Hey all, I have an old Kenmore outside AC only unit. And i just got in
this house.. from what i hear the ac unit has been "broken" for about
10 years. Why? I dont know. Basically what was going on is that the
outside fan on the unit comes on fine and the inside unit fan blows the
air.. But its warm.. So i check the compressor and hear that its
buzzing for about 3 seconds every 10 seconds or so. I call a technician
out and he looks things over. He tells me that it just needs a hard
start kit and the price would be 600$.. That seems a bit excessive to
me. He did not check freon level and i was wondering also.. If these
are anything like a cars ac compressor.. If the freon is low will it
even start? Or will it start and just not cool? So im kinda wondering
about that. Basically though i spent 50$ for him to look over a few
things.. not test anything mind you and he listened to the unit. and
the buzzing.. So his diagnosis is a hard start kit. What do you all
think?

Have to cut and paste this one

http://www.myhvacparts.com/Catalogue...ing/Hi%20Power
%20Hard%20Start%20Kit%20Order.htm

wrote:
Hey all, I have an old Kenmore outside AC only unit. And i just got in
this house.. from what i hear the ac unit has been "broken" for about
10 years. Why? I dont know. Basically what was going on is that the
outside fan on the unit comes on fine and the inside unit fan blows the
air.. But its warm.. So i check the compressor and hear that its
buzzing for about 3 seconds every 10 seconds or so. I call a technician
out and he looks things over. He tells me that it just needs a hard
start kit and the price would be 600$.. That seems a bit excessive to
me. He did not check freon level and i was wondering also.. If these
are anything like a cars ac compressor.. If the freon is low will it
even start? Or will it start and just not cool? So im kinda wondering
about that. Basically though i spent 50$ for him to look over a few
things.. not test anything mind you and he listened to the unit. and
the buzzing.. So his diagnosis is a hard start kit. What do you all
think?

If you have problem with that, go to
http://myhvacparts.com/Catalogue/Air%20Conditioning/
and then select Hi Power Hard Start.
Purchase price on the item is $45
Worth checking out.

Michael wrote:
Have to cut and paste this one

http://www.myhvacparts.com/Catalogue...ing/Hi%20Power
%20Hard%20Start%20Kit%20Order.htm

wrote:
Hey all, I have an old Kenmore outside AC only unit. And i just got in
this house.. from what i hear the ac unit has been "broken" for about
10 years. Why? I dont know. Basically what was going on is that the
outside fan on the unit comes on fine and the inside unit fan blows the
air.. But its warm.. So i check the compressor and hear that its
buzzing for about 3 seconds every 10 seconds or so. I call a technician
out and he looks things over. He tells me that it just needs a hard
start kit and the price would be 600$.. That seems a bit excessive to
me. He did not check freon level and i was wondering also.. If these
are anything like a cars ac compressor.. If the freon is low will it
even start? Or will it start and just not cool? So im kinda wondering
about that. Basically though i spent 50$ for him to look over a few
things.. not test anything mind you and he listened to the unit. and
the buzzing.. So his diagnosis is a hard start kit. What do you all
think?

wrote:
Hey all, I have an old Kenmore outside AC only unit. And i just got in
this house.. from what i hear the ac unit has been "broken" for about
10 years. Why? I dont know. Basically what was going on is that the
outside fan on the unit comes on fine and the inside unit fan blows the
air.. But its warm.. So i check the compressor and hear that its
buzzing for about 3 seconds every 10 seconds or so. I call a technician
out and he looks things over. He tells me that it just needs a hard
start kit and the price would be 600$.. That seems a bit excessive to
me. He did not check freon level and i was wondering also.. If these
are anything like a cars ac compressor.. If the freon is low will it
even start? Or will it start and just not cool? So im kinda wondering
about that. Basically though i spent 50$ for him to look over a few
things.. not test anything mind you and he listened to the unit. and
the buzzing.. So his diagnosis is a hard start kit. What do you all
think?

compressor is trying to start but is stuck so it is not starting and is
cutting out on the thermal cutoff..., like a motor with a locked
rotor...thats the buzz you hear...a hard start kit may work for a while
but if the bearings in the compressor or whatever are just getting
worse, then even the hard start kit will eventiually not start it, a
hard start kit is just a bigger start capacitor and sometimes works for
a while sometimes not.... I would get the compressor replaced or just
get a new unit.

Low freon will not cause this problem in a home unit like it does in a
car...

Mark

And a lot has happened with AC units in the last 10 years, your unit
could have been 10 years old already when it crapped out.
If it were me, I'd consider Mark's suggestion.
Probably after giving a hard start kit a try, though.
Here's another source, even less cost.
http://www.azpartsmaster.com/shopazp...d%20Start.html

No warranties, expressed or implied

Mark wrote:

compressor is trying to start but is stuck so it is not starting and is
cutting out on the thermal cutoff..., like a motor with a locked
rotor...thats the buzz you hear...a hard start kit may work for a while
but if the bearings in the compressor or whatever are just getting
worse, then even the hard start kit will eventiually not start it, a
hard start kit is just a bigger start capacitor and sometimes works for
a while sometimes not.... I would get the compressor replaced or just
get a new unit.

Low freon will not cause this problem in a home unit like it does in a
car...

Mark

ok thanks for the info guys.. I will try the hard start first.. I will
order the part myself.. and have a pro install it.. Just to be safe..
If that doesnt work.. Ill go for a new one.. Thanks again.. peace

On 31 Jul 2006 18:17:09 -0700, wrote:

Hey all, I have an old Kenmore outside AC only unit. And i just got in
this house.. from what i hear the ac unit has been "broken" for about
10 years. Why? I dont know. Basically what was going on is that the
outside fan on the unit comes on fine and the inside unit fan blows the
air.. But its warm.. So i check the compressor and hear that its
buzzing for about 3 seconds every 10 seconds or so. I call a technician
out and he looks things over. He tells me that it just needs a hard
start kit and the price would be 600$.. That seems a bit excessive to

That's only 60 dollars a year for every year it didn't run.

me. He did not check freon level and i was wondering also.. If these
are anything like a cars ac compressor.. If the freon is low will it
even start? Or will it start and just not cool? So im kinda wondering
about that. Basically though i spent 50$ for him to look over a few
things.. not test anything mind you and he listened to the unit. and
the buzzing.. So his diagnosis is a hard start kit. What do you all
think?

I know nothing about this topic, but, depending maybe on what others
say, I agree with one of the thigns I think you're getting at: Maybe
the hard start kit will make it start, but he should have tested the
freon level so you'd know if it was going to have to be filled, if
there was a leak, if there was a serious leak. How can you make a
decision on 600 dollars (assuming that is the right thing to do at a
fair price, which as I said, I don't know) when you don't know what
else might be wrong?

So if I had it fixed (and I know I would, if I didn't do it myself), I
would probably hire someone else, and whether I had it fixed or not, I
would call the first place back and say that I thought he should have
tested the freon level, that his tests wer inadequate** for me to
make up my mind and that he should have done more for 50 dollars, so
you're going somewhere else. He'll get mad and hang up at that point,
so you have to have made the first part of the sentence, "should have
tested freon level, tests were inadequate" very clear. Go slow
through that part. I don't like "ratting" out employees to bosses,
but in this case, where it go to the essence of the job-- unless
someone convincing disagrees -- the boss should know. The boss might
say this is the last straw and they're going to fire him, but at some
places that might not be the truth. And then he'll offer to send
someone else to complete the testing for no charge. I guess I would
accept that because I paid 50 dollars, but I still don't think I would
trust the place.


**If he had told you everything you needed to know, it would be very
hard to impossible to complain about the 50 dollars, no matter how
little time it took, since I'm sure you agreed on the amount in
advance, but he didn't tell you every thing yhou need to know..

On 31 Jul 2006 19:25:22 -0700, wrote:

ok thanks for the info guys.. I will try the hard start first.. I will
order the part myself.. and have a pro install it.. Just to be safe..
If that doesnt work.. Ill go for a new one.. Thanks again.. peace

If the compressor is buzzing then the first thing you should replace
is the run capacitor, NOT add a hardstart kit to it. I've seen this
problem too many times to count. Go ahead and waste your money if you
want. A run cap is MUCH cheaper and is the first thing you should
replace.

Al Moran wrote:
On 31 Jul 2006 19:25:22 -0700, wrote:

ok thanks for the info guys.. I will try the hard start first.. I will
order the part myself.. and have a pro install it.. Just to be safe..
If that doesnt work.. Ill go for a new one.. Thanks again.. peace

If the compressor is buzzing then the first thing you should replace
is the run capacitor, NOT add a hardstart kit to it. I've seen this
problem too many times to count. Go ahead and waste your money if you
want. A run cap is MUCH cheaper and is the first thing you should
replace.

Yes AGREED Good point!

Mark