Good Neighbors

[FreightTrain]

How much is a capacitor and how hard are they to change? I think mine is going out and need to be prepared on changing it/calling a tech.

Not sure how much they costed but it looked easy to change. He just unscrewed two screws on the outside unit that released one of the panels and the capacitor was inside there. It was silver and looked kind of like an old style coil on a car. I think it had 4 wires that plug into it on the top. He knew it was bad because the top was puffed up and he said it should be flat. He also said they have changed more capacitors this year than he has done in 30 years of doing A/C work.

[red95gts]

How much is a capacitor and how hard are they to change? I think mine is going out and need to be prepared on changing it/calling a tech.

Depends on the exact model, but they aren't much. When I was attempting to limp along with two 15 y/o units, I had a spare fan motor cap and compressor cap in the garage just in case. I think I paid under $20 for the pair and ended up using them both eventually. Since they aren't part of the refrigerant system, you shouldn't need a license to buy one.

Make sure the 220V power is off and give the cap a couple minutes to bleed down. If you don't have some way to verify that 220V is off, you may want to consider leaving it to the pros.

[Magnimike1]

I would buy he and his tech gift cards to take their wives to dinner.