Carrier air condenser fan motor stopped working

[exalted512]

Its 2am and 89*. FML.

Any suggestions? It was making a small humming noise, so I turned off the breaker, then had someone spin the fan blades, I turned the breaker on and the fan kicked on. We're checking the temperature every few minutes and its staying around the same. i go out about 15 minutes later and it had stopped working again and no humming noise. Flipped the breaker off/on and still no humming noise. Tried spinning the fan again and no dice this time.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and track down what, if any warranty is on it. I bought the house last year, it was built in 06, but I cant find any paperwork on it. So I'm going to call the builder tomorrow along with Carrier and see if I can find out anything.

Hopefully its under warranty, if its not, any suggestions?

-Cody

[mole']

whats the model unit # on the AC?

i did some work on Carriers units when i was in the Navy.

EPA cert

[Polkersince85]

The fan relay contacts may be burned out. They take a beating.

[sda2mike]

that happened to one of mine...turned out it was a capacitor..looks like a small tin can...3 wires, i think...right near the motor..good luck

[exalted512]

Model: 38ESG036

I have a friend that used to do work on AC's. I'm hoping he might be able to look at it. I sent him a text last night around 1:40am. He hasn't replied yet and I don't want to wake him up, so I'm going to call him around 10:15...along with our builder to see what's up with the warranty.
-Cody

[obieone]

IF the fan blade WON'T spin, with the power turned OFF, then the bearings are seized. You'll need a new fan, and capacitor*
Capacitor is maybe not required, but it's always been my practice to change the motor, blade and capacitor. IF this unit is less than 1 year old, all parts and labor SHOULD be covered under installer/ mfg. warranty.

[nadams]

If the fan blades spin freely, it should just be either the relay or the caps. Since you said that it spun for a bit if you got it started manually, my guess is the cap.

[exalted512]

Well, I talked to my friend. He said that it's hard to say. He said he thought it might be the cap, but if it stops spinning after a while (and not because the thermostat kicks it off), then he wasn't exactly sure.

Got a hold of the builder, builder got a hold of the ac guy, ac guy called me. He's going to make it out here in the next 40 minutes or so to see if he can do anything.

He said the warranty is typically 5 years, but the serial number indicates it was made in the 33rd week of 2004. So we might be out of luck. Hopefully it'll be the capacitor and it'll be something cheap...keep me in your prayers! haha.
-Cody

[Disc Jockey]

Does it start up again a while after it shuts off? If so, your motor may be overamping and triggering the thermal shut down. You can measure the current flow while it's running and compare this against the rating on the motor.

[exalted512]

It was actually the capacitor. It actually exploded...not just got swollen up or anything like that.

It was $100 for the guy to come out and replace the $15 part, but I have ac now...and it was def. worth $100.
-Cody

[madmax]

Cool!

[exalted512]

Cool!

Literally!:p
-Cody

[mole']

It was actually the capacitor. It actually exploded...not just got swollen up or anything like that.

It was $100 for the guy to come out and replace the $15 part, but I have ac now...and it was def. worth $100.
-Cody

[BlueFox]

that happened to one of mine...turned out it was a capacitor..looks like a small tin can...3 wires, i think...right near the motor..good luck

Same here. New cap and it works fine.

[fossy]

after-thought......on electric motors.. if you can move the shaft back & forth or up & down .....then it's the bearings ... should be little to no play

[nadams]

Yeah, really... this is why I investigate and do things on my own when I can! If the cap was well and truely exploded, you would've easily been able to tell that was the problem on your own, and go out and spend $15 instead of $115.

That extra $100 would buy me a lot of beer.

[Toolfan66]

More then likely the capacitor is gone.. Do you have a Grainger near by??

[Face]

Did you upgrade it to a film cap? :D

[disneyjoe7]

Did you get it fixed?

[exalted512]

Yeah, really... this is why I investigate and do things on my own when I can! If the cap was well and truely exploded, you would've easily been able to tell that was the problem on your own, and go out and spend $15 instead of $115.

That extra $100 would buy me a lot of beer.

No one here would even have that cap, much less on a Sunday. It was worth $100, trust me.

And yeah Joe, its fixed!
-Cody