Author Topic: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....  (Read 2777 times)

TaraB

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 63
  • Age: 38
  • Location: New Jersey
    • my journal
Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« on: June 14, 2017, 05:52:17 AM »
(wah feel bad for me) (also apologies if others have discussed this- search functionality not working in my browser...)

System is blowing warm air. Outside compressor/condenser is not spinning or turning on at all. Checked the circuit breaker, nothing obvious (of course nothing is labeled in a 60-year old house), so I flipped most of the breakers just in case. No dice.

(I changed the filter, obviously that was not the problem. I powered off the system for an hour and restarted, also to no avail).

Last year (at a different house) when we had a killer heat wave the condenser/compressor wasn't working and the fancy A/C repairman replaced a charger? Cap? something like that- it was a cylinder, maybe 8-10 inches long.

Here's my question- what is that thing called, is it something I could replace if I'm good with a screwdriver, and if so, where do I buy one?

Or does anyone have a good website for how to troubleshoot when the outside part of the AC isn't working? I'd love to learn and save a few hundred bucks at the same time!

sirdoug007

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 585
  • Age: 43
  • Location: Houston, TX
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2017, 10:10:22 AM »
Go get a screwdriver and open the panel on the side of the outside condenser and take a look at the capacitor.  Just be sure to kill the power to the unit first!

If there is oil leaking out of it or black marks you know it is dead.  You should be able to pull the size off of it (in microfarads) and maybe a part number to get a new one if that is the case.

If not, you may need to call an A/C company.

BrandNewPapa

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 96
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2017, 10:19:35 AM »
Replace the capacitor first. They are cheap. I wouldn't even bother testing it.

Like others have said, kill the power to the unit. You can do this via circuit breaker and/or outside switch. Most newer units have a voltage disconnect switch located in a gray box on the house. Open the box up, remove plug/switch off switch.

Open on the controls panel on the AC unit, pull out the capacitor. Mine is a quarter turn - just rotate it left and pull out.

Get the part number off it and hit amazon or call some local HVAC companies for a replacement. Buy it. Install it. Pray it works.

You can also poke around in the controls portion of the unit while you have to cover off. Look for anything obvious (loose wires or connections).

KCalla

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 73
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2017, 10:25:36 PM »
This is probably not the problem, but simple enough to try....
Go to where your furnace is located and look for a light switch set up high somewhere nearby.  This may be the reset for your HVAC.  Switch it off, wait a minute, switch it on.  This has worked for our furnace and for my mom's AC.   We had the symptoms of fan working (ours is DC), but just blowing around the warm air.

mrl

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 36
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2017, 11:14:48 PM »
Could also be the "contactor" which is a/c person speak for a relay. A easy turn off the power and reconnect the wires like those on the old one. I bought my last 2 from a/c parts place Johnstone supply. The first they sold me no questions asked (guess I looked like I was in the biz) next time, they said, we can't sell it to you w/o a/c license. Walked outside and paid the next a/c apprentice that showed up cash to buy me one.

Alim Nassor

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 164
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2017, 11:34:22 PM »
Easiest way to tell if the capacitor is bad is to stand it up on a flat surface, if it rocks at all from even the slightest bulge, it's bad.

TaraB

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 63
  • Age: 38
  • Location: New Jersey
    • my journal
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2017, 05:16:30 AM »
Thanks all- it was a fuse and the capacitor. I ended up paying a local A/C guy but he was worth it! (Turns out he owned my house and sold it back in 2007!)

I realized when I didn't know which part I should remove to get to the guts of the thing that I was in over my head. NEXT TIME, GADGET!




Guide2003

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 147
  • Location: Southern AL
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2017, 11:03:32 PM »
(also apologies if others have discussed this- search functionality not working in my browser...)
Glad it's fixed and just a minor issue! If you type "site:https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com" before the search term in Google it will only return queries found in these forums. Works for any website. The search function hasn't worked on these forums in a while.

HipGnosis

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1824
Re: Central A/C isn't working and it's hot....
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2017, 11:29:55 AM »
Go get a screwdriver and open the panel on the side of the outside condenser and take a look at the capacitor.  Just be sure to kill the power to the unit first!

If there is oil leaking out of it or black marks you know it is dead.  You should be able to pull the size off of it (in microfarads) and maybe a part number to get a new one if that is the case.

If not, you may need to call an A/C company.
Sorry, but...  as an aspiring technical writer I shudder reading this.
Never put the safety part after the steps involved.  To many people do things as they are written, and in the order written.
And..  "pull the size off" implies that they are to physically pull something off something. 
-end vent-