Wouldja beleive it doesn't even have a start cap?

I opened it up for a few quick checks this morning. Motor has 3 leads, one goes to L1, one goes to L2, 3rd goes to L2 via a
40uF cap (which measured 39uF on my multimeter). By L1 and L2 I mean after the contactor, it's a 2-pole so both sides of the
line are switched. The fan of course is after the contactor too and it runs fine, so to me that rules out the contactor.

Wiring diagram shows a start relay and cap with dotted lines and a notation "if equipped", doesn't look like mine is!

Eric

"Meat Plow" wrote in message ...
On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:55:50 -0400, Eric wrote:

Just wondering if there's a rule-of-thumb on replacing vs. repairing central A/C units?

My home in MA is 8 years old, and has a (rather cheesy looking) "Concord" system installed when it was built. Last night
it
stopped cooling - the inside & outside fans run, but no compressor sound, warm air, and the lights dim every 30 seconds or
so
like the thermal overload is cycling. I shut it down last night and tried again in the AM with same symptoms.

So I guess the real question is, if it comes down to replacing outside unit + inside coil vs. just replacing the
compressor
(do people even do this any more?), what's the best choice? I assume the newer units are more efficient, but how long
would
it take to recoup an additional $1000 or $1500 cost?

Could be something simple like a start capacitor which would be under $200
to replace. If that's the case and the unit cooled your home well, fix it.