Issues with Outside AC after thunderstorm


  #1  
Old 04-29-14, 08:20 PM
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Issues with Outside AC after thunderstorm

We had a strong thunderstorm today and lost power several times. I noticed this afternoon that the ac was running even though it was cold (71) in the house and the thermostat was set to 79. The unit did turn off when I set the t-stat to off. It would turn back on no matter what the temp was set to when I turned it back on to cool.

I turned off the breakers and waited a few minutes and turned them back on.

Now I am having the opposite problem; The outside unit that was not shutting off now is not turning on.

I turned the main breakers off again, pulled the outside breaker, opened the outside units power panel and blew out some bugs and dirt (not too bad). I turned the power back on and still no go. I pushed the contactor in and the outside unit came on as long as I was holding the contactor.

I called a neighbor to get a recommendation for a local ac repair place and he said that the previous owner had replaced the capacitor just before we bought the house (a year ago) after a strong thunderstorm.

Do you think that that is most likely the problem again? If so, would improper grounding be killing capacitors.

Hopefully that is the only issue as it's supposed to be in the 90's again tomorrow!

Thanks for the help!
 

Last edited by QuickPuppy; 04-29-14 at 08:37 PM.
  #2  
Old 04-29-14, 08:33 PM
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My bet would be with the contactor.
 
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Old 04-29-14, 08:36 PM
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Quick update:

I decided to try it one more time before heading to bed and wouldn't you know it… it turned on. Waiting to see if it turns itself off when it hits 76 degrees.

What would cause intermittent issues like this?
 
  #4  
Old 04-29-14, 08:41 PM
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Quick cycling of the unit. Maybe short power loss.
 
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Old 04-29-14, 08:45 PM
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How do you test the contactor?
 
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Old 04-29-14, 08:49 PM
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Updated update: It did turn itself off. Looks like it will be a comfortable night after all. I'm concerned though that it may have issues again.
 
  #7  
Old 04-29-14, 08:51 PM
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Got to check the contact points and ohm the coil if you got a meter. You might be good.
 
  #8  
Old 04-30-14, 06:47 PM
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Appears to be fixed… it worked fine for the past 24 hours.

I suspect that I may have not waited long enough after turning the breakers back on again. There apparently is a 5 minute delay after a power loss before the outside unit can turn on.
 
 

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