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SMcK SMcK is offline
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Default A/C Motor Start Capacitors - Where To Buy?

On Jul 1, 6:14*pm, The Daring Dufas
wrote:
SMcK wrote:
SMcK wrote:
The A/C is not working. *Last time this happened the neighborhood A/C
repair guy showed me how to replace the motor start capacitor. *He
happened to have one in his truck. *I'd just as soon not bother him
again. *If I can pull the suspect capacitor and get the specs off it,
where would a guy get a replacement without going the mail order
route?
-Scott


OK, just to tie up the loose ends on this one:


1. It turned out the capacitor was fine. *I thought it migh be the cap
because the last time that's what it was and the guy that replaced it
told me that it's often the problem. *The replacement was one he had
already and I don't know how old it was when we installed it. *I
figured if I could get one and install it myself it would be a cheap
enough experiment that it was worth it if I could avoid having to pay
a pro.


2. I assumed it was a "motor run capacitor" when I went looking for a
replacement and saw references to them. *Maybe it wasn't. It's a
capacitor with two sides, one labeled "fan" and the other "therm" with
a common in the center.


3. In the end I ended up calling in my neighbor again. *This guy has
been doing heating, A/C, electric and plumbing in the neighborhood for
about 50 years. *Nice guy and very helpful and I hate bugging him. *He
determined it was low on freon, and charged it. *He also checked for
leaks and cleaned out the grill(?) with a hose. *I paid him a little
more than what he asked (still a bargain) and gave him a framed photo
of his house with the sunset behind it.


4. I don't know how old the unit is. *It was there when we moved in in
'98. *I'm going to guess it's about 15 years old.


-Scott


Just so you know, the terminal marked "herm" means hermetic which
refers to the hermetically sealed welded can compressor. I bet the
wire was yellow for the "herm" and brown for the "fan". The common
terminal could have been just about any color except green.

TDD- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


IIRC it was yellow for common, reddish brown for fan and blue for
herm. I'm pretty certain about the yellow.

-Scott