Do I need a new capacitor? or other troubleshooting?


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Old 06-14-17, 06:34 AM
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Do I need a new capacitor? or other troubleshooting?

Hi all,

Here in sweltering Washington DC, where it's been in the mid-90s the past few days. I had co-workers at my house for a BBQ Monday night. Turned the AC down to 73 (it's usually at 80) and when I got home it was humming along.

I went to bed and woke up around 3AM sweating. The fan was blowing, but the air was not cool, and the house was now at 84 degrees. I went up on the roof to look at the condenser and the fan was not spinning. There was a low, occasional hum (every 30 seconds or so) that would last a few seconds, almost as if something was trying to turn on.

Worried about burning something up, I turned off the AC. Did a bunch of research on this forum and checked out the capacitor yesterday. I didn't short it or disconnect it from the unit, but I did check the voltage, and it wasn't dead. It also didn't look bulged or rusty or leaky or damaged (although the top might be slightly concave).

This morning, I turned the AC back on and went up on the roof and did the stick test, where I pushed the fan, and the fan started right up! I waited about ten minutes, and was hearing the same buzzing sound (every 30 seconds or so) but the fan kept going. Unfortunately, the air coming out of the vents did not feel very cold.

Should I still try replacing the capacitor or is it something else?

Thanks in advance
 
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Old 06-14-17, 07:08 AM
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A little more information on my system: it's a Carrier Puron unit that I had installed in 2005. I've noticed shorter bursts of AC over the past couple of years (The system will come on for shorter amounts of time and then stay off for shorter amounts of time). Not sure if any of this matters.
 
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Old 06-14-17, 07:09 AM
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Yes I would replace it and then go from there.
 
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Old 06-14-17, 07:36 AM
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Thanks skaggsje, I'll try that tomorrow morning and report back. Any other ideas of what might be wrong would be welcome in the interim!

Michael
 
 

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