On 2/23/2012 11:58 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:


The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 2/23/2012 6:00 PM, muzician21 wrote:
Last summer I replaced a cap on this '88 Trane unit when it stopped
running. It was actually the 2nd time I'd replaced that cap. Once the
cap was replaced it ran fine. Cooled the house off quick, not huge
impact on the power bill given rate hikes over the years. Ran it a few
times for heat briefly during the Winter, didn't notice any problems.
Just now when I tried to fire it up on A/C again, no cooling. So,
having gone through this drill twice before I immediately went to look
at the cap. It's not bulging like the previous 2 were before but one
of the spade connectors has severed from the wire and there's obvious
arcing residue on the contacts and melting of the plastic fitting
around the contacts the severed spade was attached to. On that side
the contacts are also very rusted while the contacts on the other side
are still shiny. I can also feel oil on the outside of the cap.

Not a big trick to get another cap and solder a spade connector back
onto the wire, but I wonder what caused the arcing? The A/C ran like a
champ when it was running last summer after the cap was replaced and I
visually checked it a time or two over the next couple of months to
see if I could see any issues, didn't see anything that caught my
attention - but this makes 3 times in a couple of years I've had
issues with that cap, albeit not the same identical issue at least
from an eyeball standpoint.

I've had the cap mounted sideways, simply because the strap on the
unit for the factory cap is oriented that way. Should it make any
difference which direction the cap is oriented?

Thanks for all assistance and wisdom.

I just repaired one today for a long time customer. The original female
1/4" Faston connector slipped off the contactor because it was sprung, I
simply used my needle nosed pliers to crimp it down a bit so it slipped
tightly back on the male Faston connector on the contactor. Every Summer
I wind up replacing a ton of Chinese capacitors in HVAC systems. I will
always replace a 370 volt rated cap with one rated at 440 volts AC.

TDD
Hi,
Same happened to my garage door travel limit switch on the screw drive
track. I think connector(female) popped and sprung(due to vibration?)
One night I came home and push the remote button and door tried to go
down instead of going up. I disengaged the opener and had a quick look,
found what happened. I always tighten them with needle nose pliers or
hard to reach spot, I just solder the connector.

Having the correct crimp tool is a necessity, I have a half dozen
different types including one that crimps from four directions. ^_^

TDD