About two years ago the capacitor on our external AC condenser failedand was replaced. The unit has ran fine since then. Last night thefan stopped and the unit began making more noise.Poking the fan blades showed they spin quite freely. Am I right inassuming that since the unit was still making noise that it can't be arelay (was dark, but if there were any it looked like only one in theunit), that the only thing remaining is either this 2 year oldcapacitor or the motor itself?Motor is about 15 years old, looks like a typical GE 220V 1.4A 1/4HP. Opening it up it looks fine inside, though a problem in thewindings might not be something I could see. I have basic electronicsskills, is there a way to test the integrity of the motor orreasonably run it outside the condenser?The run capacitor on these is about 5uF, or at least that's the motorspec'd value. Will this type of capacitor read normally out ofcircuit with a capacitance meter, and if it's value was withintolerance can the capacitor then be assumed in good operablecondition?Am I correct in assuming that if I momentarily turn the AC on withoutthe fan hooked up at all (being sure to turn it off again before thecompressor overheats due to no airflow) that if I measure the expected220V at the motor hookup points, this is another indication it has tobe either the capacitor or motor itself? With the motor open, withthe armature removed from the stator, between three wires I'm gettingresistance readings of 28 Ohm, 56Ohm, 84 Ohm. These look right for atypical 1 phase condenser motor, being all three multiples of 28 Ohm,correct?The last capacitor was obviously, visually bad as indicated by itbulging. The new (2 year old) one looks mint still. Does anyone havefurther ideas for troubleshooting this besides swapping in a new motorand/or capacitor, and which do you think is the cause?

yupthe system is getting on in age and close to the end of its design life cycle. Were it me, I would probably install a new motor and capacitor, then start putting a bunch of money in the bank to replace the system.

Condenser Motor Or Capacitor?

Sep 01, 2008 102 Replies

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Stormin Mormon 17 years ago

Those strags just didn't understand the question.

Got towel?

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Dave + Gloria 17 years ago

And thanks for all the fish!

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Stormin Mormon 17 years ago

I think the answer is 42. But we don't want to seem too confident, at least. what's that noise? Why is there so much yellow outside my window?

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