A/C Fix

Here in the land of Michigan, the summers are hot and the winters are cold.  August and September are normally the hottest months of the year. The humidity is nigh on to unbreathable. People flock to the Lake so they can cool off, swim, relax, enjoy the non-roasting life.

Except this year.

It's been a relatively cool summer.  The temperature hasn't been in the nineties yet (that I recall) and the humidity has been very breathable.  Almost pleasant. So if there is any year for the A/C to go out, this is the year for it.

So it did.

We were sitting in the house a few nights ago and realized that the A/C was on but there was no cool air flowing through the house.  The air was flowing; it just wasn't cool.  Being an old A/C man from way back, I immediately suspected the A/C system had gone "on the fritz".  (See how clever I am? Making these leaps of logic?) Then Cheryl reminded me that the lights had been oddly flickering over the past few days. Dimming for a second or two and then brightening again.

Uh-oh. That's not good. Typically that means a motor is not starting. And since the air was flowing, that meant the fan was working but not the compressor.

Compressors are expensive. Very expensive. Dollar signs started dancing in our heads.

I went downstairs and checked the condenser coils.  Dry as a bone. If there had been a leak in the coils (due to rust), all the coolant might've already dissipated, and the compressor could've locked up like a motor without oil.

I went outside to check the compressor. Activated the relay manually to try to kick on the compressor. No go.  It wouldn't start.

Rats. Must be locked up. More dollar signs dancing in my head.

Here's where things got fun.  The next day at church, I had a chat with Brian S., who works HVAC. He reminded me that it might not be the compressor; it's also possible that the starting capacitor had gone bad.

Starting capacitors cost a lot less than compressors.

Brian kindly offered to come over and take a look at it that very afternoon, and while he was there, we tested the circuit and found, much to my delight, that it was the starting capacitor.  And it just so happened that Brian had a spare one that he carried around in his truck. Which he let me borrow until I could get to the store on Monday to purchase one.

For your future reference, here's two pictures of starting capacitors. The one on the left is the bad one; the right-hand side has the good one. Can you tell the difference? The bad one is swollen up. The electrolytic substance inside has evidently shorted out, which causes out-gassing with subsequent swelling of the case. The good one is flat on top.

BAD	GOOD

The A/C felt extra good that afternoon (and it was, indeed, very warm outside, just the kind of day here A/C comes in handy).