Capacitor question
 

On the hottest day of the year, my mom's central air stops working last night. I went to see it today only to forget my tools. I took a pic of the capacitor. I know sometimes they blow up if it goes bad. I took a pic and if any of you know it's bad, let me know. See how the top is blown or rounded instead of flat. I don't have time to go check it tomorrow and thinking about just buying a new one to replace it. Knowing my luck, it's something else like a compressor. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1597626753.jpg

Bulging round top = bad capacitor. Safe bet you'll fix the problem.

The top should be flat. Change it out.

I always buy a spare contactor and spare capacitor for each Air Conditioner. The two most common failures, not related to loss of gas. And they always go out on a weekend or Fourth of July.

Buy a capacitor made in the USA. They are hard to find, but available. The Chinese ones that have flooded the market are crap, they can fail within 24 hours. Ask me how I know.

Very true!

We have some experts in HVAC here who can chime in with their recommendations and advice.

In the meantime I will only add that there's a label on it with Microfarad ratings which should be duplicated on the new one so it matches up properly.

Best if you can take it with you when you buy the replacement or keep it next to you as a reference when ordering a new one online.

More here:

Buying a New HVAC Capacitor

You can see the Mfd rating in this pic....50/5.....

https://www.acicontrols.com/media/ca...320064.126.jpg

Amazon has them in case you can't get one locally. Usually they are less expensive if you buy one online.

You can also see “made in China.”

Run Away!

It was just an image I found on the net to use as an example.

Aren't most of them made in China, though?

I agree in principle with your point, but then again --- any port in a storm may also apply, especially when your AC is down!

Yes, most of them on the market are made in China, which is the problem.

Just pointing out to those that don’t know that there are alternatives available if you look for them and that this is one area where China truly turns out a ****ty product.

Take my advice, your life will be better for it.

Driving out to HVAC wholesaler right after I hit enter now. I can't wait in this heat. This heatwave will continue for the next couple days. My 83 year old mom will have my ass if I order on line. Thanks for the tip on the Chinese made product. This came with a brand new unit (American Standard) and it lasted it over 16 years.

Right now, take what you can get and get the A/C up and going. Don't be picky just make sure it's a good match for the current capacitor.
Make sure you pay attention to the connections on the old capacitor!! They'll be Fan, Com, Herm or something along those lines. You need to be sure the wires on the old capacitor go to the correct terminals on the new capacitor.

Step 1, turn off the power, remove the leads and label if needed.
Step 2, use a screwdriver and short the terminals to drain any excess current. (these things can kill you quick)
Step 3, test the cap with a VOM and it should read close to the label specs +/- 10%.

If it is O/L or out of spec, replace it. Good luck finding a USA cap these days, nearly everything comes from the CCP.

If it is within spec, it is ugly but still good. Test your contactor and your disconnect fuses and replace as needed.

We don't have a local supplier is why I mentioned Amazon. If you can get what you need locally, that's the way to go.

Chinese vs. domestic. Domestic preferred - unless it's creates a delay.

With anyone, let alone your 83 year old Mom, get her some relief now!

Most motor rebuild shops should have them, voltage and heat rating should be same or greater than what is on the original.

Indeed. I once replaced an AC capacitor with one I bought on Ebay only to have the capacitor explode and catch my AC unit on fire within 24 hours.

Fortunately there's not much to burn inside an AC condensor unit and my neighbor happened to be standing nearby when it exploded -- not sure extinguishing the fire with the hose the best idea, but it worked. Damage was minimal but I did have to replace some wiring that got melted.

If you need help with billing, my sister paid $650 to have a guy come out July 3rd (friday night) to pull the capacitor off her 2nd zone and swap it to her first.

No new parts, 20 minutes, $650.

The AC and heating supply houses have all gone to "contractor only" sales. They are the best source for a good quality cap. I still have a GC license but it's no good at the HVAC place. I have to buy online or at the big box.

True about shorting the cap before going near the terminals. SOooooo, be sure to use well insulated needle nose to yank the staycons. These things can hold a charge for days on end.

I have honestly never shorted the terminals when replacing a capacitor. I use an insulated pair of needle nose, pull each wire off one by one and put it on the proper pin on the new capacitor. Once all the wires are installed, I strap the new capacitor in and fire it up.

Thought I'd pull up a how to video for discharging the capacitor
<iframe width="949" height="534" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZTQi5rTJIw8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

10 min done. It took longer to mess with the metal retaining strap then the actual install. This morning, bought one at my local motor rebuild place and made sure this was made in the US. The guy laughed at me asking me why I have no interest in doing it again in two months with an el cheapo. He knew. Mon's happy, I am happy.

Excellent! So happy for your Mom! :p

Thanks Baz. She's 83 and shouldn't have to suffer in this heat wave.

Its funny how these things fail. Somehow it know its the hottest day to quit just like smoke alarms. Batteries goes out in the middle of the night like 3:30 but never during the day or the weekends when people can simply go up and swap out the batteries with plenty of time to do so. Somehow, I think mfg programmed that in their products to piss us off.

Murphy's Law....lol.

You don't have the severity of heat we have here but given your Mom's situation - this still applies. I put a small window AC unit in one of my windows, so in situations where the central air is on the frtiz....I can still run some AC and buy some time to get repairs done.

I can also run it off a generator during power outages. Even if you just keep one in it's original packaging/box and pull it out for emergency use only - it's a nice Plan B to have.

Fortunately, we don't have many outages. Yep, there's an old window AC in one of the rooms. Mom's in great health and walk a mile daily. Still, the heat is no fun and uncomfortable for her.

Its been on the humid side a tiny bit here in the past few days but nothing like FL. That humidity down there kicks my ass. When we were in Asia two summers ago, my kids melted. They just can't walk half a block in what feels like 100% humidity yet it was only 85%. It was brutal. What's amazing is that some of the folks there are in full business attire, suit and tie and they look fine and very composed even riding on the crowded tram. My wife looked like she just came out of a swimming pool while the business woman standing in front of us was fully dressed, make-up and all, looking very normal.

Glad you got it fixed. Just in time for the rolling blackouts...

Those are the lizard people, hell bent on taking over the earth

Much like furnaces know the coldest day to stop working. Never fails. Glad you got it fixe and your mom is comfortable.

I paid some $150 and waited over a day to last year to get a capacitor replaced on my then 3 year old Carrier unit. Last Friday, I paid $33 locally to buy a $15 capacitor so I could replace it myself. On Saturday, I paid $45 on Amazon to get a new capacitor for each unit to store. I am ready.

No kidding man. This blonde lady with a very thick English accent was talking away totally composed like it it was 70 degrees. I know for a fact they don't have siht like that in the UK. Talking about acclimated to the local weather? I thought I can deal with heat, hanging out in the Mojave desert off roading in my college days sitting in vinyl seats in a pool of sweat or backpacking in the sierra. That humidity is no joke.

Yeah, no kidding. The mayor announced it today. I am going to be pissed if it happens to us. So I am selfish :D