Grumble grumble

[SeaCat]

When I arrived home from work this evening I found the trailer was a bit warmer than expected. The A/C had shut down. This wasn't a good thing as A/C is not an option but a needed thing in southern Florida.

When I checked the system I found the Capacitor I was planning on replacing Tuesday had failed catastrophicly. (It had split down one side.)

Well I called work and informed them that if possible I needed to be called off tomorrow so I could repair my A/C. I was quickly informed that they could cover for me tomorrow.

Now the plan is this. Tomorrow I drop the wife off at work and then head down to the parts place which opens at 0730. They should have the part in stock as it's not an uncommon one. (Thankfully it's not that expensive.) Once I have the capacitor in hand I'll return home and put it in place and hopefully get the system up and running again.

Once it's running I'll call work and see if they need me to come in for at least a partial day.

Needless to say I'm not happy about this but at least I can fix it.

Cat

 

[jomar]

Shows you what I know. I didn't even know an AC had a capacitor until it went out. Not under warranty I might add.

Here's my suggestion. Get up really early and grumble and fix it. Then go snorkeling/diving.

 

[SeaCat]

Shows you what I know. I didn't even know an AC had a capacitor until it went out. Not under warranty I might add.

Here's my suggestion. Get up really early and grumble and fix it. Then go snorkeling/diving.

Oh I'll be up at 0500 tomorrow morning.

I should have it fixed by 0830 or 0900.

What happens after, well we shall see.

Cat

 

[jomar]

There ya go.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Capacitor?

There ya go.

No. Maybe a coil. Or you're getting screwed royally. Just so ya know.

 

[jomar]

No. Maybe a coil. Or you're getting screwed royally. Just so ya know.

I had some AC work done in my office...forget exactly what, but they hefted something in a while back. The AC stopped working recently so I called the guy and sure enough the fluxapotentiatorthingy worked, but the capacitor didn't. And wasn't under warranty. Go figure. Cost under $100 to fix. DK about a coil, but would like to learn...

 

[R. Richard]

Did you get it fixed and was it just the capacitor?

 

[SeaCat]

Yep it's fixed.

Capacitor was blown.

This seems to have caused a domino effect in the system as it caused a transformer, a contactor and a fuse to blow. (The transformer was a pain in the butt to diagnose as what it effects are the controls.)

Total cost was less than $100.00.

Cat

 

[TE999]

Yep it's fixed.

Capacitor was blown.

This seems to have caused a domino effect in the system as it caused a transformer, a contactor and a fuse to blow. (The transformer was a pain in the butt to diagnose as what it effects are the controls.)

Total cost was less than $100.00.

Cat

You're extremely fortunate you can fix those A/C problems yourself. Most folks don't know a capacitor from a cellphone and aren't interested in learning how to install one.

Being an A/C contractor/repairman down here is like having a license to steal.

 

[SeaCat]

You're extremely fortunate you can fix those A/C problems yourself. Most folks don't know a capacitor from a cellphone and aren't interested in learning how to install one.

Being an A/C contractor/repairman down here is like having a license to steal.

No kidding. One of my patients a while back wasa laughing all the way to the bank every week. He not only was a licensed HVAC Tech. but a Licensed Plumber.

Cat

 

[AsylumSeeker]

You're extremely fortunate you can fix those A/C problems yourself. Most folks don't know a capacitor from a cellphone and aren't interested in learning how to install one.

Being an A/C contractor/repairman down here is like having a license to steal.

Guessing I'm confused. I have an electronics background and a capacitor, while they come in many forms, store energy. There are electrolytic, to name one. Yeah, uh, there are more too, just incapabable of reeling them off all off at the current time for some reason <wink>.

Something tells me that they replaced your controllers, 24 vdc circuits that control the A/C in stages. And maybe they were genuinely shot. Once I paid big bucks to replace mine, then a friend and home-grown A/C guy at work tested them and it turned out nothing was wrong, just paid good money for nothing, my bad experience.

Glad you're "cool" again regardless.

 

[SeaCat]

Guessing I'm confused. I have an electronics background and a capacitor, while they come in many forms, store energy. There are electrolytic, to name one. Yeah, uh, there are more too, just incapabable of reeling them off all off at the current time for some reason <wink>.

Something tells me that they replaced your controllers, 24 vdc circuits that control the A/C in stages. And maybe they were genuinely shot. Once I paid big bucks to replace mine, then a friend and home-grown A/C guy at work tested them and it turned out nothing was wrong, just paid good money for nothing, my bad experience.

Glad you're "cool" again regardless.

The Capacitors are used to increase the electrical energy to the electrical motors. In this case it was a dual run capacitor that provided that little bit of extra to the compressor motor as well as the Condensor Fan Motor.

Your controllers are 24 volt activated either through a bimetal switch or through an electromagnetic switch. Neither of which are expensive.

Cat

Oh and yes it is nice and cool here now. Thanks.