My TRANE XR 13 was installed in 2006. I cleaned it out last year. It was blowing COLD air last night... but this morning I just felt a little air coming from vents. I turning unit off... Went downstairs and there WAS a little water in the tubes for condensation.... The unit there didn't feel overly cold....not sure what I should have been looking for.... TURNED unit back on...went outside and unit is HUMMING and the TOP fan is NOT turning. I DID look inside the louvers and I the coils are dirtier than I thought they would be....I USED to have a tree that shaded house and this unit but fell 2 years ago...so NOW this unit gets the morning sun.
WHat is my first step in trouble shooting? I can't see that just cleaning the unit would make the fan start running.....
The model number is 2TTR3036A1000AA made in April 2006.
Thanks for anyone's help. WHY do they ALWAY quit on the weekend where they charge double to come out? I may have to wait until Monday....today is supposed to hit 100....

 

Open the service panel and inspect for a capacitor that is swollen on the terminal end.

 

This swollen capacitor would require replacement...



They usually swell up more than that but some do not give any visible indication when they fail.

That model should have a dual capacitor.

 

Hi,
Here is what I have in my panel....I just looked and if this is what I need my local supply A/C place closed at noon. Isn't that where I would have to go?
Or is there a generic one I can find at Home Depot? or Ace Hardware?..I knowing...just wishful thinking...

Is this what you expected to see?... I DO need to clean the fins....must have been 2 years.

Once the capacitor fails....is that is....or if this unit was over heating due to
demand..... if I clean it.....could it possibly work again until the capacitor heats up again?
Thanks,
Dean

 

Looks like there is a wire missing on that cap. Do you see another cap in there?

 

SOrry...didn't realize you had posted at bottom....I had to take the fan off to get the wiring panel off so had to remove 3 wires from fan.... I just completed cleaning it and will hook it all back up and pray it works..... if not I guess I'll wait until Monday and the parts store is open.
Thanks!!

 

OK gotcha. Once they fail that's it.

 

I was hoping there was some type of reset after this unit cooled down.... It's all nice and clean....just tried to start it up but still no fan movement and just the Hum... I turned just my blower on to circulate what little cold air I have left in the basement.... I'll let you know if the capacitor fixes the problem on Monday...
Thanks again for your help.
Dean

 

You can pick up a Klein meter from Home Depot that measures capacitance for $60.

Klein Tools 600 Amp AC Digital Clamp Meter with Temp-CL200 - The Home Depot

The capacitor is probably half that price but it is great to have a multimeter for issues like this.

 

Murphy's Law , stuff always dies after the supply house closes . :-(

Mean while , visually search for any loose , bad , burned wiring .

More expensive , but there is the possibility the motor is also bad . :-(

If so , the new motor may or may not use the same value / rating capacitor as the old motor . Not a bad to install a new motor with a new capacitor of the appropriate rating / value .

Your existing capacitor serves both the fan and the compressor . It is called a dual capacitor .

With a small amount of re-wiring , you can buy a single capacitor that will serve only the fan & continue to use your existing capacitor to serve the compressor .

God bless
Wyr

 

I would get another dual cap.
I have gone back after other techs that installed a single cap to replace half of a dual cap that has failed to find the compressor half fail in less than 30 days.

If you needed and purchased a motor and you had a functioning dual cap but the fan side of it was incorrect for the new motor the rewire option would be okay.

 

Hi. Thanks for all the advice. Right or wrong. I turned the unit back on and was able to stick a Ruler they vent and rotate fan. It started right up and after getting my house down from
88 to 77. I turned it off for the night. So I'm assuming I won't have a problem with the fan. I did notice that there is a new replacement for this capacitor. I hope it's as good as the GE

 

Will a volt ohm meter tell me anything ?

 

The old timers would use an analog ohm meter and look for a jump when I started out in this field back in 1991.

My first multimeter was a Fieldpiece stick meter that checked caps. I have never bought a multimeter that didn't measure capacitance so I have never tried this.

It seems like it would jump unless it read 0, but a 10uF cap that reads 4 would not run a motor .

 

I am an old timer . I have used an ohm meter to check & see if a capacitor is dead , many times .

God bless
Wyr

 

Would you feel confident in recommending a new motor if you see this jump when checking the capacitor?

Did you ever get a good meter that measures capacitance?

 

Hi,
I'm not sure how to use the multi tester on caps... It DOES have a setting that says CAP ... I wasn't sure what terminals to check...also red/black etc. I did check the fan terminals when it was off....and I get changing numbers..from 1.7 to 43...back to 12...etc... not sure what that means... But I did get a new cap and all is working.... THe new one is smaller diameter... Total cost with tax was $35... Thanks for everyones help.

 

That is great news

Since you have a meter capable of measuring capacitance it would still be useful to know how to check a cap.

You would turn off power to the unit and allow a minute to 90 seconds for the cap to bleed down , snap a picture of the wire connections , remove the wires from the cap and measure between C and Fan for the smaller value listed on your dual cap. If it is more than 10% below specs it should be replaced. You would measure between C and Herm for the compressor side of the cap.

 

Last meter I purchased ( the company paid for it ) was a phase rotation meter . I though I was going to have to tie in a portable generator . Turned out the power company had stabilized the power situation before I could drive to the customer's site .

I used it a month or two latter , tieing in a generator at another customer's site .

If I bought a meter to measure capacitance , at my age I might end up never using it .

I mostly use this meter or one like it .

But , if a condenser fan would not operate I would test the cap with an ohm meter . If it was dead , I would replace it .

If not dead , I would probably buy a motor and cap . Replace the cap , if that did not fix it , replace the motor also .

If the cap fixed it , return the NIB motor for credit , next time I was close to the place I purchased it .

But , most of my work is 3 phase .

God bless
Wyr

 

Amprobe has an impressive 3 lead 3 phase clamp meter that I was considering. You can connect it to 3ph power to see which way a 3ph motor will turn. You can also connect it to an isolated motor an spin the shaft to see rotation.

Unfortunately it has a poor Ohm scale like my Fluke 902.
Buried thermostat wire can have 2 million ohms between each wire and trip a communication thermostat.

I went with the Fieldpiece SC440 as my tool bag meter.

 

Are the 3 clamps marked R , S and T ?

I have done building automation , but have no experience with a communicating tstat . That communicates with the furnace and condenser ?

God bless
Wyr

 

The Amprobe AMP320 leads are labeled T1, T2 and T3.
I wish it had a better Ohm range. I really wanted that meter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X197H-fwbKk


I work for a Carrier factory authorized dealer.
We sell many Carrier Infinity systems that use communicating thermostats.

 

I apologize , I misunderstood . I thought you were saying the AMP320 used 3 clamps or " rope loops " .

The video shows a clamp meter with 3 leads . This is what I would call a contact meter . The probes need to make electrical contact to the 3 phase source .

I had a meter kind of like that , but different brand , I think . Until some one decided they needed it worse than I did .

What I purchased a few months ago is this one or one similar to it

Ideal 61-520 Motor Rotation Tester 3-Phase | TEquipment.NET

The boss prefers the simplest ( least confusing ) possible for a phase rotation meter . Works for me .

We did a project once or twice that used networked tstats .

God bless
Wyr