"JayN" wrote in message
...
I had my Central A/C tuned up at the beginning of June. It has been
working nicely, I still am getting cooling. My unit is a 4 ton
Carrier system. It is an older system that uses R22.

Today, I happened to take a peak through the top of the condenser
unit, and noticed that there is a crack in the metal case of light
grey colored cylindrical part.

Here are links to 2 photos:

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeofpch/cracked_ac.jpg

and

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeofpch/cracked_ac2.jpg

What part is this? Does the crack in the metal case mean failure will
soon happen...if so how soon? What is the brown stuff I see on the
side of this part below the crack...is this oil? Do I have a freon
leak?

Nobody mentioned this during my tune-up. From the looks of it, it's
hard to believe the crack didn't exist at the beginning of the month
at all, and they didn't need to add any freon because pressure was
fine, and I'm still getting adequate cooling as far as I can tell.

Does anything need to be done?

Thanks,

Jay

Jay,

I am guessing that the light-colored cylindrical part you have photographed
is a large electrolytic capacitor, typically used to start the outdoor
condensing unit. It is very difficult to tell from the photo you provided.
It could be a receiver/drier, a low ambient kit, or other refrigerant part,
but I doubt it.

It is very unlikely that you are leaking freon based on your comment that
cooling is adequate. My advice would also be to not worry about this item.
If and when it does fail, you will need to deal with it then, most likely
with a complaint that your outdoor condensing unit does not appear to be
operating.

Maybe some of the "experts" on this newsgroup can offer better advice. Based
on my participation on Usenet and Arpanet dating back to the 1980's, I must
say that I have never seen a more pathetic collection of people than I have
encountered here. Many questions are answered with snide, sarcastic remarks
by people have sniffed far too many chlorinated and fluorinated
hydrocarbons. Some questions are ignored altogether. You might consider
posing your question at alt.home.repair or one of the HVAC forums on the
Internet. This newsgroup is about as dysfunctional as any I have every seen.

Smarty