Young Man you are a God sent man. I can't believe how helpful and honest you are in helping average Joe's like myself 😉. Blessing and more blessings to you and your family in Jesus name Amen
@@truthmatters6719 I prayed to Jesus to stop children from dying from cancer. I also prayed to SATAN to keep letting them die. Satan answers all of my prayers! Satan rules! Amen 666!!! Btw, do you idiots still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy?
@@truthmatters6719 I SECOND YOUR SENTIMENTS ... on this particular matter !!!! no doubt he has never been anywhere even close to AN ABYSS ... he is probably an ACTOR ...🌅🌅
I have been doing HVAC for over 20 years, mostly installs. As I am getting older installations are taking their toll on me. I am transitioning to service and diagnostic side. Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all your efforts and willingness to share your information to teach old dogs, new tricks. It's really not teaching me anything new as opposed to it is just teaching me in general. Great job Jay, keep it up. Trades are a dying breed.
Hey, I have a question my brother I have a thermostat that has green, red blue and yellow or could be white I put a new thermostat in because it was not keeping the right schedule so I started over but I forgot where the white or yellow wire went to but my fan is working OK outside and the air conditioner is turning on, but it seems like the air conditioner now is shutting on and off but it will it stays on it stays on you have any idea? Am I missing a wire or something in my thermostat but that’s the only ones I ever had. Thanks.
Just an average Joe here....Followed this troubleshooting advice and it was perfect. I don't have the short tester but took his advice. Red to green? Motor kicks on. Red/green/yellow? Blown fuse. Chased down the wire and it turns out a mouse had nibbled on the wire leading out to the compressor outside. Replaced wire and BOOM! Here comes the A/C. Thanks!
Bro, you saved me close to $500 by educating how to troubleshoot a short and finally locating it as the AC Contactor. Cost me only $20 for AC Contactor and $7 for a pack of 3 Amp Fuses. Superb video and excellent instructions! Wish you all the best...
You are literally the best Hvac instructor I am learning everyday and take notes of all your videos, I took some classes in RCC and felt like I didn’t know anything until I found your videos.. Thank You for taking your time for making these videos.
AC went out Sunday. Did some research and followed the instructions in your video. Turned out to be the contactor. Spent less than $100 on new contactor and new capacitor and some wire and now it’s fixed. Took me a while as a newbie but your instructions were so clear and logical. I thank you for saving me at least $300!
I'm an apprentice. Your videos really help cement what I learn in class with what I see in the field. Most journeymen could learn a LOT about how to explain things by watching your videos. Thank you for making GREAT videos!!!
You're very welcome! Glad to hear the videos are easy to follow. Thank you for watching and leaving a comment, good luck in your career!! I am sure you will do great!
Thank you so much! You pointed me in the direction to find my problem on the hottest day of the year! My fuse was blowing, but not immediately, took it several hours. I found 3 issues that I'm assuming contributed to the issue. 1. There was a connection at the compressor with a low voltage wire where the wire nut was not tight (tightened). 2. The panel where the thermostat wires connected to the control board inside the furnace was slightly loose on the last connection (red wire tightened). 3. The board itself was loose as one of the snap in stands had popped out of the sheetmetal that the board is attached to (reinserted that). Now my A/C has been running reliably for over 24 hours! Thank you again!!!
I just had to comment to tell you how thankful I am of this video! You are a lifesaver!! I replaced a piece of 2 wire that was shorting I replace the condenser fan motor because it was bad, and then I turned it all back on and it popped the fuse again. I found your video. You led me to the contactor. It looked newee so I did missed it, but sure enough, it was shorting out! Replaced it and up and running. Thank you so much!!!
This helped me greatly! I am “do it myself” kinda gal. My air conditioning unit stopped working in the middle of summer. And painful thing is that my furnace is in the attic where it’s like walking in an oven during the day & like pre-heat mode at night. To make a short story long LOL, my system is connected to a zoning board & complicated the short circuit chasing a bit. Anyways, we had one windy day that helped eased attic heat & I was able to take advantage of that. I was able to isolate the short on the 27v line going down to condenser unit. That created a new problem for me. I had to figure out how to run a new line from the attic to the outside unit. Then I stared at the wires. There are four other unused wires with the red & white. I tested the two other wires in that line and it worked fine. I made sure I labeled the bad ones, & the two new ones on where it go. Thank you for making this video. Not only I figured & fixed the problem, now I understand more about the flow of my cooling system.
I've been doing hvac on and off for 6+ years felt like I still don't know much until i started watching your videos, my confidence grows when I challenge myself, you explain everything more clearly than the instructors I had and the leads I worked with, I I ready to work for a company again, still haven't found the right one for me, been surviving doing the jobs I'm comfortable with, right now I can do basic maintenance, replacing contactors, capacitors, and transformers, want to learn how to finally read and understand a Wiring diagram better I want to feel like I'm becoming more experienced and not stuck like I was in the beginning, although I feel like I'm far from where I started when I barely knew how to strip wire and use a wrench lol
You are a great teacher. With your videos I repaired my furnace in the middle of winter, well winter in California. After a week of diagnosis, checking codes and sensors, it was the board. Everything is working perfectly now. Thank you, John the contractor.
Fantastic! This is Advanced HVAC if there ever was. ”HVAC 201" starts here. Shorts must be the toughest problem you'll find in HVAC. Watch this multiple times to get a handle on. Min 22:00 Big leg up on the learning curve here! "Why is there such a mass of wires in the electrical space of the Outside Unit?" Answer: it's all those safety switches: - high pressure - low pressure - time delay ... This alone was worth 'the price of admission'. Thanks.
Between this channel and @BillNewberry 's I'm dang near qualified as an HVAC and Appliance Repair Professional. Thanks so much, your videos have saved me, family, and friends thousands of dollars.
I'm going to tell you honestly...I like to do things myself and learn new things. This video helped me find and eliminate the problem that was causing the fuse to consistently blow...it was a yellow wire rubbing on a copper tube inside the condenser unit outside. Took me a few nights to find it, but with the help of this video it was fairly easy to track down.... considering I have never ever messed with home HVAC before. Huge thanks!!!
I just got done with HVAC school and you are better than some of the instructors. My sister blew an amp. I saw her thermostat wire outside was chewed up. Replaced wire and fuse and it works. So I did learn from those classes, but I am going to keep using your videos for future references.
thanks for your video, it helped me, a single woman to diagnose and repair my ac unit. It's finally cooling down in here! Your teaching style is great. Keep making videos. I'm proof they are useful and needed. Best regards, J.
Thank you for your instructional videos. I just want to share an experience I had long time ago about a fuse blowing constantly. After check all possible sources of short circuit, I noted when it was time for the gas valve to be energized, the fuse blown. I checked the amperage in the wires connected to the this valve and it exceeded the maximum amperage allowed in the circuit. Conclusion: bad gas valve. Replaced it and...voila. Thank you again and keep posting more videos. You are one of the best.
Thanks for sharing this. You can not measure the resistance of many gas valves as they have electronic control circuitry so measuring the current draw before it trips the supply might be the only option.
Thanks a lot for this great video. It saved me hundreds of dollars in diagnosis and spare parts that I did not need. Your methodical way of narrowing down shorts helped me find that the red lead was in a dead short to ground. It had no shorts between the other cables, but when I tested why still blowing the fuse without the thermostat, I found the short. I still do not know what caused it, but I used a spare wire (brown) instead of the red for the thermostat side and the control side, and now the unit is working as it has been for the last 8 years. I will replace the cable in its entirety later on.
Thank you for spending time to teach us HVAC for free. You sound like you know much more than many of the guys I've worked with. You obviously know your stuff. I'm not sure why people call the condenser unit "the air conditioner" when it is technically only part of the A/C unit. You did it once but called it correctly afterwards. We should be paying for your teachings but I am praying for you. You're awesome!🙃
Great video as usual. So extremely informative. Great tips and troubleshooting. Here is a couple other tips on this subject. If you do find that one wire between your thermostat and furnace is either broken or shorted to ground and you have extra wires in your thermostat cable that are unused on either end, then you can swap the broken wire with one of the unused wires, simply by hooking it in place of the bad wire. It will save you from having to run a whole new cable at that moment and you can schedule the cable replacement job for a later date! Also, If it's mid summer or midwinter and you don't have any unused wires, but need to get the heat or cooling working right away, then swap the heating and cooling wires one at a time, at both the furnace terminals and the thermostat terminals and leave the bad pair disconnected and taped off at both ends. Label the pair as a bad circuit with a tape label. That swap will get you up and running for the rest of the season and then you can replace the whole cable before the system is needed for the next season. Hope that helps. I know it's helped me a lot and gained me extra work replacing the bad cables between seasons when it's slow. Just make a note to call the customer back to remind him that he needs to replace the cable to get the unit to work, before the next season! Because they will have forgotten all about it! Take care! Jpol.
Thank you very much, this video save me about $500 for the technician. Furnace control board fuse keeps blowing, check 24v good, control board status led steady on, truezone panel HZ311 status led Ok . Check 24v in contactor ok but very low resistance below 8 ohms as you mentioned in this video. I decided to replace the contactor and the unit runs smoothly. Thank you very very much.
I use to work in a power generation plant and I worked or helped the fellow there that came from a HVAC job before he came to the plant . He use to say I think it lost its smoke lol . He was really good on the ac units . I enjoyed helping Big Dave . Thanks for the videos
Dude, I just want to say a massive THANK YOU!!!!! Thanks to this very detailed, well done and very very instructive video I, a simple guy that for the first time ever opened his hvac system, was able to find a short, fix it and go back to have a cool temp in the house. Again, thanks for this word of advice!!
Thanks for helping me fix my issue. I was using impedance on an intermittent issue that started 6 years ago. It came back up and I decided to troubleshoot this issue myself using your vidoe as a resource. My family thanks you as we sit in our warm house after all of the holidays :)
I'm glad to hear the videos help! I think the school's main job is to teach the basics. There is a lot of stuff to learn and they can only teach you so much of it. The rest needs to be learned on the job.
Es un Gran MASTER en HVAC con un Gran talento y nos lo COMPARTE Gracias MIL . . ! Nota : te escribí en Español porque Somos mucha Gente HISPANA QUE SIGUEMOS TU CAPACIDAD EXELENTE .
Vo Outstanding video with clear and crisp instructions and guidance. My Hvac broke down and I was able to fix it by changing my burnt transformer. Did not have a fuse on my control board so installed a switch as suggest. All of this for $16. Thank you so much for posting such good quality videos. You are awesome!!!
Min 22:00 Big leg up on the learning curve here! "Why is there such a mass of wires in the electrical space of the Outside Unit?" Answer: it's all those safety switches: - high pressure - low pressure - time delay ... This alone was worth 'the price of admission'. Thanks.
Fantastic video. My AC stopped working, kept blowing 3A fuses in the control board. The issue ended up being a fried coil in the contactor. Swapped out the contactor and it now works. Thank you!
Great video with just a couple of things to add with my decades of experience with this subject. One short you did not cover which is rare but will happen is an intermittent short. It is typically caused by a short in a coil in a contactor, fan relay, unloader coil, etc, which only shows up after the coil is energized and heats up and it can do this in a very irregular time frame. It will then blow a fuse, de energize the circuit which allows the coil to cool down and the short goes away many of the times .It will drive you crazy! Best way to track this down is to put a device called a tattletale fuse in line with each load wire ( y,g,w) to start tracking it down. Will only blow a fuse in the circuit that draws excess power. Be careful with ohming out some control circuits to the chasis frame because the common side of the transformer alot of times is grounded to the frame and you can read continuity to ground back thru the transformer without having an actual short.This can be confusing for beginners.
This is so true. I’ve been in the HVAC business for 22 years and I run into those kind of shorts periodically. I do mostly air conditioning because I live in Florida. Most of the time it’s the contactor for the compressor/Odf. I’ve even seen bad contactor coils right out of the box.
Thanks a lot. It saved me at least 500 bucks. It started when my nest thermostat throws E4 error, no power to Rh. I found out the 3a fuse was blown. Replaced it with a new one. Blown again. Checked the terminal C and Y on the wire to condenser, and there is a short on the outside unit.
Man you paid attention in school and did not just go through the motions for a pay raise. The trade absolutely need more professionals in the field like you. As an employer in the trade it is hard to get my employees to be the best.
You are amazing. I am subscribed and when I have a problem I always go to your library first before searching for a solution. You go over and above to help others and I thank you for all your time, effort and sharing your amazing knowledge.
Very very good video, you should be a HVAK teacher because you’ve actually talked me through finding the short in my system. Good job, thanks a million
This video helped me so much, u explain so clearly. I've watched several other videos from other people breaking down the same thing but they get too technical and I just get lost.
The limit switch on the blower motor housing is one that I had that would blow the 3A fuse again and again. It was confusing because it was the vibration over time that caused it to go bad. As soon as the blower kicked on, the fuse blew. Thanks for this tutorial!
I love your video's they're very informative. I'm going to be starting a school for HVAC in southern Massachuttes this March of 2022, and hopefully have an apprenticeship by then as well. I work as a night mechanical maintenance (the only guy they have at night) at a university In RI , and i'm very familiar with all this. your videos gives me a big leg up that'll help me when I go to school and start that job. i do use a multi meter to check continuity and shorts on the custodial machines i have to fix amongst other things. this video is a big help. thank you so much for making these videos.
Great tutorial. By process of elimination found bad water pump motor on my furnace humidifier which blew fuse on heating circuit. Furnace is up and running on 9 degree day! Can't thank you enough.
That was such an amazing informative video. I have not heard any of this information since college 20 some years ago and you explained it so well. I was able to locate the short after following some of your methods which saves me a whole night of sweating and of coarse the call fee for the HVAC tech:) Thank you for doing the video.
Great info! Extremely comprehensive and well delivered through use of good grammatically spoken English. Thank you for putting this video out. It saved me money and taught me a lot of extras.
did all this, explained very well so thank you. there was continuity between the orange and common wires at the all fuel board. found the wire going to the reversing valve was frayed on a tube and shorting inside the condenser. another place to look...
Thanks for the Finding the Short video it helped me chase down a bad contactor on the low voltage side for the downstairs A/C. It kept blowing the 3 amp fuse 🦾Now I just need to find out how to balance out the air in all the rooms. The master stays cool but the other 3 rooms get pretty warm and the air volume is low. Was told by another contractor that the people that installed it really didn't do a good job on any of the houses they installed the system in.😟
After watching this I assumed it was the coil. I removed the coil circuit from the main board and it showed 2 ohms. I turned power back on, switched fan to manual and it has been running with the windows open to get some circulation(and on a 2 amp fuse because I ran out of 3 amp). I could change the contactor but its kind of tight so I am just going to pay the original installer to change it. If he tries to stick it to me with a new board I will kick him out of the house and either do it myself or hire someone else. Thanks for your help. Lots of good stuff and no bull.
Thank you for providing extremely clear and applicable instruction, very well done! You addressed exactly the issues I am experiencing and what I need to do to fix it in a way that I can understand and actually fix it. I so much appreciate your help - very fine job. Kind regards, Curtis
Thanks for the videos bro. I love watching them. I'm also a hvac tech and cant get enough! I love doing service work for people in the residential field...I can tell you are smart and like the trade also.
Hey Benjamin! Thank you for watching and commenting bro! Glad you are liking the videos! Yes, residential service work has been good to me! :) Can't complain
Do not use foil tape on a door switch. I did, and found its quite easy to short out the breaker. Brilliant flash. Loud pop. At least use care when the tape wraps around the switch housing on some units where the wires are exposed.
I guess Im randomly asking but does any of you know a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I was dumb forgot the account password. I love any tricks you can offer me
Nice video! Brave of you to tackle a topic like this. Shorts typically need to be worked on case by case, every scenario is different, yet you tried to lay out a method to the madness. I applaud the effort and I think you did a pretty good job! Keep it up.
Thank you! Yeah.. Once I started filming it I understood that there's really no way to cover all the bases since so many different things can go wrong. But since I started it, I thought may as well finish it and see how it goes :)
Your videos are outstanding - you know your stuff and you certainly know how to communicate to those of us that don't know! I still haven't found a resolution to my problem (can't find my York furnace 3 amp fuse) so I subscribed to your channel and will snoop around in hopes to find a solution. Keep up the great work young man and God Bless you for you help.
From what he ( JAY , I BELIEVE ??? ) said , you might need to install your own : should be , from what JAY said , between the secondary of the transformer , the red and blue wires probably , on their way to the THERMOSTAT . I BELIEVE he said he had to install his own also , because it was on his schematic , but not there . OR he prefers LENNOX circuit breakers , RESETTABLE . HE clipped the HOT secondary wire , probably RED , on its way to the thermostat , and installed it there : gotta be the HOT WIRE !!!!.... 🌅🌅
Hi Jake thanks 🙏 for sending your knowledge you helped a lot to fixed my heater my bower motor and blower wheel was s bad you saved me a lot of money and fixed it my self I ordered the parts on Amazon thanks for everything all your videos are so beautiful Godbless you
Word of caution for those working with heat pumps (he briefly mentioned it in the video): the defrost board typically sends the supplied voltage from the yellow wire to the high pressure switch and low pressure switch in series before it reaches one side of the contactor. Make sure you isolate those components before condemning a defrost board or contactor.
Another word of caution is when he said the condenser contactor coil low voltage wires are interchangeable. Yes and No. On a heat pump the wire that supplys power and tells the defrost timer to count down comes from the side of the contactor coil that has the wire from the yellow . If you accidentally hook this wire that gos to t1 on defrost board to common side of contactor coil, your defrost will not work and outside unit will become a sheet of ice in winter. Always good to check wiring diagram to make sure you have it right. Never trust the wiring skills of anyone who was there before you.
Your videos are great and have been very helpful in my diagnostic process to get my AC running again. Just ran into a snag today when I went to buy a replacement transformer and was told the HVAC supply stores will only sell to licensed contractors. Doesn't make sense when I can buy the same part on Amazon, just delays my fix an extra day and they sell one less transformer.
My condenser was not turning on one day. Easily found short outside the condenser. I repaired wires leading to relay coil. Replaced burnt out 24 v transformer and told wife to be careful not to damage wires again with grass trimmer. That ac unit was 20 years old. My new unit is less than a year old and will definitely look for a fuse on the transformer secondary.
I really appreciate your advice and videos, they really help me learn and be a better apprentice and hopefully I can be a tech soon, not very many tech's are willing to teach the new guys.Thanks again.
True not to many tech want to teach the newbie, when I started worked with an older tech very good at what he did but would take the time to show me. So it took me years on my own to figure things out where I could have saved years,years. Stayed in hvac the 10 years before I retired.
Thank you for your videos… so much helpful info.. made simple and easy to follow. Helped me find a bad contact for compressor that kept blowing transformer. Added an inline fuse too!!! Thanks again..!!!
For your last tip you can connect all 5 wires together at on end. And at the other end you can take any wire and test it with any other wire and if there is continuity the two wires are good. Keep one of them and keep going until you find the broken one. If you do not find a broken wire. That means all 5 wires are good. But if you did not have continuity at the first test. Then hold on to one and test it to any other wire, if it has continuity. Its the wire that you let go of that is broken. If does not have continuity with the others then the wire that you held on to is the broken wire. Why this is a good idea. Its keeps you from going back and forth to the other end to change connections. I hop you like this method .
I've got a suggestion that will save you lots of time tracking down a short on the low voltage side. Just spend the money for the short finder you showed in the beginning of your video. If you want to go cheap simply buy a 24 volt bulb and attach two wires. The idea is to add current limiting to the circuit based on what the bulb draws. Replace your fuse with the bulb or short finder (the short finder is simply a 24 bulb packaged nicely with wires). Place the short finder or bulb in place of your fuse or circuit breaker. The Bulb will stay lite as long as the short is in the circuit ( why? because one side of the fuse socket has 24 volt and the short is providing the ground which then lights the light). You won't overheat anything because the current in the circuit is limited by the current draw of the bulb (2 to 3 amps). Now power up the furnace and use your multimeter in the current position and start wrapping your magnetic current jaws around each wire. The shorted part of the circuit will show the maximum current draw (2 to 3 amps of course). Continue to track the short in this way and when you finally get to any terminating point remove that wire and if the light goes out that's your short. Then if you like use the ohms function to test the component. Using this method saves you lots of time from having to remove and replace wires one by one. And yes, with 12 volt bulbs I use this method to track down shorts in cars. This allows me to find shorts in HVAC equipment in under 10 minutes. The current jaws are the most underutilized part of a multimeter for troubleshooting.
Interesting...so in short (pun intended), you take your amp clamp and clamp around each wire individually until you see the amp draw that would trip a fuse. Pull that wire and the light bulb will turn off indicating you have found the component/wire that it's shorting.
Thanks. Thats very interesting. Apparently if a solenoid valve or contactor do not fully close/actuate when energised they draw excess current and people need to be mindfull of this type of fault also. I dont think any method would pick this up so good to check amp draw also or perhaps visually confirm same.
Hey J, amazing video I feel I understood you way more than when I went to school. I’ve been watching your channel nice info you got there. Thank you in behalf of all the newbies in the HVAC industry. Question bro... do you have one video about heat pump trouble shooting?
I had that scenario at a friend's place where the hot cap/contactor wire from the outdoor AC unit was hit accidentally by some aggressive lawn maintenance and shorted to ground. It took a little work to find but I try to use my eyes before my brain/tools. Another tip is to put a light bulb into the fuse circuit. Cheaper than blowing a pile of fuses... when bulb calms down after repair, replace fuse...
So, in other words there are two potentials on for the 120 and one for the 24v. Good video, thanks for the effort on our behalf. The scenario that wires were shorting happened to me, my scenario was transformers getting burned up and as it turned out there was a nail that perforated the wall and the potential and some other wire within the thermostat bundle And this is the reason you would want a 4 wire thermostat out to the condenser to then utilize the extra wires just in case.
Thank you very much. This resolves my HVAC furnace not running issue. My furnace fuse was tripped when I accidently touched the red and white thermos cable at condenser unit outside when replacing the contactor.
Dude! Another great video. You teach and explain things very well. Maybe you should be a teacher after all this. Or hopefully you’re happy and making enough doing these videos. I need to buy a shirt for support, plus I would love rocking it.
Thank you for this How-To video. Until I saw this video, I was looking for my 3 AMP fuse on a controller board. The fuse was located between the two wires as noted in your video. My Nest restart issues were not resolved with the replacing of the fuse but it is good to know where to find it now.
It's been interesting to see the parallel methods used for automotive repair. Gotta get a set of those magnetic jumper wires, and a low current breaker.
Thank you for watching! :) I haven't done much automotive repairs but I am sure there will be plenty of similarities. Yeah, those magnetic jumpers are pretty nice!
I never found out WHY the little 2 amp fuse blew out from the transformer to the circuit board, but I couldn't of figured it out if it wasn't for your video. You definitely helped me out to get my home air conditioning system going again. Thank You.
Thank you so much for these videos - I've learned so much from them! Your comment about the High Limit Switch shorting out your furnace was my issue exactly and now it's working! :-)
Was your High Limit Switch rubbing against the Heat Exchanger inside? Im having problems with the fuse randomly blowing. Maybe every 4 days about. I took out the High Limit and the probe cloth coating was burnt. And looked like it may have been touching the metal pipe of the heat exchanger. Does that probe normally look that way because of being in the heat all the time? Im not sure. Also, when my furnace ends the heat cycle, it is coming back on for a second, and then off, and then back on. It can do this 0 times, or it can do it about 5 times until it finall shuts off. Just wondering if this sounds like the problems you were having?
@@garyhanson3362 Yes, I had replaced the high limit switch due to the code the control board was showing (4 flashes), and it would work for a few days and then start shutting off every time the furnace would run for about 30 seconds. Then I replaced that switch with the only other switch I could get my hands on at the time and it was slightly longer than the OEM part. Subsequently it was touching the heat exchanger and shorted out as soon as I called for heat - the burners wouldn't even try to ignite. I ultimately traced the issue back to a loose solder joint on the back of the control board where the high limit switch connected to it. I re-soldered the joint and it worked for a while, but I finally replaced the control board and it worked like a champ after that. I don't recall my furnace ever showing that behavior where it comes back on after a heat cycle, and I don't recall any burn marks on the switch at all.
@@brooksjarvis1684 Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I believe my High Limit Switch (like a probe) was the problem. When I took mine out, it was black and looked like it was melting a bit. I thought maybe they just get like that from being in heated air? But, then I also noticed it was melted and looked rubbed thru right about wjere the metal tubing of the heat exchanger would be. I bent it back in a direction that would pull iy away from that. It seems to be working normal now. It was constantly turning off and on in quick succession on shut down. Now it just shuts down once! LOL I ordered another part (fairly cheap) to have in case it starts acting up again. Nice to finally solve the problem!
Love your channel and your videos, very educational. I need your help: My A/C unit does not want to run. I have a Rheem unit from the 90's. I don't know much about A/C, so my unit was not working at all, so to start I changed one capacitor (it was blown) and the contactor (plunger)( I didn't have to, but I did) I even changed the motor and the fan because I though it was gone after too many years of service. I changed the fuses off the disconnect box. Nothing seem to work. When I turned the A/C on at the thermostat location, I just heard a click on the plunger and I could see the contactor moving downwards, indicating me that there was some power there. I will check the thermostat, maybe the problem is there. I appreciate your feedback. You are my tutor, great video !
@Balmore Escobar Hello good sir! Glad you are finding the videos helpful! So from what you described it sounds like you don't have 240v going to the unit.. Do you have a multi-meter you can check voltages with? It would be nice to confirm. When the plunger pulls in, does the unit at least hum like it is attempting to start or completely silent? If it does not even try, then I would think there is no power. You mentioned that you replaced the fuses in the disconnect already. It's possible the blew again or perhaps the AC circuit breaker or fuse inside the house has tripped
@@jake-sy7cc thank you. I think I got a short somewhere in the system. I did what you suggested to do. The blower in the furnace is the only one that turns on. I will check to see if the compressor is getting any power.
@@WordofAdviceTV Yes, there's a small hummin sound, using a screwdriver I made a small push into the contact, then I hear a loud humming and I stop pushing the contact. I checked the circuit breakers at the main box, the A/C breaker doesn't show any evidence that is tripping, it is on the on position. So then I go back to the thermostat, checked and confirmed that all five wires are in the right place, as their color code matched their corresponding letter, Y for yellow, W for white, etc, etc. I did the same at the thermostat's end, all seemed to be normal. I ended up changing the A/C breaker, just in case. It is a duplex unit 20-40-40-20. The 40-40 is for the A/C and one 20 is for dishwasher and the other 20 is for the garbage disposal. Anyways, I don't know where to look anymore. One of the things I haven't check is the compressor. We haven't have A/C for some time now and it is not fun at all when we are experiencing a heat wave of triple digits. Any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you very much for taking your valuable time to read my messages and sending me your great feedback. I appreciate it so much.
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Young Man you are a God sent man. I can't believe how helpful and honest you are in helping average Joe's like myself 😉.
Blessing and more blessings to you and your family in Jesus name Amen
666!!! Amen!
@@bert1913 shame on you my friend
@@truthmatters6719 I prayed to Jesus to stop children from dying from cancer. I also prayed to SATAN to keep letting them die. Satan answers all of my prayers! Satan rules! Amen 666!!! Btw, do you idiots still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy?
@@truthmatters6719 I SECOND YOUR SENTIMENTS ... on this particular matter !!!! no doubt he has never been anywhere even close to AN ABYSS ... he is probably an ACTOR ...🌅🌅
25:51
There are tons of people that can do. Very few can teach. This guy is a rare gem.
I have been doing HVAC for over 20 years, mostly installs. As I am getting older installations are taking their toll on me. I am transitioning to service and diagnostic side. Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all your efforts and willingness to share your information to teach old dogs, new tricks. It's really not teaching me anything new as opposed to it is just teaching me in general. Great job Jay, keep it up. Trades are a dying breed.
Jay ,thanks a lot for sharing your AC , knowledge to all the new techs , n keep up the good work !
Hey, I have a question my brother I have a thermostat that has green, red blue and yellow or could be white I put a new thermostat in because it was not keeping the right schedule so I started over but I forgot where the white or yellow wire went to but my fan is working OK outside and the air conditioner is turning on, but it seems like the air conditioner now is shutting on and off but it will it stays on it stays on you have any idea? Am I missing a wire or something in my thermostat but that’s the only ones I ever had. Thanks.
@@josephgarcia676 Sounds like you have either overtightened or didn't tighten down enough a blue or white wire on the thermostat housing.
Trades are definitely becoming extinct. I ♥❤ ♥❤ working with my hands too...
You have to go through probate to die
Just an average Joe here....Followed this troubleshooting advice and it was perfect. I don't have the short tester but took his advice. Red to green? Motor kicks on. Red/green/yellow? Blown fuse. Chased down the wire and it turns out a mouse had nibbled on the wire leading out to the compressor outside. Replaced wire and BOOM! Here comes the A/C. Thanks!
Bro, you saved me close to $500 by educating how to troubleshoot a short and finally locating it as the AC Contactor. Cost me only $20 for AC Contactor and $7 for a pack of 3 Amp Fuses. Superb video and excellent instructions! Wish you all the best...
Glad to hear that you were able to get it fixed! Thank you for taking a minute to leave the comments. Stay cool brother and God bless you and yours!
You are literally the best Hvac instructor I am learning everyday and take notes of all your videos, I took some classes in RCC and felt like I didn’t know anything until I found your videos.. Thank You for taking your time for making these videos.
AC went out Sunday. Did some research and followed the instructions in your video. Turned out to be the contactor. Spent less than $100 on new contactor and new capacitor and some wire and now it’s fixed. Took me a while as a newbie but your instructions were so clear and logical. I thank you for saving me at least $300!
I'm an apprentice. Your videos really help cement what I learn in class with what I see in the field. Most journeymen could learn a LOT about how to explain things by watching your videos. Thank you for making GREAT videos!!!
You're very welcome! Glad to hear the videos are easy to follow. Thank you for watching and leaving a comment, good luck in your career!! I am sure you will do great!
Right!!???
Nobody explains things as good as he does
Thank you so much! You pointed me in the direction to find my problem on the hottest day of the year! My fuse was blowing, but not immediately, took it several hours. I found 3 issues that I'm assuming contributed to the issue. 1. There was a connection at the compressor with a low voltage wire where the wire nut was not tight (tightened). 2. The panel where the thermostat wires connected to the control board inside the furnace was slightly loose on the last connection (red wire tightened). 3. The board itself was loose as one of the snap in stands had popped out of the sheetmetal that the board is attached to (reinserted that). Now my A/C has been running reliably for over 24 hours! Thank you again!!!
I just had to comment to tell you how thankful I am of this video! You are a lifesaver!! I replaced a piece of 2 wire that was shorting I replace the condenser fan motor because it was bad, and then I turned it all back on and it popped the fuse again. I found your video. You led me to the contactor. It looked newee so I did missed it, but sure enough, it was shorting out! Replaced it and up and running. Thank you so much!!!
This helped me greatly! I am “do it myself” kinda gal. My air conditioning unit stopped working in the middle of summer. And painful thing is that my furnace is in the attic where it’s like walking in an oven during the day & like pre-heat mode at night. To make a short story long LOL, my system is connected to a zoning board & complicated the short circuit chasing a bit. Anyways, we had one windy day that helped eased attic heat & I was able to take advantage of that. I was able to isolate the short on the 27v line going down to condenser unit. That created a new problem for me. I had to figure out how to run a new line from the attic to the outside unit. Then I stared at the wires. There are four other unused wires with the red & white. I tested the two other wires in that line and it worked fine. I made sure I labeled the bad ones, & the two new ones on where it go. Thank you for making this video. Not only I figured & fixed the problem, now I understand more about the flow of my cooling system.
I've been doing hvac on and off for 6+ years felt like I still don't know much until i started watching your videos, my confidence grows when I challenge myself, you explain everything more clearly than the instructors I had and the leads I worked with, I I ready to work for a company again, still haven't found the right one for me, been surviving doing the jobs I'm comfortable with, right now I can do basic maintenance, replacing contactors, capacitors, and transformers, want to learn how to finally read and understand a Wiring diagram better I want to feel like I'm becoming more experienced and not stuck like I was in the beginning, although I feel like I'm far from where I started when I barely knew how to strip wire and use a wrench lol
I learn alot more from you than in my hvac class I took at a technical college.Thanks alot
My school shows his videos😂
Lol right!
I swear 😂😂
Same here
I show his videos to my "students" and charge tuition fees.
You are a great teacher. With your videos I repaired my furnace in the middle of winter, well winter in California. After a week of diagnosis, checking codes and sensors, it was the board. Everything is working perfectly now. Thank you, John the contractor.
I’m taking HVAC classes in Spanish (my first language) but I’m learning more with you thatn what I’m learning at school.
Thank you so much
Fantastic!
This is Advanced HVAC if there ever was. ”HVAC 201" starts here.
Shorts must be the toughest problem you'll find in HVAC.
Watch this multiple times to get a handle on.
Min 22:00
Big leg up on the learning curve here!
"Why is there such a mass of wires in the electrical space of the Outside Unit?"
Answer: it's all those safety switches:
- high pressure
- low pressure
- time delay
...
This alone was worth 'the price of admission'.
Thanks.
Between this channel and @BillNewberry 's I'm dang near qualified as an HVAC and Appliance Repair Professional.
Thanks so much, your videos have saved me, family, and friends thousands of dollars.
lol you wish
@@jimmyhelvig5609yeah, HVAC is proper rocket science. Unachievable assertion.
I'm going to tell you honestly...I like to do things myself and learn new things. This video helped me find and eliminate the problem that was causing the fuse to consistently blow...it was a yellow wire rubbing on a copper tube inside the condenser unit outside. Took me a few nights to find it, but with the help of this video it was fairly easy to track down.... considering I have never ever messed with home HVAC before. Huge thanks!!!
You're welcome! Glad to hear you were able to track down and fix the short!
I just got done with HVAC school and you are better than some of the instructors. My sister blew an amp. I saw her thermostat wire outside was chewed up. Replaced wire and fuse and it works. So I did learn from those classes, but I am going to keep using your videos for future references.
thanks for your video, it helped me, a single woman to diagnose and repair my ac unit. It's finally cooling down in here! Your teaching style is great. Keep making videos. I'm proof they are useful and needed. Best regards, J.
Thank you for your instructional videos. I just want to share an experience I had long time ago about a fuse blowing constantly. After check all possible sources of short circuit, I noted when it was time for the gas valve to be energized, the fuse blown. I checked the amperage in the wires connected to the this valve and it exceeded the maximum amperage allowed in the circuit.
Conclusion: bad gas valve. Replaced it and...voila.
Thank you again and keep posting more videos. You are one of the best.
That's a rare one! Thank you for sharing! I appreciate you watching and leaving a nice comment!
Thanks for sharing this. You can not measure the resistance of many gas valves as they have electronic control circuitry so measuring the current draw before it trips the supply might be the only option.
Thanks a lot for this great video. It saved me hundreds of dollars in diagnosis and spare parts that I did not need. Your methodical way of narrowing down shorts helped me find that the red lead was in a dead short to ground. It had no shorts between the other cables, but when I tested why still blowing the fuse without the thermostat, I found the short. I still do not know what caused it, but I used a spare wire (brown) instead of the red for the thermostat side and the control side, and now the unit is working as it has been for the last 8 years. I will replace the cable in its entirety later on.
Thank you for spending time to teach us HVAC for free. You sound like you know much more than many of the guys I've worked with. You obviously know your stuff.
I'm not sure why people call the condenser unit "the air conditioner" when it is technically only part of the A/C unit. You did it once but called it correctly afterwards.
We should be paying for your teachings but I am praying for you.
You're awesome!🙃
Great video as usual. So extremely informative. Great tips and troubleshooting. Here is a couple other tips on this subject. If you do find that one wire between your thermostat and furnace is either broken or shorted to ground and you have extra wires in your thermostat cable that are unused on either end, then you can swap the broken wire with one of the unused wires, simply by hooking it in place of the bad wire. It will save you from having to run a whole new cable at that moment and you can schedule the cable replacement job for a later date! Also, If it's mid summer or midwinter and you don't have any unused wires, but need to get the heat or cooling working right away, then swap the heating and cooling wires one at a time, at both the furnace terminals and the thermostat terminals and leave the bad pair disconnected and taped off at both ends. Label the pair as a bad circuit with a tape label. That swap will get you up and running for the rest of the season and then you can replace the whole cable before the system is needed for the next season. Hope that helps. I know it's helped me a lot and gained me extra work replacing the bad cables between seasons when it's slow. Just make a note to call the customer back to remind him that he needs to replace the cable to get the unit to work, before the next season! Because they will have forgotten all about it! Take care! Jpol.
Thank you very much, this video save me about $500 for the technician. Furnace control board fuse keeps blowing, check 24v good, control board status led steady on, truezone panel HZ311 status led Ok . Check 24v in contactor ok but very low resistance below 8 ohms as you mentioned in this video. I decided to replace the contactor and the unit runs smoothly. Thank you very very much.
I use to work in a power generation plant and I worked or helped the fellow there that came from a HVAC job before he came to the plant . He use to say I think it lost its smoke lol . He was really good on the ac units . I enjoyed helping Big Dave . Thanks for the videos
Dude, I just want to say a massive THANK YOU!!!!! Thanks to this very detailed, well done and very very instructive video I, a simple guy that for the first time ever opened his hvac system, was able to find a short, fix it and go back to have a cool temp in the house. Again, thanks for this word of advice!!
My go to HVAC instructor, thank you. Natural teacher, clear concise video.
Thanks for helping me fix my issue. I was using impedance on an intermittent issue that started 6 years ago. It came back up and I decided to troubleshoot this issue myself using your vidoe as a resource. My family thanks you as we sit in our warm house after all of the holidays :)
You saved me a week of troubleshooting. I forgot that thermostats going bad is a common thing.
As brand new technician I feel so much better after watching your videos because even though I went to school they didn’t teach me any of this
I'm glad to hear the videos help! I think the school's main job is to teach the basics. There is a lot of stuff to learn and they can only teach you so much of it. The rest needs to be learned on the job.
Daniel Heredia school don't make a good technician, hands on tools plus bad experience makes a good technician.
Es un Gran MASTER en HVAC con
un Gran talento y nos lo COMPARTE
Gracias MIL . . !
Nota :
te escribí en Español porque
Somos mucha Gente HISPANA
QUE SIGUEMOS TU CAPACIDAD EXELENTE .
Vo
Outstanding video with clear and crisp instructions and guidance. My Hvac broke down and I was able to fix it by changing my burnt transformer. Did not have a fuse on my control board so installed a switch as suggest. All of this for $16. Thank you so much for posting such good quality videos. You are awesome!!!
I just started in service out of school, your videos are extremely helpful, thank you very much
Glad to hear that! You're welcome and thank you for watching!
Min 22:00
Big leg up on the learning curve here!
"Why is there such a mass of wires in the electrical space of the Outside Unit?"
Answer: it's all those safety switches:
- high pressure
- low pressure
- time delay
...
This alone was worth 'the price of admission'.
Thanks.
Fantastic video. My AC stopped working, kept blowing 3A fuses in the control board. The issue ended up being a fried coil in the contactor. Swapped out the contactor and it now works. Thank you!
Great video with just a couple of things to add with my decades of experience with this subject. One short you did not cover which is rare but will happen is an intermittent short. It is typically caused by a short in a coil in a contactor, fan relay, unloader coil, etc, which only shows up after the coil is energized and heats up and it can do this in a very irregular time frame. It will then blow a fuse, de energize the circuit which allows the coil to cool down and the short goes away many of the times .It will drive you crazy! Best way to track this down is to put a device called a tattletale fuse in line with each load wire ( y,g,w) to start tracking it down. Will only blow a fuse in the circuit that draws excess power. Be careful with ohming out some control circuits to the chasis frame because the common side of the transformer alot of times is grounded to the frame and you can read continuity to ground back thru the transformer without having an actual short.This can be confusing for beginners.
This is so true. I’ve been in the HVAC business for 22 years and I run into those kind of shorts periodically. I do mostly air conditioning because I live in Florida. Most of the time it’s the contactor for the compressor/Odf. I’ve even seen bad contactor coils right out of the box.
Thanks a lot. It saved me at least 500 bucks. It started when my nest thermostat throws E4 error, no power to Rh. I found out the 3a fuse was blown. Replaced it with a new one. Blown again. Checked the terminal C and Y on the wire to condenser, and there is a short on the outside unit.
Man you paid attention in school and did not just go through the motions for a pay raise. The trade absolutely need more professionals in the field like you. As an employer in the trade it is hard to get my employees to be the best.
It's an honor to get a comment like that from an HVAC boss! Thank you for watching and commenting boss man! ;)
You are amazing. I am subscribed and when I have a problem I always go to your library first before searching for a solution. You go over and above to help others and I thank you for all your time, effort and sharing your amazing knowledge.
Very very good video, you should be a HVAK teacher because you’ve actually talked me through finding the short in my system. Good job, thanks a million
This video helped me so much, u explain so clearly. I've watched several other videos from other people breaking down the same thing but they get too technical and I just get lost.
Dr. B. Every VIDEO by this instructor is clearly simple to the point. Outstanding !!
The limit switch on the blower motor housing is one that I had that would blow the 3A fuse again and again. It was confusing because it was the vibration over time that caused it to go bad. As soon as the blower kicked on, the fuse blew. Thanks for this tutorial!
I love your video's they're very informative. I'm going to be starting a school for HVAC in southern Massachuttes this March of 2022, and hopefully have an apprenticeship by then as well. I work as a night mechanical maintenance (the only guy they have at night) at a university In RI , and i'm very familiar with all this. your videos gives me a big leg up that'll help me when I go to school and start that job. i do use a multi meter to check continuity and shorts on the custodial machines i have to fix amongst other things. this video is a big help. thank you so much for making these videos.
Great tutorial. By process of elimination found bad water pump motor on my furnace humidifier which blew fuse on heating circuit. Furnace is up and running on 9 degree day! Can't thank you enough.
Thank you for the tutorial. This video is so comprehensive. Can’t go wrong if you follow this information.
That was such an amazing informative video. I have not heard any of this information since college 20 some years ago and you explained it so well. I was able to locate the short after following some of your methods which saves me a whole night of sweating and of coarse the call fee for the HVAC tech:) Thank you for doing the video.
I just got off a call yesterday looking for a short from 8 to 2. This came in handy 👍🏿
Great info! Extremely comprehensive and well delivered through use of good grammatically spoken English. Thank you for putting this video out. It saved me money and taught me a lot of extras.
did all this, explained very well so thank you. there was continuity between the orange and common wires at the all fuel board. found the wire going to the reversing valve was frayed on a tube and shorting inside the condenser. another place to look...
Thanks for the Finding the Short video it helped me chase down a bad contactor on the low voltage side for the downstairs A/C. It kept blowing the 3 amp fuse 🦾Now I just need to find out how to balance out the air in all the rooms. The master stays cool but the other 3 rooms get pretty warm and the air volume is low. Was told by another contractor that the people that installed it really didn't do a good job on any of the houses they installed the system in.😟
Really helpful video. Very clearly presented. I also watched this several times stopping at key points. Thanks
After watching this I assumed it was the coil. I removed the coil circuit from the main board and it showed 2 ohms. I turned power back on, switched fan to manual and it has been running with the windows open to get some circulation(and on a 2 amp fuse because I ran out of 3 amp). I could change the contactor but its kind of tight so I am just going to pay the original installer to change it. If he tries to stick it to me with a new board I will kick him out of the house and either do it myself or hire someone else. Thanks for your help. Lots of good stuff and no bull.
I can't believe how resourceful your videos are! Thank you for doing this. Your video helped me fix my AC and i am learning even more now!
Glad to hear the videos are useful! :) Thank you for watching and leaving a comment!
Thank you for providing extremely clear and applicable instruction, very well done! You addressed exactly the issues I am experiencing and what I need to do to fix it in a way that I can understand and actually fix it. I so much appreciate your help - very fine job.
Kind regards, Curtis
Wow, simply the best instructions on fault troubleshooting. Many thanks!
Thanks for the videos bro. I love watching them. I'm also a hvac tech and cant get enough! I love doing service work for people in the residential field...I can tell you are smart and like the trade also.
Hey Benjamin! Thank you for watching and commenting bro! Glad you are liking the videos! Yes, residential service work has been good to me! :) Can't complain
Always awesome to see someone with a passion for their profession.
Do not use foil tape on a door switch. I did, and found its quite easy to short out the breaker. Brilliant flash. Loud pop. At least use care when the tape wraps around the switch housing on some units where the wires are exposed.
Thank you so much, you just saved me a lot of money on the weekend. My family is going to be nice and warm. Thank you.
I guess Im randomly asking but does any of you know a tool to get back into an instagram account??
I was dumb forgot the account password. I love any tricks you can offer me
@@declancairo6446 sorry don't do Instagram
Bravo thanks
Shouts out from California one of the best videos on the subject Top Dog very professional thanks.
Nice video! Brave of you to tackle a topic like this. Shorts typically need to be worked on case by case, every scenario is different, yet you tried to lay out a method to the madness. I applaud the effort and I think you did a pretty good job! Keep it up.
Thank you! Yeah.. Once I started filming it I understood that there's really no way to cover all the bases since so many different things can go wrong. But since I started it, I thought may as well finish it and see how it goes :)
Your videos are outstanding - you know your stuff and you certainly know how to communicate to those of us that don't know! I still haven't found a resolution to my problem (can't find my York furnace 3 amp fuse) so I subscribed to your channel and will snoop around in hopes to find a solution. Keep up the great work young man and God Bless you for you help.
From what he ( JAY , I BELIEVE ??? ) said , you might need to install your own : should be , from what JAY said , between the secondary of the transformer , the red and blue wires probably , on their way to the THERMOSTAT . I BELIEVE he said he had to install his own also , because it was on his schematic , but not there . OR he prefers LENNOX circuit breakers , RESETTABLE . HE clipped the HOT secondary wire , probably RED , on its way to the thermostat , and installed it there : gotta be the HOT WIRE !!!!.... 🌅🌅
Your electrical knowledge is NUMBER 1! Great channel. I look at your videos for a great education reference. Thank you .
Thank you for such high marks! :) I appreciate you watching my videos and commenting!
Hi Jake thanks 🙏 for sending your knowledge you helped a lot to fixed my heater my bower motor and blower wheel was s bad you saved me a lot of money and fixed it my self I ordered the parts on Amazon thanks for everything all your videos are so beautiful Godbless you
My limit switch was shorting and i couldn't figure it out until watching this video. Thanks for this.
U explain step by step on each equipment u work on an I am learning from yr videos thank u very much
Word of caution for those working with heat pumps (he briefly mentioned it in the video): the defrost board typically sends the supplied voltage from the yellow wire to the high pressure switch and low pressure switch in series before it reaches one side of the contactor. Make sure you isolate those components before condemning a defrost board or contactor.
Y
Another word of caution is when he said the condenser contactor coil low voltage wires are interchangeable. Yes and No. On a heat pump the wire that supplys power and tells the defrost timer to count down comes from the side of the contactor coil that has the wire from the yellow . If you accidentally hook this wire that gos to t1 on defrost board to common side of contactor coil, your defrost will not work and outside unit will become a sheet of ice in winter. Always good to check wiring diagram to make sure you have it right. Never trust the wiring skills of anyone who was there before you.
Your videos are great and have been very helpful in my diagnostic process to get my AC running again. Just ran into a snag today when I went to buy a replacement transformer and was told the HVAC supply stores will only sell to licensed contractors. Doesn't make sense when I can buy the same part on Amazon, just delays my fix an extra day and they sell one less transformer.
My condenser was not turning on one day. Easily found short outside the condenser. I repaired wires leading to relay coil. Replaced burnt out 24 v transformer and told wife to be careful not to damage wires again with grass trimmer.
That ac unit was 20 years old. My new unit is less than a year old and will definitely look for a fuse on the transformer secondary.
I really appreciate your advice and videos, they really help me learn and be a better apprentice and hopefully I can be a tech soon, not very many tech's are willing to teach the new guys.Thanks again.
What about if it takes a few days for the fuse to blow intermittently?What could the problem be?
True not to many tech want to teach the newbie, when I started worked with an older tech very good at what he did but would take the time to show me. So it took me years on my own to figure things out where I could have saved years,years. Stayed in hvac the 10 years before I retired.
Bro I owe you a case of beer. This video literally saved me hundreds of dollars thank you so much!
Thank you for your videos… so much helpful info.. made simple and easy to follow. Helped me find a bad contact for compressor that kept blowing transformer. Added an inline fuse too!!! Thanks again..!!!
For your last tip you can connect all 5 wires together at on end. And at the other end you can take any wire and test it with any other wire and if there is continuity the two wires are good. Keep one of them and keep going until you find the broken one. If you do not find a broken wire. That means all 5 wires are good. But if you did not have continuity at the first test. Then hold on to one and test it to any other wire, if it has continuity. Its the wire that you let go of that is broken. If does not have continuity with the others then the wire that you held on to is the broken wire. Why this is a good idea. Its keeps you from going back and forth to the other end to change connections. I hop you like this method .
This is definitely the correct way to check the wires...!!!
Yeah the only way to do it saves you alot of time!
i only agree if you only have an open circuit and to find which wire is open and its not for checking for shorted wires using
above method
I've got a suggestion that will save you lots of time tracking down a short on the low voltage side. Just spend the money for the short finder you showed in the beginning of your video. If you want to go cheap simply buy a 24 volt bulb and attach two wires. The idea is to add current limiting to the circuit based on what the bulb draws. Replace your fuse with the bulb or short finder (the short finder is simply a 24 bulb packaged nicely with wires). Place the short finder or bulb in place of your fuse or circuit breaker. The Bulb will stay lite as long as the short is in the circuit ( why? because one side of the fuse socket has 24 volt and the short is providing the ground which then lights the light). You won't overheat anything because the current in the circuit is limited by the current draw of the bulb (2 to 3 amps). Now power up the furnace and use your multimeter in the current position and start wrapping your magnetic current jaws around each wire. The shorted part of the circuit will show the maximum current draw (2 to 3 amps of course). Continue to track the short in this way and when you finally get to any terminating point remove that wire and if the light goes out that's your short. Then if you like use the ohms function to test the component. Using this method saves you lots of time from having to remove and replace wires one by one. And yes, with 12 volt bulbs I use this method to track down shorts in cars. This allows me to find shorts in HVAC equipment in under 10 minutes. The current jaws are the most underutilized part of a multimeter for troubleshooting.
Great tip, going to grab one ASAP
Brilliant!
I m in Hvac school and it's great to know both ways . THANKS
Interesting...so in short (pun intended), you take your amp clamp and clamp around each wire individually until you see the amp draw that would trip a fuse. Pull that wire and the light bulb will turn off indicating you have found the component/wire that it's shorting.
Thanks. Thats very interesting. Apparently if a solenoid valve or contactor do not fully close/actuate when energised they draw excess current and people need to be mindfull of this type of fault also. I dont think any method would pick this up so good to check amp draw also or perhaps visually confirm same.
Hey J, amazing video I feel I understood you way more than when I went to school. I’ve been watching your channel nice info you got there. Thank you in behalf of all the newbies in the HVAC industry.
Question bro... do you have one video about heat pump trouble shooting?
I had that scenario at a friend's place where the hot cap/contactor wire from the outdoor AC unit was hit accidentally by some aggressive lawn maintenance and shorted to ground. It took a little work to find but I try to use my eyes before my brain/tools. Another tip is to put a light bulb into the fuse circuit. Cheaper than blowing a pile of fuses... when bulb calms down after repair, replace fuse...
So, in other words there are two potentials on for the 120 and one for the 24v. Good video, thanks for the effort on our behalf. The scenario that wires were shorting happened to me, my scenario was transformers getting burned up and as it turned out there was a nail that perforated the wall and the potential and some other wire within the thermostat bundle And this is the reason you would want a 4 wire thermostat out to the condenser to then utilize the extra wires just in case.
Thank you very much. This resolves my HVAC furnace not running issue. My furnace fuse was tripped when I accidently touched the red and white thermos cable at condenser unit outside when replacing the contactor.
I can't believe how much you teach me with this video, thanks 🙏
The best class HVAC ever . Thank you so much all details explanation
THIS KID IS AMAZING THANK YOU GREATING FROM MARYLAND
Dude! Another great video. You teach and explain things very well. Maybe you should be a teacher after all this. Or hopefully you’re happy and making enough doing these videos. I need to buy a shirt for support, plus I would love rocking it.
Great explanation, the only thing I would add is the multimeter settings to be on ac volts. Great video thx.
Very nice tutorial God will bless you. Thank you for share your knowledge and experience to a novice people .
Thank you for this How-To video. Until I saw this video, I was looking for my 3 AMP fuse on a controller board. The fuse was located between the two wires as noted in your video. My Nest restart issues were not resolved with the replacing of the fuse but it is good to know where to find it now.
Awesome video, great knowledge for tech as well as DIY’ers trying to confirm if they need a pro to continue T/S or replace parts.
It's been interesting to see the parallel methods used for automotive repair. Gotta get a set of those magnetic jumper wires, and a low current breaker.
Thank you for watching! :) I haven't done much automotive repairs but I am sure there will be plenty of similarities. Yeah, those magnetic jumpers are pretty nice!
Im in kelowna BC visiting mom on a sunday night, furnace fans not working and house is 30 celcius. Thank you for saving the day again.
You are doing a great job with all your videos.Good luck in Hawaii!
I’ve learned so much from your videos
I feel like I owe you money......
thank you i am binge watching a lot of your videos ..i am learning so much .. .you the man
That’s an awesome explanation of the case of short low voltage 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I just had the same issue. High limit touching the side. This video just saved me hahah
Really well explained you got lots of patience thank you much for the video God bless you man
Marvelously and meticulously explained, as always.
@Johannes Brahms Thank you Johannes! I appreciate you always watching and commenting! :)
The best teacher. Taught me a lot
I never found out WHY the little 2 amp fuse blew out from the transformer to the circuit board, but I couldn't of figured it out if it wasn't for your video. You definitely helped me out to get my home air conditioning system going again. Thank You.
Thank you so much for these videos - I've learned so much from them! Your comment about the High Limit Switch shorting out your furnace was my issue exactly and now it's working! :-)
Was your High Limit Switch rubbing against the Heat Exchanger inside? Im having problems with the fuse randomly blowing. Maybe every 4 days about. I took out the High Limit and the probe cloth coating was burnt. And looked like it may have been touching the metal pipe of the heat exchanger. Does that probe normally look that way because of being in the heat all the time? Im not sure. Also, when my furnace ends the heat cycle, it is coming back on for a second, and then off, and then back on. It can do this 0 times, or it can do it about 5 times until it finall shuts off. Just wondering if this sounds like the problems you were having?
@@garyhanson3362 Yes, I had replaced the high limit switch due to the code the control board was showing (4 flashes), and it would work for a few days and then start shutting off every time the furnace would run for about 30 seconds. Then I replaced that switch with the only other switch I could get my hands on at the time and it was slightly longer than the OEM part. Subsequently it was touching the heat exchanger and shorted out as soon as I called for heat - the burners wouldn't even try to ignite.
I ultimately traced the issue back to a loose solder joint on the back of the control board where the high limit switch connected to it. I re-soldered the joint and it worked for a while, but I finally replaced the control board and it worked like a champ after that.
I don't recall my furnace ever showing that behavior where it comes back on after a heat cycle, and I don't recall any burn marks on the switch at all.
@@brooksjarvis1684 Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I believe my High Limit Switch (like a probe) was the problem. When I took mine out, it was black and looked like it was melting a bit. I thought maybe they just get like that from being in heated air? But, then I also noticed it was melted and looked rubbed thru right about wjere the metal tubing of the heat exchanger would be. I bent it back in a direction that would pull iy away from that. It seems to be working normal now. It was constantly turning off and on in quick succession on shut down. Now it just shuts down once! LOL I ordered another part (fairly cheap) to have in case it starts acting up again. Nice to finally solve the problem!
Love your channel and your videos, very educational. I need your help: My A/C unit does not want to run. I have a Rheem unit from the 90's. I don't know much about A/C, so my unit was not working at all, so to start I changed one capacitor (it was blown) and the contactor (plunger)( I didn't have to, but I did) I even changed the motor and the fan because I though it was gone after too many years of service. I changed the fuses off the disconnect box. Nothing seem to work. When I turned the A/C on at the thermostat location, I just heard a click on the plunger and I could see the contactor moving downwards, indicating me that there was some power there. I will check the thermostat, maybe the problem is there. I appreciate your feedback. You are my tutor, great video !
@Balmore Escobar Hello good sir! Glad you are finding the videos helpful! So from what you described it sounds like you don't have 240v going to the unit.. Do you have a multi-meter you can check voltages with? It would be nice to confirm. When the plunger pulls in, does the unit at least hum like it is attempting to start or completely silent? If it does not even try, then I would think there is no power. You mentioned that you replaced the fuses in the disconnect already. It's possible the blew again or perhaps the AC circuit breaker or fuse inside the house has tripped
Sounds like breaker is tripped push it back and forth a few times then to on position
@@jake-sy7cc thank you. I think I got a short somewhere in the system. I did what you suggested to do. The blower in the furnace is the only one that turns on. I will check to see if the compressor is getting any power.
@@WordofAdviceTV Yes, there's a small hummin sound, using a screwdriver I made a small push into the contact, then I hear a loud humming and I stop pushing the contact. I checked the circuit breakers at the main box, the A/C breaker doesn't show any evidence that is tripping, it is on the on position. So then I go back to the thermostat, checked and confirmed that all five wires are in the right place, as their color code matched their corresponding letter, Y for yellow, W for white, etc, etc. I did the same at the thermostat's end, all seemed to be normal. I ended up changing the A/C breaker, just in case. It is a duplex unit 20-40-40-20. The 40-40 is for the A/C and one 20 is for dishwasher and the other 20 is for the garbage disposal. Anyways, I don't know where to look anymore. One of the things I haven't check is the compressor.
We haven't have A/C for some time now and it is not fun at all when we are experiencing a heat wave of triple digits. Any suggestions or recommendations?
Thank you very much for taking your valuable time to read my messages and sending me your great feedback. I appreciate it so much.