Don't be surprised to find that contactor full of ants.
For some reason they are attracted to those things like bees to pollen.
Nothing like a dozen flattened insects to raise resisance.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 21:39:21 GMT, "Keith Reding" wrote:

|Sounds reasonable. The first time the wires burned through it was at the
|capacitor. The second time it was at the relay. The third and current time
|is at the relay but the wires going to the capacitor looks fine. I will
|replace the relay and wires and hopefully that will make a difference. Each
|time I have had burned or melted wires they have been at the connectors so
|hopefully this will fix the problem.
|
|Thanks to everyone for their assistance.
|
|Keith
|
|"Al" wrote in message
om...
| I fully agree with Turtle that the contactor (relay) is bad.
|
| I'm not a HVAC technician, but I am an electrical engineer with 15 years
|of
| experience testing contactors and relays. The photos show that the
|terminals
| are corrode; chances are, the contacts of the contactor are as well.
|Fungus,
| corrosion, and normal usage can cause an increase of resistance on
| electrical contacts. An increase of resistance will cause a voltage drop
|to
| appear across the contacts of the contactor thus making the contacts
| dissipate more power (heat). From what I see, the wires are burned near
|the
| relay. I have seen this condition many times in relays that were under
| test. The contacts get hot enough to melt the insulation on the wires near
| the relay but not hot enough to melt the relay. Replace the relay and the
| wires and that should solve your problem.
|
| Turtle is a smart cookie.
|
|
|
|

Rex in Fort Worth