gremlins in my condenser


  #1  
Old 07-07-12, 11:44 AM
K
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
gremlins in my condenser

My central ac quit working last night, I went to the condenser and the fan was not turning but I heard a very loud buzz from the compressor. I spun the fan with a screwdriver and it started to spin at a bit less than half speed but it did start to cool. The fan stopped about 10 minutes later and would not restart. Today I replaced the run capacitor and the contactor. When I turn the power back on it kicks in for a second and shuts back down. If I hold the contactor in the fan and compressor do run and it does cool. I release the contact and it immediately shuts down again. I checked the voltage from the thermostat transformer and am getting 26 volts at the contactor. I plugged the thermostat leads into the old contactor and the solenoid pulls and holds firmly.

I'm stumped.

Could it be the start relay? Or is there something else it could be?

Thank you for any input you can provide.
 
  #2  
Old 07-07-12, 01:06 PM
hvactechfw's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 5,491
Upvotes: 0
Received 4 Upvotes on 4 Posts
sounds like you have a bad contactor coil.
 
  #3  
Old 07-07-12, 03:53 PM
K
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 2
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I replaced the contactor and it does the same thing, the solenoid pulls and holds tight when just the power from the thermostat is applied (26.4v) but releases when the main power is restored.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: