A/C Went ****-up the Other Day

[Stevie-Ray]

After returning home from a visit on Friday night, I turned my A/C back on after shutting it off before leaving, as the temp had climbed about 2° while I was gone. Started getting even warmer within about 20 minutes-checked T-stat, yep it was now up to 78°. ****-looked out at the condenser and it wasn't running. Double-****, no sense in trying to troubleshoot it in the dark, so spent a rather miserable night trying to sleep. In the morning, I went out to check the condenser, tore it apart, checked what I could, all seemed in order, til I got to the capacitor, which was clearly blown. No, I didn't have a spare, and so called around to no avail. Then I found Alpena Supply Co. "The Source For The North." This guy had 7 of them in stock, but was open only til noon-it was 11:15, and I was 50 miles away. He asked me if I wanted him to bring it to Ossineke to a campground where he was going to do some work after he left the office. I jumped at the chance to be able to fix it that day, rather than be without it all weekend, plus Ossineke was closer to me by about 15 miles as a bonus. I went and picked it up at the campground office, 16 bucks and I was on my way back home. Well, that was the problem, she fired right up after that, good and cold. I shut it back off after one cycle, as it wasn't needed. Actually, it hasn't been on ever since, so I really didn't need it all weekend. But, it sure is nice to know there are supply houses that'll still go the extra mile for customers. I know I'll never forget Alpena Supply Co. now.

 

[bonneyman]

Glad you got it fixed!

Capacitors are one of those items which has suffered greatly since the Asian invasion of parts. They used to last 20-30 years - virtually the lifetime of the unit. Then PCB's were banned as "bad', and later they've been outsourced enmasse. They had a run of defective caps around 2006 which really threw a wrench in the fan of things. Now you're lucky to get a few years out of them, if that.

There's so many sizes, configurations, and MFD ratings I started carrying the multi-tap capacitors. A kinda one-size-can-be-made-to-fit all. And whenever I replaced a motor the cap was changed automatically. These two steps helped me reduce call backs significantly, and allowed me to replace most compressor caps without having to stock 30-40 different caps.

I like the AMRAD brand of Turbo capacitors. I trust them so much I swapped out the OEM run cap on my brand new home AC when I installed it just to eliminate any weak cap issues taking out my compressor.

https://www.americanradionic.com

 

[Jim greengo]

Yep,I've had brand new ones in the box on my van that were bad.
That's why I try and keep atleast a couple of the more common ones on the van.
I also check old caps when I scrap condensing units ,if they're good I add them to the collection.
I did a no cooling call tonight in north Omaha for a lady with a bad cap,happened to have a 5x50 I salvaged off of an ac the other day.
Free part and didnt charge her for the labor since she was having enough troubles.
Everybody was happy.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Capacitors are one of those items which has suffered greatly since the Asian invasion of parts. They used to last 20-30 years - virtually the lifetime of the unit.

Yeah, I'm sure this was the original one, and it lasted 20 years, since my house was built in 1999. Guess I'd better order a spare, since I plan to be here for a while. The new one is a Titan Pro made in China, of course. Fairly high rated, but who knows? Old one was a GE. Think I'll order one of those AmRads for a spare, as it's American made.

 

[SALIV8]

Yep,I've had brand new ones in the box on my van that were bad.
That's why I try and keep atleast a couple of the more common ones on the van.
I also check old caps when I scrap condensing units ,if they're good I add them to the collection.
I did a no cooling call tonight in north Omaha for a lady with a bad cap,happened to have a 5x50 I salvaged off of an ac the other day.
Free part and didnt charge her for the labor since she was having enough troubles.
Everybody was happy.

Wow. Good on you Jim. You're a good man.

 

[Notgrownup]

I had one blow on a Sunday and it was like 105 degrees outside...$125 for emergency call and I didn’t care...
Nice to be able to get a hand like that...

 

[mm08822]

After loosing one several years ago (in a heat wave), I ordered a replacement and a spare.
They are cheap enough to have one on hand.
I needed my spare last year.

When you don't need one ASAP, who cares if it takes a week to arrive with standard shipping. Pull the cover and get the specs off it to order it. Which reminds me, I need to order another.

 

[Notgrownup]

Yep,I've had brand new ones in the box on my van that were bad.
That's why I try and keep atleast a couple of the more common ones on the van.
I also check old caps when I scrap condensing units ,if they're good I add them to the collection.
I did a no cooling call tonight in north Omaha for a lady with a bad cap,happened to have a 5x50 I salvaged off of an ac the other day.
Free part and didnt charge her for the labor since she was having enough troubles.
Everybody was happy.

I hope the good deed come back to you Jom