Hi - I'm kind of a newbie to this whole newsgroup thing, but hopefully
someone can help me out. It's Labor Day weekend, and I'm stuck here at home
with a pregnant wife and no a/c... and on top of THAT, it's her birthday
today - HELP!! Our a/c quit working some time
early on Saturday - the indoor operation is fine (thermostat, blower), the
condensor fan operates ok. The compressor comes on for about 3 seconds, then
shuts off for several minutes, then does the same thing again... over and
over. Compressor is quiet, sounds normal. Earlier this spring (June, I
think), the same thing happened, and I called a repairman out - he replaced
the run capacitor, and all was good. The old capacitor he took out was oval
and had a bulge on the side, like it had burned inside. The new one is just
round, a little bit smaller than the old one. I don't see anything like the
burned spot on the new one. Could it still be bad? Also, there is a small
black box with 3 yellow wires and a black wire connected to it - one of the
yellow wires goes to the run capacitor terminal marked "HERM". This black
box buzzes loudly when the compressor kicks off, and changes tone when
tapping on the box. Basically, my question is: Is there anything I can
replace myself without having someone come out and charge? $ is a little
bit tight with the pregnancy and such. Appreciate any answer you can give!
By the way... forgot to mention... it's a Lennox unit, model #HS19-261-6P.

Paul