On Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:03:38 -0600, The Daring Dufas
wrote:

On 2/25/2012 11:31 AM, wrote:
On Feb 24, 1:11 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:20:14 -0600,
wrote:







wrote in message
...
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.

Its 24 years old.... did you expect it to last forever??

My AC is 38 years old and still running - and original caps Your heating and
cooling system runs 24/7..... You're in your car for *maybe* 1 hour a
day.... are you driving a 24 year old car??

Not quite, but it's getting pretty close!!!

The R22 refrigerant that is in that system is rapidly going the way of the
Dodo bird.... If you have to have it gassed up for the summer, get ready to
pay 3 - 4 times what you paid last year.

38 years old and has only needed 1/2 lb of Freon added - and that was
about 18 years ago.

That is virtually unheard of, so, good for you and your a/c unit.
Curious...what brand is it ? Around 1990, I came across an very old
Westinghouse condensing unit with a pancake compressor in it which
appeared to be 1950's and it was still cooling alright ; they wanted
me to replace it to avoid a sudden breakdown and to save on
electricity . It was a 3 ton capacity but the physical dimensions
were approx. 5' wide x 5' long x 5.5' high . It was so heavy i
had to cut it up into 3 pieces .
Mine is an old Canadian Westinghouse unit. from 1974. Other than
having the gas checked about 18 years ago and having half a pound
added, the only problem we've had was a bad thermostat connection
(which was the real problem when I had the gas checked).