I think my AC may be broken.

[HoLeChit]

My first thought is Freon , if the motor is not spinning on your outside unit I’d suspect the capacitor. Your squirrel cage motor inside would be blowing hot air if your freon is low.

Doesnt sound like your compressor since you said you hear it engaging.

My .02 cents.

good luck

So I just kicked it on to see what happens. The moment of truth. Still blowing hot air. Squirrel cage runs like there’s no tomorrow. Outside the fan runs great. Listened for the compressor to kick on, it kicked, but it was more of a unenthusiastic high five than a kick; it’s definitely not as strong sounding as it was st week. Last week I can tell when it kicks on if I’m in the kitchen, next to where the unit sits outside. Today I was standing next to it with my hands on the unit and could barely tell it came on. Real faint, more of a tone change than something actually kicking on. Maybe the cap is getting weak and my condenser isn’t actually kicking on?

 

[swampratt]

Hook some ac gauges to the low/suction side and you can see the Compressor come on if you leave it off then turn it on and read the pressure.
Should be higher when off maybe somewhere in the 150 psi area and then pull down to 70-85 psi or so when running in this heat.
If it is in the 30-50 psi area when running it is low on freon.

Numbers look like a 3.5 ton unit.
Go get the new capacitor at lock supply or johnstone supply and retest.
Take your old one in and hand it to them and they will give you the proper one.
I see yours still has a readable sticker.

 

[HoLeChit]

On the bright side, while most of the house is awful warm, my Tepeche is kicking fermentation into overdrive. I’m about to skim and strain it, and start chilling. Smells like it’s gonna be extra strong.

 

[HoLeChit]

Hook some ac gauges to the low/suction side and you can see the Compressor come on if you leave it off then turn it on and read the pressure.
Should be higher when off maybe somewhere in the 150 psi area and then pull down to 70-85 psi or so when running in this heat.
If it is in the 30-50 psi area when running it is low on freon.

Numbers look like a 3.5 ton unit.
Go get the new capacitor at lock supply or johnstone supply and retest.
Take your old one in and hand it to them and they will give you the proper one.
I see yours still has a readable sticker.

I knew I should have paid closer attention to the HVAC classes I got from General Dynamics. Gonna have to get myself a set of gauges soon.

Just finished breakfast, gonna go pull the capacitor for a trip to Locke.

 

[Bigdawg90]

I blew my control board a couple of months ago. One day the temp just started climbing but everything seemed to be running fine. It took them a couple hours of diagnosing. They kept wanting to replace parts, but I kept asking for a guarantee that it would fix the problem. They kept working till they found the board completely fried. Lol.

 

[swampratt]

Tepeche

Never heard of it so Googled it.
Interesting.
Back to the AC thread after quenching my thirst.

 

[bigred1]

If the capacitor looks like it's pregnant then there's your problem .

 

[2busy]

Pull disconnect before you pull the capacitor. Yes you should always discharge the capacitor before pulling the wires.
Also the contactor could be the culprit. You might be getting full voltage to the condenser fan but not the compressor.
You really need a gauge set and multi meter.

 

[HoLeChit]

Looks like all the magic electrical trolls escaped.

 

[HoLeChit]

Pull disconnect before you pull the capacitor. Yes you should always discharge the capacitor before pulling the wires.
Also the contactor could be the culprit. You might be getting full voltage to the condenser fan but not the compressor.
You really need a gauge set and multi meter.

Yeah I have a really nice general purpose fluke and a Klein I’m not impressed with. Just don’t have gauges. But it seems like I need a set about once a year. I need to just buy them so that I have them.