My AC died & I'd like to get your internet diagnosis....

It's a cheap builder-grade York Heat Pump System circa 2001.

The inside unit appears to be working normally.

Outside, with the system activated:
The fan will spin, only if I start it spinning with a stick (new fan motor Aug 2006).

Once the fan is spinning, I still don't hear the compressor engaging.


My thought is that it may be a relay(s). The circuit board does not appear to be charred anywhere. I can't tell by looking if the relays are plug in or soldered to the board.

Wednesday night there was lightning....don't know if this is related...but I didn't notice any other electronics damage or notice any close strikes. Yesterday morning it was semi-warm when I woke up, but did not think anything about it.

Thank you in advance for your comments.

 

Capacitor maybe?

 

It could just be you are low on freon. which will keep the compressor from kicking in.

 

It could be that, or the compressor may be shot, the same thing happened to ours but it was a heck of a lot older than yours currently is.

 

That motor not beginning to spin on its own is likely a start capacitor that's open. Cheap fix.

Does the compressor have its own fuses or breakers? Some systems do.

Look to see if a wire from the fan motor's capacitor hasn't fallen off and hit a freon line. The resulting arc will pop a pinhole in the line and let out the freon. The lack of freon will cause the low pressure switch to open, and that will cause the compressor to not start. That kind of hole must be fixed with silver solder, not epoxy or regular solder.

York's not a bad system. There's a LOT cheaper out there!

Pop

 

Without hooking up gauges & a volt meter to a unit how can you make any positive diagnoses. If the condensing fan won't start without starting it manually the start capacitor is gone. Other than that you need to hook up gauges to see what is going on with pressures, and use a volt meter to check the electrical circuits.

 

That was going to be my next suggestion. Bring in a tech. you can guesstimize all day.

 

The fan motor issue does sound like a capacitor which is cheap to replace. The compressor could be freon or a bad wire. Mine didn't work the other weekend and I had a guy come over that knows about AC and when he took the cover off the compressor wiring box he found that a wire had burned through. The was a crack in the insulation and evidently caused the problem. He did say though that if the system had a short to ground fixing the wire wouldn't fix the problem. He checked and it was ok, fixed the wire and I was good to go. Until you can get someone out go through and check the wiring for any signs of burn, melting or being broke. The capacitor I'm told you can look at and if it is bulged there is a good chance that it is bad, but not a sure thing, just a quick check.

 

It’s probably not, but on the off chance it’s 3-phase you may have lost a leg.

 

I always get a kick out of refrigerant being called Freon. Freon is a trade mark name, not the compound. It is refrigerant. It's like calling a water heater a hot water heater. Why would you heat hot water.
I agree with kermmydog. You can't make any positive diagnoses. Without hooking up gauges & a volt meter to the unit.
I could make many speculations. An animal made a nest and shorted out a leg or gnawed through a wire enough to lower the amperage. The circuit breaker could be 1/2 tripped. If an older fused disconnect a fuse could be blown. Bad motor starter contractor or relay coil on the motor starter contractor is to weak.
Only way to check the capacitor is discharge the capacitor. Then using a volt meter set on OHMS or one with a capacitor test setting. Common to each output leg. Some time if the Internal overload has been tripped enough the overload can stay in an tripped position. Because over time the heat from continuous tripping, warps the bi-metal.
The fan also could be that the bearings are also dry and seizing. some units the fan comes on with the condenser and others it is delayed. This can be checked with the power disconnected. spin the fan blade. If it turns hard the the bearings are seizing. With the power reconnected. Back it up with an Amp probe. If the fan is pulling full LRA (Lock Rotor Amps) Replace the motor. This can also be done on the Compressor.
It's always better to have a qualified service tech preform all the tests.

 

It was the capacitor.

It has a dual cap in it 5 uF /35 uF...one side goes to the fan motor & the other goes to the compressor.

It cast me $12 for the cap and 6 gallons of gas for the V10. I had to drive 30 miles to the house to get the old cap, 35 miles to the nearest HVAC supplier that would sell to the general public, and 35 miles back home.

Still cheaper than the HVAC repairman...$80 just to knock on my door.

 

Yea, you wouldn't feel nearly as proud of the fix if someone else did it for you.

Think of this as a class you paid for to learn something. It's all worth it.

Pop