condensor noises?


  #1  
Old 06-23-03, 10:38 AM
jrizzo17
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condensor noises?

My condensor, when on, make a buzzing noise. It stops as soon as it turns off. My brother has a friend who does heating and air work and he said, without looking at it, that it may be the motor trying to hard...what does that mean...he also said it may be the freon(sp?). The house cools off fine so I don't think it's the freon.

Any suggestions?

I just bought the house a year ago and if my memory serves me correctly it is about 7 years old, but I could be wrong.

Thanks,
John
 
  #2  
Old 06-23-03, 04:00 PM
bigjohn
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Take the cover off the electrical box on the outdoor unit and I'll betcha you'll find that the contactor [big relay] that cycles the compressor and fan is buzzing. Cheap fix. Search thru some of the older posts, there are some lengthy ones about how to do this job. Quick overview- the contacts are rated for x amps like 25 amps and so on. [there should be a label on the contactor] The coil voltage is most likely 24 volts. Then look at the number of sets of contacts. For home units, there will be either one or two sets. [called poles as in one pole or two pole] So, the new contactor wants to have the same amp rating, same coil voltage and same number of poles. [going up one size on the contact rating is ok- like from 25 amps to 30 amps or the like] Make a GOOD sketch of where each wire goes and then change the wires over from old to new one at a time. I won't insult you by suggesting that you make sure the ALL power is off. Shut off the power to BOTH the indoor and outdoor sections, not just the outdoor only.
 
  #3  
Old 06-23-03, 04:11 PM
H
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Massachusetts
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Contactor

Yeah, sounds like the contactor had losts it ability to pull in the core. If you have a meter, check and see if its 20Volts or 30 volts to it's coil side....sometimes an installer neglects to re tap the transformer and the unit comes tapped for 230Volt and the house has only 208 volts, This makes the transformer output 30 volts or so.
If he switched it to the proper 208 spade, try placing it on the 230V spade on the transformer. This sometimes will provide a little extra power to stop that buzz on a weak transformer, and pull that sucker in...This also happens on long runs of wire or small gauge wire...
 
 

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