My tiny condo was built in the 80s. For heat and A/C, it has one of
those motel style, through-the-wall units. I turned the heat on
yesterday and it was fine for awhile, then no heat. So I cracked it
open to test the element. It has two coils, side by side, but only one
coil is wired in the circuit. Each coil has what I think is a small
capacitor in front. The capacitor(?) for the coil in the circuit is
open, while the other one is fine. I found a picture of the heating
element online at
http://www.repairclinic.com/0081.asp?RccPartID=288753. In the picture
you only see one coil, the other is behind it.

This same thing happened last winter, but I had a home warranty on it,
so I didn't mess with it. The HVAC guy showed me that all he had to do
was replace the blown cap. It worked fine all winter.

To get the heat back to the way it was last winter all I really need to
do is move the one wire to the other coil. But, shouldn't both sides of
the element be in the circuit?

Thanks in advance,
Shawn