AC is out and its been in the 100s

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

knotquiteawake

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
1,210
Reaction score
52
Location
Dallas TX
The AC failed this evening. Sucks. Hope its not expensive.
I setup the portable AC in the bedroom to try and keep the wife and baby and I cool but after only an hour the portable AC's compressor overheated.
I sent the wife and baby to her parents house (10min away).
I'm camping out with the dog in the tiny home office where I have a small window AC unit. Drinking bourbon until I'm sleepy enough to sleep.
 
I think possibly it is only just the outside fan. The Fan wasn't spinning, but it sounded like the compressor was still running. I got the AC system turned off ASAP as soon as I realized it.
 
Swamp cooler yourself. Keep the temp around 65-70*, and remember sanitation is essential. You don't want an infection.

I'm not witty, bad joke.

It was 109 here today and 80* house temp never felt so good. Smart move on the wife and child.
 
Yeah, trying to cram the wife and child and dog and myself into the home office would have been a bit rough...
 
That has happened to me a couple of times. Both times it was the motor run capacitor - cost me about $15 or $20 for the part. Take off the cover on the compressor unit (after turning off the power, of course) and find the capacitor. Look to see if the case is bulged at the top. Any odd looking bulge probably means it is bad. On my unit, there are two capacitors in the same case - one for the compressor and one for the fan, with three wires connecting to it, labeled C (common), FAN, and HERM (compressor). If you unhook it, be sure to note which wires go to which terminal. Get the microfarad values and the voltage rating, for example, mines says 60+5 MFD (or may say uF), 440 volts. Replace with the same uF and equal or higher voltage rating.

I think this is a very common failure these days, and I've heard it is because they had to change the way they make the capacitors (elimination of PCB's ?). My old A/C lasted 25 years and the capacitor never failed. My new one is only about 7 years old and the cap has already failed twice.

EDIT: I just noticed that you are in Dallas. I got my capacitors from Johnstone Supply on Miller Rd. in Garland. I have a friend with an account there and he called it in - don't know if they sell to the public or not, but worth a try.
 
+1 to DeafSmith, that's the most detailed description of a common problem with modern AC units that I've read. I've replaced the capacitors in both of my central units before. It's very obvious when the capacitor is bulged, another clue is a motor not running but humming loudly.
 
I opened it up and the capacitor looks to be fine. No obvious defects I can see. I have a HVAC service tech coming in a few hours to diagnose it.
 
oops just kidding
I looked up pictures of capacitors and its supposed to be completely flat on top... its not, its just evenly bowed out all over the top. NOt sure I'm too confident in doing electrical though. Capacitors tend to hold a long charge.
 
Brown Service Co sells caps too.

I've changed mine and nothing bad happened. I was also concerned about it holding a charge, so I was careful to not touch any two posts together. Maybe unnecessarily cautious, but hey.

We used OC Service for an A/C repair last year. They're a little pricey, but they were Johnny on the spot and got it all fixed in one shot.
 
The company I have coming out is owned by a guy I know from another forum. Other forum members have spoken highly of his company's service. So I guess that is somewhere between a friend's referral and picking a random AC repairman from the yellow pages.
It sucks to know what the issue is but still probably have to pay a diagnostic fee. I have to work right now, so I can't run around town picking up parts and try to install them. Hopefully I make more money today than they charge me to replace the capacitor.
 
I've had my AC go out in this heat. Just pulled an all nighter. Can't sleep in that heat and don't understand how anyone did in the past.
 
Next time I'm doing it myself.
I looked up the part number, $29 ordered online...

HVAC tech charged $374. I called another company, they would have charged $295, but at this point, the first guy is going to charge me $79 for diagnostic if he doesn't do the repair. So it wouldn't have mattered.

At least it wasn't the whole unit. Also, now I know the model number, seer rating, and tonnage. 12 seer, not too bad, 3.5 tons, also not too bad for a 1400 sqft house.
 
Seriously, who the hell would move to Texas before ACs were invented?

We were just tougher back then. :rockin:

I grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and never had central air until I was about 18 - we had swamp coolers part of the time, and nothing but fans part of that time. People used fans a LOT in those days. But the worst was the summer of '67 - I was a college student in Houston, living in an old house ("The Roach Motel") with no A/C. I had a summer job working midnight shift and slept during the day. Had a big box fan in the window about 2 feet from my bed going full blast. Amazing what you can put up with when you're young.
 
If I were you I'd just order that part now so you have it when you need it.
I live in Illinois and the summers here can get nasty too. Not as nasty as TX but still pretty bad.

I'm a mechanic and work in un a/c'd shop and it'd just be easier to not have a/c @ home and just get used to the heat. It's just a tease to have a/c @ home. Typically by the time I get cooled off I gotta go back to work.
 
Put a heat pump in the master bedroom this Spring. Too old for putting up with the heat and the room has two huge windows, one facing west and one north.

Born and raised in Illinois. Many a summer, I slept in the basement.
 
They just didn't have A/C back then.

My grandparents didn't have A/C, save for one window unit in a back room. Even though my parents had it, and kept the house like a meat locker, I really didn't miss it as a kid visiting my grandparents. And my first vehicles didn't have it either.

Now-a-days though, screw a bunch of that. If it's over 81F in here, that's too damn hot. I prefer 79.
 
Air conditioning? Didn't know what it was until I was around age 17 (1981)

Before that it was a box fan in the window and sheets for a bedspread. Nobody had AC and it was the norm. Grew up in Illinois and believe me the summers are very hot and muggy. Somehow children and adults dealt with it. But I don't know how?

I'm so spoiled now that when the temp in my house gets above 80 I complain.

As somebody said before.. People were just tougher back in the day. I am not tough anymore when it comes to that heat though. I need my AC!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top