Central Air died. Options?

[frank]

I keep an extra capacitor for the blower motor, capacitor for the ac unit, ignitor, high limit switch, flame sensor for my furnace and air system. if you check the owners manual online for your furnace and air you can get the part numbers and order them on ebay for cheap. probably have a hundred dollars in parts if not less total. these are the parts that are commonly a problem. to have them on hand is not big deal and if you need them they will come in very handy and save you a ton of money on service calls. youtube can usually work you through any minor problems. but like the man said make sure the power is off before working on anything.

 

[Sunset]

I keep an extra capacitor for the blower motor, capacitor for the ac unit, ignitor, high limit switch, flame sensor for my furnace and air system. if you check the owners manual online for your furnace and air you can get the part numbers and order them on ebay for cheap. probably have a hundred dollars in parts if not less total. these are the parts that are commonly a problem. to have them on hand is not big deal and if you need them they will come in very handy and save you a ton of money on service calls. youtube can usually work you through any minor problems. but like the man said make sure the power is off before working on anything.

Might waste a bit of money, if the A/C or furnace go bad for some other major reason.

But, when my A/C went out due to a capacitor on a weekend, I found out Lowes/HD/Menards ALL didn't stock it but could order it in 2 weeks.
So I called A/C shops wanting to buy the capacitor, a bunch were closed, and the open one offered to sell me it for $250

So I [-]waited[/-] sweated a day and bought it online for pickup at grainger ~ $15

 

[travelover]

..........
So I called A/C shops wanting to buy the capacitor, a bunch were closed, and the open one offered to sell me it for $250 ...........

Some HeVac and even plumbing suppliers feel it is their duty to screw over or outright refuse to sell to homeowners. I guess they score points with contractors that buy there.

 

[statsman]

Some HeVac and even plumbing suppliers feel it is their duty to screw over or outright refuse to sell to homeowners. I guess they score points with contractors that buy there.

For a second there, I thought I had clicked on the Pet Peeve of the Day thread!

 

[aaronc879]

Unless I missed it, I don't think aaron said he replaced the capacitor, just replaced.
In any case, glad we could help make the diagnosis. The sound of the compressor switching on after several days without AC must have brought great relief.

I did replace the capacitor myself. The pros wanted a minimum of $70 plus tax per hour with a 1 hour minimum for a job that takes 10 minutes. I watched a few extra Youtube videos until I was sure I could do it then did it myself.

 

[Time2]

Some HeVac and even plumbing suppliers feel it is their duty to screw over or outright refuse to sell to homeowners. I guess they score points with contractors that buy there.

I used to frequent an HVAC newsgroup (Usenet) It was very common for the HVAC techs to make it difficult for diy homeowners. There were a few that gave their wisdom liberally, but not many. I said to them several times they were like Rodney Dangerfield, they don't feel they get any respect, as in even a person has no knowledge and starts out afraid of electricity, repairs their own air conditioner.
One guy that I have great respect for is this guy.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

I did replace the capacitor myself. The pros wanted a minimum of $70 plus tax per hour with a 1 hour minimum for a job that takes 10 minutes. I watched a few extra Youtube videos until I was sure I could do it then did it myself.

Thanks for clearing that up and congratulations for persevering to what must be a satisfying conclusion.
The service quote sounds reasonable compared to prices in my area.

 

[NW-Bound]

I used to frequent an HVAC newsgroup (Usenet) It was very common for the HVAC techs to make it difficult for diy homeowners. There were a few that gave their wisdom liberally, but not many. I said to them several times they were like Rodney Dangerfield, they don't feel they get any respect, as in even a person has no knowledge and starts out afraid of electricity, repairs their own air conditioner.
One guy that I have great respect for is this guy.

Just watched the entire video. Very informative and entertaining.

 

[frank]

I just had a capacitor go bad this afternoon and none of the big name stores have it. I called a friend that works for a supply house and he said he would get it for me tommorrow for around 8 or 10 dollars. I use the doityourself.com site quite a bit for things I don[t know much about. there seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people there.

 

[NW-Bound]

I do not know if new central ACs are built with inverter technology as implemented in the mini-splits that I installed. In order to get a higher efficiency, the speed of the indoor and outdoor blowers as well as that of the compressor is variable, by the use of brushless DC motors. The motors are driven by electronics that is controlled by a computer (microcontroller).

I don't know what the usual failure modes of these components are, but there's nothing that a homeowner can service. And I suspect that all a serviceman can do is to swap out an entire motor or circuit board, provided that he can get it from the manufacturer.

 

[travelover]

I used to frequent an HVAC newsgroup (Usenet) It was very common for the HVAC techs to make it difficult for diy homeowners. ..........

I hung out there awhile when I was deciding on a new HeVac system. What a bunch of jerks - like trolls that had their own forum.

 

[RobbieB]

That's what I would do if I was trying to save my paycheck. Not even that, I wouldn't even waste my time. They can go check out Bob Villa's site.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I do not know if new central ACs are built with inverter technology as implemented in the mini-splits that I installed.

I don't know, either, but I think the big thing with mini splits is that they're heat pumps in addition to being area heating/cooling instead of whole-[-]attic[/-]house.

 

[Time2]

I hung out there awhile when I was deciding on a new HeVac system. What a bunch of jerks - like trolls that had their own forum.

Do you remember the Stormin Mormon?
He got picked on a lot because he did try to help people. Unfortunately he died.

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't know, either, but I think the big thing with mini splits is that they're heat pumps in addition to being area heating/cooling instead of whole-[-]attic[/-]house.

My old single-speed central AC is a heat pump. This has been common here for more than 40 years where it rarely gets below freezing in the winter, and where all-electric houses are the norm.

I just check, and there are now central ACs or heatpumps, meaning whole-house units, that are built with inverter technology motors. They are not yet popular though.

Variable-speed motors are more common with mini-splits, but one can still buy mini-splits with traditional induction motors, and they are less expensive as can be expected. And there are also mini-splits that are just for cooling. When I installed mine, I bought the better type to make my labor worthwhile.


PS. If I were to build a new house, I would use multi-zone mini-splits. This is where one outdoor compressor feeds multiple indoor units. Each room has its own indoor unit, which is individually controlled. And there are indoor units that are recessed into the ceiling, and look just like a duct outlet. An earlier poster also mentioned this. Retrofitting recessed indoor units into an existing home would be very costly.

The advantage of multi-zone heatpumps is that they are more efficient, and each room can be temperature-controlled as wanted. Because there is no airduct, the loss of cooling/heating through the airduct into the attic space is eliminated. The fans to move air inside each room also take less power. I was shocked to find out that the circulation blower of my central AC burns more than 500W. That's huge. You need a lot of power to push air through all that duct work to reach each room. My 1-1/2-ton mini-split takes just about 30W for its indoor blower, and that is when it is at the top speed. And the area it serves is almost 1000 sq.ft.

 

[RobbieB]

The service tech arrived as scheduled and found the R410 low as expected. He was surprised that it even cooled. He found the leak in the middle of the evaporator coil after checking the compressor first. I told him that the guy last year put dye in the system to help with the leak location. So, I'll get the coil replaced under warranty but I'll have to eat the labor and I should be good for another 10 years at least. He also put 2.75 lbs of gas in so it leaked that in 1 year. Pretty bad leak.

 

[steelyman]

The central air for my 2nd floor system failed over the weekend. Interior temps in the 90s w/humidity to match.

Cause? A capacitor.

This was/is a very useful thread!