On Friday, June 12, 2015 at 10:11:05 PM UTC-5, bob haller wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2015 at 11:06:40 PM UTC-4, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2015 at 7:31:23 PM UTC-5, trader_4 wrote:
On Friday, June 12, 2015 at 7:28:46 PM UTC-4, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 8:52:56 PM UTC-5, trader_4 wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 8:54:22 PM UTC-4, Uncle Monster wrote:
On Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 7:25:59 PM UTC-5, trader_4 wrote:
Figures when it's 92, the AC would quit. System was still
running, but the air was no longer cold. It's a Rheem, 5 ton,
4 years old. Upon checking, it seemed the fan on the outside
condenser unit was running slower than normal and the air
exiting was warmer than normal. But since I don't look at it
every day, I wasn't sure.

So, I turned it off for half an hour, then back on and went
outside immediately. The fan was running at full warp speed now,
then after about 30 secs, it went to the slower speed that
I had seen before. Luckily I had gotten out there in time to
catch it. So, clearly the fan starts up normal, the quickly
goes to running slow for some reason. Nothing is blocking/touching
it. It's also just a single stage unit, so the fan has only
I speed. I haven't
pulled out the schematic yet. Ideas? Do these typically
have a run capacitor or just a start capacitor? If so,
maybe the run cap? Or could be a bad motor. Any ideas
guys on how to diagnose? I guess they don't build them like
they used to......

You might post the model number. I could look it up to see if it has a two speed condenser fan. You could check the voltage and current draw and post your results. Look at the diagram and see if there are any sensors hooked in with a fan relay. Many condensing units have a two speed fan to help control head pressure. A low refrigerant charge or evaporator freezing up could screw with the head pressure and fool the sensors that control the condenser fan speed. o_O

[8~{} Uncle AC Monster

It's a Rheem 14AJM60A01

Just looked at the documentation and it's a single speed, PSC fan,
which is what I thought it was.
It has a dual cap that works the compressor and fan. Took a look
at the schematic too and that's all there is. So, it's either
the cap or the fan motor. I don't have a multimeter capable of
testing capacitance. It looks like the caps are only ~$20 and
available on Ebay. I can probably find one locally, but IDK how
much they would charge.

Do you think the fan coming on at full speed, then going down to
1/3 or 1/4 speed could be the cap? Or more likely the motor?
Both are only 4 years old.

Thanks for the help.

I read that there is a 10 year limited warranty on the compressor and a 5 year limited warranty on the other parts. I wonder if your unit is still under warranty? Your's is the Value Series single speed condensing unit and I haven't been able to find a picture of the fan motor but I do know it has a scroll compressor. There is an ECM condenser fan motor that Rheem uses which is painted green and it may be in the "two stage" Value Series. I got on the Rheem website and found some information on your unit but I haven't found the exact parts list for your model. 8-)

http://www.rheem.com/product/air-con...s-single-stage

The electrical specs are on page 39.

https://tinyurl.com/p2dyr7j

Catalog of the fan motors Rheem uses. The OEM motors are on page 9.

https://tinyurl.com/ossovxn

[8~{} Uncle AC Monster

I had found that list of Rheem motors too. Nothing on there
is apparently even ECM and the part numbers aren't even close.

The part number I found online is 51-102728-12. Found it he

http://resource.gemaire.com/is/conte...pl.pdf?fmt=pdf

But there is no part number on the actual motor that corresponds to
that. On the motor it says it's a Genteq 142R and also has 55ME39H
on it. Apparently Genteq is a spin off of GE's motor business.
It's just 1/3 hp, 240V, 1080 RPM

Regarding the warranty, I came to the same conclusion. It's may still be
covered under the parts warranty, but I would have to pay for labor and
any shipping. Given that I can get a new one for $230 or more likely
replace it with a more reliable PSC for $70, I don't think going the
warranty route is worth it.

I have one more hope. It seems that a common failure on these ECM
motors is the inrush current limiting thermistor that they use.
Found lots of people online where that was what it was. They burn
up, break open, etc. If I'm lucky, that might be what's gone on mine,
in which case it's a cheap fix. I'm going to open it up tomorrow.
Would have done it today, but was trying to get it to run awhile
longer to cool the house a bit.

Thanks for the help.

I used to replace them in CRT TV sets where they were part of the automatic degauss circuit. I wonder if you had any power surges? Do your lights blink a lot and how far are you from an electrical substation? If you have power surges, you might consider installing a small hard wired surge arrester where the power enters your condensing unit. I did it for customers in rural areas after capacitors failed too often. Square D makes a very good small hard wired surge arrester. 8-)

http://preview.tinyurl.com/pjpqh2c

[8~{} Uncle Surge Monster


these OEM ONLY partss are why I bought a goodman furnace with AC.

the parts are common and affordable, generic,

I've sold a lot of Goodman systems but they aren't the only contractor grade systems that use generic parts. 8-)

[8~{} Uncle AC Monster