Outside AC Condensor not Turning On

[miketyler]

Here's the video I found that pointed me in the right direction.

The video is simple capacitor replacement. In the past my logic for "is it the cap or is it the motor" is that if you could start the fan by hand, it was the capacitor since the capacitor is critical for startup only. I wonder now if the better test is to power off, spin the fan, then apply power with fan in motion and see if it comes up to speed. When I replaced my bad capacitor recently, the cap was nice and shiny and showed little signs of bulging.

In your case I would have mistakenly purchased new fan and cap right off the bat since it wouldnt spin-start. Have always replaced capacitor when I was replacing fan.

[red95gts]

Your capacitor was in the attic?

Sent from my iPhone killer!

I was thinking the same thing. Cap for the blower motor maybe?

For you guys in the HVAC business....what is the typical shelf life of an A/C capacitor? For instance, if I bought a spare now and needed it 3 years from now, what are the chances it would still be good?

[4eyedwillie]

I was thinking the same thing. Cap for the blower motor maybe?

For you guys in the HVAC business....what is the typical shelf life of an A/C capacitor? For instance, if I bought a spare now and needed it 3 years from now, what are the chances it would still be good?

Should be good. Heat is what kills them.

[unkoricky]

Like i said i dont know shit about AC systems. He went up there and replaced some piece that connected all the wires and said something about the capacitor or whatever. It was a quick job and he was in and out.

His 10 minutes of work was better than my 2 hours of trying to figure out wtf i was doing