makes, fan is running but no motor noise at all from the unit, would this indicate a deeper problem.. Thanks again.

: : :: What do you mean by motor noise? There is a panel on the outside unit you can remove to access
: : the contactor. It has all the wires connected to it. Look for any burnt wires here. You could also
: : have a thermostat problem. Make sure you have 24volts going to thermostat and wiggle
: : the switch on the thermostat and see what happens.

:
: I checked the panel and the run capacitor was smelling and leaking. I brought it to the parts store, and got a replacement. However, the replacement is a much smaller capacitor physically, but is the same voltage and uf. Also, there was a ground terminal on the old capacitor; it was grounded to the door of the air conditioning unit. The new one has no ground. The guy said he sells them all the time and has never seen a capacitor with a ground wire! I bought it and installed it and the air conditioning unit is running fine. But it seems to be a bit quieter than with the old capacitor. I wanted to check with you to see if I should get a different capacitor, or will this one be fine. The fan is now running fine. (I installed the new one so that I have air conditioning over the next few days). Thanks for all your help.

:: No, that capacitor is fine. Good job.

Followups::

: : : : : : My central air conditioning unit is not running properly. It is not turning on outside the house in the unit, when I turn on the switch at the thermostat. Further, the fan on the outside unit is only running intermittently; there is also a slight burning smell coming from the outside unit. It still seems to be cooling the house though. I have turned it off for now. Is it a major or minor problem? I would welcome your advice asap. Thanks. : : : : : :: Hello, it could be the fan motor gone bad. In that case replace with same : : : : : type motor. Your contactor may be riddled with fire ants. In that case replace contactor : : : : : and put fire ant chemicals around base of unit(do this anyway). Check fan capacitor for : : : : : bulging out or leaking. Replace if necessary. : : : : Thanks for such a quick reply! I will check all of those you mention. Where is the contactor? Also if it is not making the noise it normally makes, fan is running but no motor noise at all from the unit, would this indicate a deeper problem.. Thanks again. : : : :: What do you mean by motor noise? There is a panel on the outside unit you can remove to access : : : the contactor. It has all the wires connected to it. Look for any burnt wires here. You could also : : : have a thermostat problem. Make sure you have 24volts going to thermostat and wiggle : : : the switch on the thermostat and see what happens. : : : : I checked the panel and the run capacitor was smelling and leaking. I brought it to the parts store, and got a replacement. However, the replacement is a much smaller capacitor physically, but is the same voltage and uf. Also, there was a ground terminal on the old capacitor; it was grounded to the door of the air conditioning unit. The new one has no ground. The guy said he sells them all the time and has never seen a capacitor with a ground wire! I bought it and installed it and the air conditioning unit is running fine. But it seems to be a bit quieter than with the old capacitor. I wanted to check with you to see if I should get a different capacitor, or will this one be fine. The fan is now running fine. (I installed the new one so that I have air conditioning over the next few days). Thanks for all your help. : :: No, that capacitor is fine. Good job.

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