Technical > Home Improvement > A/C help.

A/C help.

sorry-I had zero idea this was asked 2 posts before mine.

reply to echo
The visible bulging top, capacitor failure you describe is typical, and one of the most common. With a little luck, your problem will be solved simply by replacing it, the other poster you refer seems to be needing a new condenser motor.
--
~Help Find a Cure for Cancer~
~Proud Member of Team Discovery ~

TY-I'm hoping that's all it is. I appreciate the help.

A bad cap will open the circuit... make sure to get one rated the same.

-j
--
if it aint broke, tweak it!!
currently on FiOS (kick aZZ!)

Probably a good idea to pick up a new contactor at the same time.

The cap I ordered is rated the same. And what is a "contactor"? Is that the relay?? Thanks all.

A relay is basically a miniature contactor. You use contactors for high load applications. If you go in and ask for a 240 volt, 40 amp relay they will just look at you funny.

reply to echo
The cap should fix it for you. For future info, Dey Distributing in GB sells to people off the street. Cost will be more for you walking in off the street than ordering it online or getting the wholesale price, but if you can't wait.....

reply to robbin

That's cool, but go into the supply house and call them a relay. There went the discount!

reply to iknow
Every single one of the wholesalers I frequent will call a contactor a contactor and a relay a relay. Though the specific definition is a gray area, people in the industry know the difference.

I do like this definition I found online, though.

quote:

---

I prefer a more pragmatic definition of Relay vs. Contactor. If, when you energize the device, it goes "click", then it's a relay. If it goes "clunk" then it's a contactor.
»www.control.com/thread/1026206176

---

reply to echo
anyway, the caps being used nowadays are inferior copies made in china, mexico, etc. you can get a quality made in U.S.A. cap if you look for it. they'll last much longer, so your motor will last much longer. if the cap blows and the fan sits without turning for too long, it can burn out.

reply to Lurch77
For me the term relay was always a generic term for anything that opens or closes a contact in response to an electrical signal. Regardless whether it is a tiny reed relay or the huge relay (circuit switcher) in a utility substation.

That said, contactor is clearly the correct term to use for these types of relays in HVAC applications.
--
Got some spare cpu cycles ? Join Team Helix or Team Starfire!

reply to Lurch77
I did a brief stint in the "relay shop", and those relays definitely went "clunk".

OP, in normal civilian life a relay is typically something you'd find on a circuit board, where a contactor is a heavy component of a system.
It's also a regional terminology thing.
--
If someone refers to herself / himself as a "guru", they probably aren't.

There are differences in and between relays and contactors. Contactors generally have contacts designed to close and open heavy inductive loads. Relays usually have contacts rated at a resistive load. That said, there are A/C motor start applications that use a relay, and those that use a motor starter (contactor)
The usual home A/C compressor is small enough to use either.

The Contactor may also have "Arc Chutes" and double contacts in series where a relay usually does not.

(Long ago, (70's) I actually worked for a division of GE that built relays and contactors. It was my first job after military service in Vietnam and the Far East.

reply to echo

reply to echo

reply to echo
How old is the unit? I would replace all the capacitors while you're in there.