Bryant AC fan kicks off after a minute or two.

My fan just turns off after a minute of use then it doesn't come on after that. The fans are running fine to circulate air in the house but the fan on the condenser outside just stops working.

A friend of mine suggested the thermostat was bad. So we replaced it. Then he said the contactor isn't working properly. So I replaced that too. The AC fired up and the fan started working but only for a minute and now it won't start up again. The LED status light blinks really fast and does not blink a number code. I took pictures of all the wires as I changed out the contactor so I can't understand what's going on really.

Could the starter relay be the next thing to replace? I'm assuming the little black box under the contactor is the starter relay. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Here are some pictures:

The original contactor before I touched it:


The new contactor installed:


I kept the black wire on the contactor lined up with the actual contact plate that goes up and down.

 

Here is a picture showing the units with more detail:

 

I double checked some connections in the fan unit inside the garage and everything looks fine and the wire ends are in good shape and secure. I turned it on and the outside fan ran for about 12 minutes this time before it shut off.

 

Close look again:


Compressor time relay I think...:


Besides that the capacitor looks just fine. All the connections are corrosion free...

 

It sounds like the capacitor for the outdoor fan is faulty.

 

Thanks DJ. Yeah it shouldn't cost much for a new one of those... I'll go get one right now. I'll post back with an update.

Here is the original one... years later it still looks good but I'm sure it could just as easily be bad on the inside.

 

It could be open and you would not see any external evidence.

 

I was also wondering if it could be a faulty /worn out high pressure switch or low pressure switch. I'll try the cap first in order to determine the exact part instead of replacing it all.

 

Those switches would not interfere with the fanmmtors operation. Exactly what is happening? Only the fan motor goes off, then the compreesor gets louder for a bit then shuts off? Or is the entire unit shutting off?

 

Only the fan motor shuts off. From inside the house and inside the garage where the AC/furnace unit is you can't tell that's its not working. The outside fan just shuts off and the cold air stops inside. It doesn't make any weird noises or anything.

 

I should have mentioned this before. On the capacitor you'll find 2 ratings, uf [or might be mfd] and vac. Your's is a dual capacitor so you'll see something like 35/5 uf 370 vac. The rules:

1. uf- equal to what you have now.

2. vac- equal to or greater but not lower than what you have now.

 

Well I just had a feeling that the freon level was low because we just don't use the AC that much ever. So I bypassed the Discharge Temp Switch (DTS) with a jumper wire. And it runs just fine... just doesn't blow all that cold. So I'm having an HVAC friend of mine come out and fill it up for me tonight. At least I got some chilled air flowing in the house now for the time being.

The blue wire I'm using is the skinny one with the alligator clip on one end. The yellow wire comes from the DTS and is hanging to the side.



To trace the DTS wires I peeled back the cover from the compressor motor. The DTS is on the very top of the thing. The other wires that go into the side are for the motor and are connected up to the capacitor. I was going to go buy the cap but I just figured I would give the DTS bypass a shot just for the heck of it.

Here is a picture before I took the cover off and threw the jumper wire on it:

 

The DTS should have kept the contactor from engaging. Don't be surprised if the refrigerant leak is in the evaporator coil.