They are leftover from a conversion to central air.
Just fixed my A/C!
- Thread starter dishdude
- Start date
They are leftover from a conversion to central air.
Never seen one burn like that. . Possible electrical surge or brown out?
The system is working well in both heat pump and AC modes. With a temperature gun I measured outside ambient temperature at the condenser, so no over heating is evident. Fingers crossed.
If you want to be hero this is what u need for a spare cap. In case someone else needs one till a supply house opens up.
I always wondered if adding an aluminum heatsink to the capacitor would significantly extend its life?
Highboy
Site Donor 2022
Those Titan HD caps suck!!!
Really.. I installed a Titan HD cap in my parents house a/c compressor, back in 2018, still running fine, five years later.. Nothing wrong with it, it was a 35/5 MFD Dual Run Cap (440/470v). And it was made in USA. What model of Titan Caps went bad for you?
Nope!
Look up capacitor by model number. Google part number to get correct mfd. If voltage is 370v you may replace with 440v.
Very important to replace with exact mfd value capacitor. I replace contactors regularly too. When the contacts wear cause capacitor to fail.
I have replaced capacitor and they failed in few minutes. Went through multiple capacitors until contactor replaced following day. Contactor was chattering, points pitted. I buy 40 amp contactors, can use them on 5 ton and smaller. Last longer than original 20, 25, 30 amp contactor.
Without resister in between there is a possibility of sparking and arcing, I guess for an already known bad cap it is not a problem but I wonder what could go wrong.
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Loose terminal caused that, loose connection generated heat. Terminal should be replaced.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Yeah. Very lucky and I know that feeling of victory you got. That is the last thing I had to repair to my 4 ton H.E. Rheem condensing unitI have to gloat and you're the only crowd that will understand. I was sitting here about an hour and a half ago and noticed it getting warm in the house. Went to check on the vents and they were blowing warm! Go outside and the outdoor unit isn't running.Did some quick checks with my multimeter to make sure it was getting juice, felt the condenser fan and it was very hot. The fan spun freely when I tried spinning it with a paint stick, but since it was getting late I did a quick search for a capacitor and fan, no fan available tonight but the local Ace had the cap! Decided to throw a cap at it and $30 later we have cold air! Old cap wasn't even that old...now just need to button this bad boy up once it cools down a bit inside.
I can't tell you the feeling when I plugged the disconnect in and it fired right to life!
earlier this year. Talk about happy just like you when I realized "wow, less than $75 and fixed in 1 hour!"
Similar story, came home from a week at the beach a couple years ago to a hot home. Air handler running but outside unit not. Checked everything out in the morning, determined the capacitor as most likely issue. This is a Sunday morning, got a same day delivery from Amazon by 6 pm. Put it in and back in business. My wife still doesn't worship me as a DIY hero though 
jeff
jeff
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
She would if she had to pay those after hours or wekend call out repair bills you prevent.Similar story, came home from a week at the beach a couple years ago to a hot home. Air handler running but outside unit not. Checked everything out in the morning, determined the capacitor as most likely issue. This is a Sunday morning, got a same day delivery from Amazon by 6 pm. Put it in and back in business. My wife still doesn't worship me as a DIY hero though
jeff
No. They do not run that hot to need one. If they run hot, something is wrong with it.
As part of doing preventive maintenance, I check the capacitor on my furnace and refrigerator yearly.
You need a multi-meter that measures microfared's
As long as it's in (+/-) tolerance, you're fine.
If it's out of tolerance, motor may still start, (without full benefit of capacitor) but ends its life early.
Because you made it look too easy.Similar story, came home from a week at the beach a couple years ago to a hot home. Air handler running but outside unit not. Checked everything out in the morning, determined the capacitor as most likely issue. This is a Sunday morning, got a same day delivery from Amazon by 6 pm. Put it in and back in business. My wife still doesn't worship me as a DIY hero though
jeff
Do the capacitors age with sitting on shelf or only in use?
I have a service contract for the two Trane heat pumps I have. They come 2x a year for maintenance. They check the capacitors each time they come. But one has failed between service calls. Another one was going south and caught in a service visit.
The service contract covers the two services a year and provides free labor for the 10 year period of the Trane free parts warranty. And they come quickly as you are existing customer.
The service contract covers the two services a year and provides free labor for the 10 year period of the Trane free parts warranty. And they come quickly as you are existing customer.
Awesome fix. I'm assuming you purchased the correct capacitor? When I worked maintenance I was starting to learn a little bit about A/C and there is a range and something else to look at farads If I remember correctly.I have to gloat and you're the only crowd that will understand. I was sitting here about an hour and a half ago and noticed it getting warm in the house. Went to check on the vents and they were blowing warm! Go outside and the outdoor unit isn't running.
I can't tell you the feeling when I plugged the disconnect in and it fired right to life!
