Hi - I'm kind of a newbie to this whole newsgroup thing, but hopefully someone can help me out. It's Labor Day weekend, and I'm stuck here at home with a pregnant wife and no a/c... and on top of THAT, it's her birthday today - HELP!! :) Our a/c quit working some time early on Saturday - the indoor operation is fine (thermostat, blower), the condensor fan operates ok. The compressor comes on for about 3 seconds, then shuts off for several minutes, then does the same thing again... over and over. Compressor is quiet, sounds normal. Earlier this spring (June, I think), the same thing happened, and I called a repairman out - he replaced the run capacitor, and all was good. The old capacitor he took out was oval and had a bulge on the side, like it had burned inside. The new one is just round, a little bit smaller than the old one. I don't see anything like the burned spot on the new one. Could it still be bad? Also, there is a small black box with 3 yellow wires and a black wire connected to it - one of the yellow wires goes to the run capacitor terminal marked "HERM". This black box buzzes loudly when the compressor kicks off, and changes tone when tapping on the box. Basically, my question is: Is there anything I can replace myself without having someone come out and charge? $ is a little bit tight with the pregnancy and such. Appreciate any answer you can give! By the way... forgot to mention... it's a Lennox unit, model #HS19-261-6P.
Paul