s219
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2011
- Messages
- 8,548
- Location
- Virginia USA
- Tractor
- Kubota L3200, Deere X380, Kubota RTV-X
So we were finishing up dinner, and my wife asks "is it hot in here?". As soon as she said it and I realized the AC was silent, I started sweating. Went outside while still chewing my last bite, and the outside compressor unit was just humming, not running. I poked the fan with a stick, and it slowly spun up, but the compressor was not kicking on. Crap! At 8pm, I knew things were going to be dicey whether I did the repair or we called someone in. It didn't help that it was triple-digit hot today, with heat index of 116F. At 8pm, it was still hot and my shirt was soaked just standing out there.
We got ahold of one repair company, and it took about 30 minutes before their dispatch got back to us and told us they were booked solid through 1am with service calls! Called another place, and same story, but the guy asked me a couple questions and immediately came to the same conclusion I had suspected, that the dual-capacitor went bad. He check with his field techs, and one was in the area. Since it was likely a quick fix, they sent the guy over between bigger jobs, and he got here about 9pm.
I had setup a work light near the compressor unit, and pulled off the access panel. The capacitor was definitely swelled up a bit. The tech arrived, took one look, did a quick test with a multi-meter, and agreed that was the problem. He swapped a new capacitor in, and everything fired right up once we cut the power back on. Boy, did I feel relieved -- not only was that saving the day, but we were now looking at a repair bill of about $200 rather than thousands for a new compressor unit! The guy pressure tested the unit and watched the gauges for 5-10 minutes while the system started cooling. He added about a pound of refrigerant (not bad for a system that hadn't been serviced in 12 years).
I feel like we dodged a real bullet. Last time we had a failure it was the blower fan in the air handler, and it took me about 2 days to roundup a new motor and capacitor for that. At that time, temps were only in the 90s, and it was still tough. Same for the instances when we've been without power for a few days after hurricanes -- that has always been temps in the 80s and 90s. I don't know how we would have dealt with no AC for days in this triple digit heat. Really makes me wonder how people dealt with extreme hot weather in the old days before AC. I assume they didn't have tight houses, and maybe took more care with house design to maximize shade and natural ventilation.
Interestingly, the repair tech told me we got priority tonight because we only have one air conditioner for the whole house. Some of the other service calls were for houses with dual zone but only one failing unit, so the repair company lowers their priority. Seems like a real fair way to sort customers when it's a busy night with high temps. This guy seemed to think he would be working until 1-2am, but he said he was glad for the work.
We got ahold of one repair company, and it took about 30 minutes before their dispatch got back to us and told us they were booked solid through 1am with service calls! Called another place, and same story, but the guy asked me a couple questions and immediately came to the same conclusion I had suspected, that the dual-capacitor went bad. He check with his field techs, and one was in the area. Since it was likely a quick fix, they sent the guy over between bigger jobs, and he got here about 9pm.
I had setup a work light near the compressor unit, and pulled off the access panel. The capacitor was definitely swelled up a bit. The tech arrived, took one look, did a quick test with a multi-meter, and agreed that was the problem. He swapped a new capacitor in, and everything fired right up once we cut the power back on. Boy, did I feel relieved -- not only was that saving the day, but we were now looking at a repair bill of about $200 rather than thousands for a new compressor unit! The guy pressure tested the unit and watched the gauges for 5-10 minutes while the system started cooling. He added about a pound of refrigerant (not bad for a system that hadn't been serviced in 12 years).
I feel like we dodged a real bullet. Last time we had a failure it was the blower fan in the air handler, and it took me about 2 days to roundup a new motor and capacitor for that. At that time, temps were only in the 90s, and it was still tough. Same for the instances when we've been without power for a few days after hurricanes -- that has always been temps in the 80s and 90s. I don't know how we would have dealt with no AC for days in this triple digit heat. Really makes me wonder how people dealt with extreme hot weather in the old days before AC. I assume they didn't have tight houses, and maybe took more care with house design to maximize shade and natural ventilation.
Interestingly, the repair tech told me we got priority tonight because we only have one air conditioner for the whole house. Some of the other service calls were for houses with dual zone but only one failing unit, so the repair company lowers their priority. Seems like a real fair way to sort customers when it's a busy night with high temps. This guy seemed to think he would be working until 1-2am, but he said he was glad for the work.
