Possible compressor failure? HELP PLEASE :)
#1
06-11-10, 02:13 AM
Possible compressor failure? HELP PLEASE :)
We have about 12 year old central ac unit in Texas. We have had off & on problems with the ac for the last 5 years we have been in our house. The most recent issues have been:
1. AC would not cool so we replaced the the capacitor & hard start relay two weeks ago. Well in my husbands attempt to do it himself, first he hooked the hard start relay on wrong & it sort of blew up in his face. Luckily everyone was ok. We were told (by a friend AC guy, the relay was ok for a bit)
2. One week ago, no power to unit upstairs or down. The breaker in the main power box was not working correctly so we replaced that breaker.
3. 4 days ago, outside unit kicks on & you could hear the compressor trying to kick on but it would not stay on. Left the unit off for 12 hours or so while we were at work. Fixed the hard start relay. Eveything has been great....sort of....
I mentioned that I thought the lights were flickering a few times the ac tried to come on. Everyone around here said I was crazy. Well tonight I"m up because I was hot & noticed that the thermostat said it was 79 in here but it is set to 72. So I go outside & notice the compressor was not running. I shut the unit down, waited 10 minutes & turned it back on. The unit comes on (fan is running) and the compressor tries to kick on but will not stay on. We do not have the money for a new unit even though we have been advised we need one.
We are low on funds & are trying to do it ourselves. Any advice and knowledge is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
1. AC would not cool so we replaced the the capacitor & hard start relay two weeks ago. Well in my husbands attempt to do it himself, first he hooked the hard start relay on wrong & it sort of blew up in his face. Luckily everyone was ok. We were told (by a friend AC guy, the relay was ok for a bit)
2. One week ago, no power to unit upstairs or down. The breaker in the main power box was not working correctly so we replaced that breaker.
3. 4 days ago, outside unit kicks on & you could hear the compressor trying to kick on but it would not stay on. Left the unit off for 12 hours or so while we were at work. Fixed the hard start relay. Eveything has been great....sort of....
I mentioned that I thought the lights were flickering a few times the ac tried to come on. Everyone around here said I was crazy. Well tonight I"m up because I was hot & noticed that the thermostat said it was 79 in here but it is set to 72. So I go outside & notice the compressor was not running. I shut the unit down, waited 10 minutes & turned it back on. The unit comes on (fan is running) and the compressor tries to kick on but will not stay on. We do not have the money for a new unit even though we have been advised we need one.
We are low on funds & are trying to do it ourselves. Any advice and knowledge is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
#2
06-11-10, 10:50 PM
Forum Topic Moderator
Was the compressor running before you replaced everything?
(Could it have been low on charge, return air leak, dirty coils....)
The start relay and start cap should be replace at the same time. A bad relay can smoke the cap in a few minutes.
Was the Run capacitor replaced as well?
Any melted wiring at the compressor terminals?
(Could it have been low on charge, return air leak, dirty coils....)
The start relay and start cap should be replace at the same time. A bad relay can smoke the cap in a few minutes.
Was the Run capacitor replaced as well?
Any melted wiring at the compressor terminals?
#3
06-15-10, 11:39 AM
Was the compressor running before you replaced everything? Yes & we recently took the top of the unit off, cleaned the coils from the inside out, let it dry & put it back together.
The start relay and start cap should be replace at the same time. A bad relay can smoke the cap in a few minutes.
Does the capacitor have to be bulged to be bad?
Was the Run capacitor replaced as well?
We replaced both the run capacitor & the hard start kit 2.5 weeks ago. While attempting to reconnect the hard start blew some black smoke out so we replaced it but we did not replace the capacitor again.
Any melted wiring at the compressor terminals?
We have not taken the lid off of the compressor yet. We were also instructed by an a/c friend to change out the contactor in the unit.
Everything is running now but from what we have been told the compressor is on it's last leg. We leave the unit set to 82 during the day & 79 at night. We live south of Houston. The unit will still run for an hour during the day before it cuts off. We are trying to baby it as much as we can but don't know what else to do. Any other advice or tips is appreciated.
Thanks.
The start relay and start cap should be replace at the same time. A bad relay can smoke the cap in a few minutes.
Does the capacitor have to be bulged to be bad?
Was the Run capacitor replaced as well?
We replaced both the run capacitor & the hard start kit 2.5 weeks ago. While attempting to reconnect the hard start blew some black smoke out so we replaced it but we did not replace the capacitor again.
Any melted wiring at the compressor terminals?
We have not taken the lid off of the compressor yet. We were also instructed by an a/c friend to change out the contactor in the unit.
Everything is running now but from what we have been told the compressor is on it's last leg. We leave the unit set to 82 during the day & 79 at night. We live south of Houston. The unit will still run for an hour during the day before it cuts off. We are trying to baby it as much as we can but don't know what else to do. Any other advice or tips is appreciated.
Thanks.
