Whole House A/C stopped cooling Trane XE1000

I went on Amazon and ordered a capacitor and contactor to keep on the shelf . Those weekend callouts to the AC guy are pricey .
 
I keep a spare capacitor for each of my Heat Pumps and one contractor between both units. Always a good thing to have if issues arrives.
 
I went on Amazon and ordered a capacitor and contactor to keep on the shelf . Those weekend callouts to the AC guy are pricey .
Did you pick up exact OEM contactor or went for half priced compatible? Since contactor is mechanical and must wear out, so makes sense for me to proactively stock it. I do NOT want any surprises when I go to replace it after the original gives up, so I should just pick up the full priced exact OEM part instead of taking a chance on half the priced one.

But my dilemma is that OEM part has no reviews but the after market one has many and is "recommended" by the Jungle River.
 
Did you pick up exact OEM contactor or went for half priced compatible? Since contactor is mechanical and must wear out, so makes sense for me to proactively stock it. I do NOT want any surprises when I go to replace it after the original gives up, so I should just pick up the full priced exact OEM part instead of taking a chance on half the priced one.

But my dilemma is that OEM part has no reviews but the after market one has many and is "recommended" by the Jungle River.
You have to understand that the OEM part is just an aftermarket part that they source from the lowest bidder that meets their specs . Your original post was in 2019 and the unit was no doubt much older . There's no telling how many different vendors they have gone through for common parts like that .
 
Contactors are pretty well standardized. The mounting holes and terminals are all the same. If anything, the aftermarket contactor will be a 2-pole contactor instead of the 1-pole used by the OEM to save cost.
 
The only time I've used a oem capacitor is when there was only space for than shaped cap in the electrical compartment. There are several different brands universal capacitor can save you or a neighbor a service call to get buy till a supply house is open.
 
Looks like time to get educated on contactor. It looked more intimidating when I was browsing it for fun last time.
Very easy. Buy OEM if possible, turn off breaker and make sketch or change one wire at a time. You can get OEM numbers off the original. By selecting OEM, you are atleast assured of a certain level of quality. I stay away from one size fits all type univeral parts.
 
Jay (absolutely fabulous YouTube presenter) aka Word of Advice TV says he had to change very few contactors in his career especially if the original is double pole. But still makes sense to keep one handy rather than waiting for few days to get it off the Long River or pay through nose at local place.
 
Just remember to de energize the old one before you take it off....or you will get quite jolt...
 
The date code on the new capacitor which I put in yesterday is 1814 aka Year_2018/Week_14. This should last at least until 2028 for me.
 
Here is Jay's latest wisdom. Since I agree with him 200% regarding the bad actors in every single service industry, I of course liked this video. As far as I am concerned, unless proven otherwise, I assume each and every person in those industries such as car repair or HVAC or plumbing to be dishonest.

So sue me (but to do that you have to first find an honest lawyer)

 
Any contrary opinion to hosing down the unit from the outside without removing any panels? It will do some cleaning of the coils but I don't want to have something to go wrong either and would prefer sleeping dogs lie!
 
Capacitors can "age out", but that's no reason not to have a spare start and run cap on hand. The chances of it working are pretty high. I now keep both on hand, and one for my well pump. I've needed all 3 recently.
 
I assume each and every person in those industries such as car repair or HVAC or plumbing to be dishonest.
I assume dishonest people assume other people are dishonest.
If you don't trust people in person, why in the world would you trust an internet ranger?

Like every industry, there are about 20% that should be doing something else.
A smaller percentage of that group may be dishonest.

You can go ahead and block me as I am blocking you.
45 yrs as a HVAC guy, 35+ yrs as a licensed Electrician.

People with your attitude keep people like me from wanting to help.
 
I assume dishonest people assume other people are dishonest.
If you don't trust people in person, why in the world would you trust an internet ranger?

Like every industry, there are about 20% that should be doing something else.
A smaller percentage of that group may be dishonest.

You can go ahead and block me as I am blocking you.
45 yrs as a HVAC guy, 35+ yrs as a licensed Electrician.

People with your attitude keep people like me from wanting to help.
I've used a local company to maintain my American Standard 5 ton 16 SEER unit. They have been outstanding. It has 2 compressors a 2.5t and a 5t in the same unit. The start cap for the smaller of the 2 compressors failed just before the 10 year warranty was up. They offered to replace the smaller compressor as it was not quite as smooth as they would have liked. I declined, thinking that it sounded fine. Here I am 13 years later and it's still going.

In any case, I don't want to claim they are "cheap", but they are absolutely honest, have been punctual and work on weekends, and the repairs have been 100% and and and. Including the wire burning through the freon line, which while not really my fault, I did notice the issue during fan replacement and forgot about it. In any case, they used some R22 I had, and performed a fine repair.

I give them 5 stars.
 
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An honest guy can work all day every day and have more customers than he can handle.

There are more HVAC guys getting screwed by customers than the other way around.
 
I have found an honest company for my HVAC needs and I have gladly given them multiple hundreds when they fixed my system. Conversely, they gave me a part free when needed a part for my humidifier and I was NOT even their customer at that time. I tried to give them the money but they would not accept. It would have cost me at least $20 to get it shipped to me.

So yes, there are honest people in HVAC industry but I still consider them to be minority.
 
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