Given the prevalence of failed flag terminals or terminals in molded plugs at the compressor, the only proper way to ohm out a compressor is right at the fusite terminal. You just deemed the compressor DOA without ruling out the wiring harness between the cap and the compressor.
I made that mistake a month ago lucky the guy got a second opinion. The unit was 15 years old and it was about time to change it but he didn’t want to spend the money to have it done. I’ve never been so embarrassed.
@@robertlamey7612 As a home owner I had no idea that leaving the the unit energized would do additional damage. Valuable video for me, I will turn the unit off at the beaker if the unit stops cooling for me. Another thing that puzzles me about this video. If it's just 4 years old, is there not at least a parts warranty remaining?
Great overall work. As others have mentioned, I like to check right at the terminals. I've seen too many terminal wires get loose / corrode etc.... I've brought some compressors back to life with a new set of wires.
My current job is a maintenance technician in a residential townhouse setting. Your channel is invaluable to the expansion of my existing knowledge on HVAC work. It has also helped temporarily satiate my desire to learn more in the HVAC field to hopefully one day become an HVAC tech. Can hardly wait for the next video and if you somehow read that, thank you!
You could have manually actuated the contactor after replacing the cap to see if it ran for a few seconds before you spent all that time on hooking up all your gadgets and saved how much time?
I get what you're saying, also when you work for yourself I believe time is relative... Keep in mind he is also taking time to set up all the camera shots. Plus he paid good money for those gadgets, makes sense he wants to put them to use.
Also he posts alot of his work to youtube and social media. So better for him to do the official process not the practical process. You can talk to any equipment rep or technician and most of them will tell you pushing in the contactor with a pen or screw driver or anything other than itself pulling in is not by the book nor is it recommended. You know how it goes. For legal reasons and such
I don't know, when I troubleshoot I prefer to apply a standard approach which may be overkill in some situations but will save a load of time and/or costly mistakes if the problem is more complicated. The shortest path to the fault isn't necessarily the best way to determine a cause & solution. Personally I think you're just jealous of those "gadgets" (aka instruments and tools).
@@rjdestiny-mx4ir There is NOTHING WRONG with pushing in a contactor. It should have been done immediately after changing that cap. Everything else was a waste of time.
Thanks for this video. I learned a lot. I had no idea that a bad capacitor can cause the compressor to fail if left too long. Moral of this story, if your AC quits cooling turn it off until a tech can look at it. Also those PM visits are essential to identify when a capacitor is starting to go bad. A stitch in time saves nine.
I thought he said compressor in stock but was silent on warranty? If under warranty, particular compressor replacement, Rheem would want to inspect themselves or send an authorized tech.
@BabyKMoney to ground you should see OL, any reading showing to ground means COMPRESSOR grounded. Between START AND RUN is the highest, between c and r and c and s, the readings must equal to the highest reading, hope that makes sense
@@BabyKMoney no problem,I work for a big company and we are taught the legit and proper way. I want to spread my knowledge to anyone who decides to take shortcuts. In this trade, a shortcut is a repeat call and equals a mad customer!
Content creators do that on purpose not showing everything they did when they were testing so they get more comments that way that’s why he don’t have time to answer any questions in comments
I love reading all these atmchair technicians. 1) he has been on this bisiness long enough that hr knows his M-12 and when to stop. 2) If the compressor run to common and start to common have that high of resistance that is an open overload, the comp. lead terminals are a plug. Great vid, keep up the good work !
I'm surprised you didn't "ohm out" the compressor while replacing the capacitor. and also maybe a bad wiring harness to the compressor or loose contact even tho it appeared solidly connected? why doesn't the control board stop trying to beat up the compressor when it keeps failing to start? that seems like a basic system survival feature?
Just had this exact thing happen to me, No amps with power going in to compressor, checked everything, put a hard start on it just for literal shits and giggles...compressor started
I see failed capacitors on HVAC channels a lot.. and they often cause damage. Wonder why they don't put some sort of self test on these.. the computer checks the cap before trying to start? If it fails the test.. then stop trying to start... Or maybe after a certain number of failed starts.. the system goes into limp mode until it is reset.
Sorry for the side story I just got to writing and well here it is and it's a good one on why you don't ignore things going wrong and just hope it will magically fix itself lol. Good work overall, I personally am not a fan of attaching gauges for the sake of attaching gauges but I have heard reasonable arguments both ways I just fall on the side of don't introduce contamination and di minimus loss adds up over time. My thoughts on it might be because I am more of a market refrigeration guy and I'm used to systems are in service for 20 or more years. One of our stores the racks where installed in the 60s and has been converted multiple times to different refrigerants over the years, it was originally R-12 now it's R-408a. That whole rack really needs to be changed out but the customer just won't do it, they got a bill from us a few months ago for like $90k for 3 new compressors on a 4 compressor suction group one of which had to be changed as emergency service on a Saturday all because a check valve failed slugged back through a 1" line and they ignored the alarms for like 12 hours until it had already destroyed 3 compressors.
I have been going through this sort of thing right now. Compressor went out about a month and a half ago, its still under warranty tho but shipping new parts has been a pain, during a very hot summer. Luckily got the new a fix next friday!
Old GEs Heat Pumps .... With The Clima tuff Fat Boy Orange Color Going Strong In Nevada 120° Desert .... System ♡ Virgin ♡ Never being open for R=22 Charge Check up...... Think this units Getting Close to 50 Years Old...... ♡ American Made ACs. Units ♡ With G. E. motors..... Again Made in U.S.A ❤❤❤❤❤
R22 is out and the replacement gas is rising in price and replacing the old 40+ year old electricity hog with a new more efficient unit will be cheaper.
Those old Trane's were bulletproof. They were built when energy consumption wasn't the focus, reliability was. So much of today's issues are the weakening of components in the attempt of getting the maximum amount of efficiency out of them. We created a conflict between reliability versus efficiency. You are now running thinner materials in the coils, thinner walls and fins, lighter windings all in the attempt to squeeze out every little bit of savings. Add in cheap Chinese parts and you see this scenario. I started working on ACs in the mid 80's. These guys today change out more capacitors in a month than I would in a year or two. The old parts were built so much better as well. Makes me wonder if all the waste from failing parts really saves us in the long run with the failures of so many components versus the energy they save.
If I understand correct, that capacitor being shorted on the herm would have let a huge amount of current through the start winding. That would have continuously overheated that winding and if it didn't blow it out would likely trip the thermal overload over and over. I'd much rather see that one fail to open than short as then no current goes through to the start, but I guess the Run still takes abuse. I presume you pulled the plug on the compressor and ohmed it out right at the pins before declaring it dead. A bad common pin connector could cause open circuit winding readings. Probably not likely to be the case there given the shorted capacitor, but not impossible either. Best practice would be to check it anyway before replacing the compressor I would think. A nearby lightning strike or other surge might cause multiple failure points.
My only issue is the way you checked the compressor windings. Always eliminate the wires. I always check on the actual pins of the compressor, only way to be 100%
At least isolate terminals on compressor and check for a ground or shorted terminal to terminal or open terminals, iif not open due to thermal overload. Then give it beating with something! Dead blow 🔨 prefered or try hard start kit. .. And if really want to get fancy. Wire it to run backwards with thought of freeing up stuck motor that can be done even with single phased motors if you know just a little more than basics
@bobboscarato1313 That’s why AC units are cheap if you had a factory in America that was built to code and had to pay American workers union wages what do you think an AC would cost? $50,000?
The quality of Hvac equipment has gone down hill and prices keep going up. I always explain to the customer I don’t make the equipment, just install it. Did the customer do yearly maintenance?
some of the commercial units i used to work on. had manual resets.. I really dislike auto high limit resets either for pressure or thermal.. this way if someone resets it they know something went wrong and to keep an eye on it.. this type of thing.. it couldve been the fan part of the cap that went out and beat the compressor to death and killed the compressor side of the cap by restarts over and over.. its sad residential units dont employ manual resets.. esp with modern equipment.. ive seen some minisplits like higher end daikinsand fujitsu systems that generate service notofications on the communicating displays and turn themselves off.. but convemntional equipment just runs or tries to run till it nukes itself
Could be right but what if you gave it the benefit of the doubt and returned later or next morning to see if O/L might reset? If it was cool or was it warm? I don't even like to burp the charge on those factory charge systems unless critical. Temp drop across the coil tells 95% of what's going on usually. Ya, I know others are bugging you about all the hook up with instruments but bumping that compressor would have saved time and set course straight to compressor start components. I hate to say it but I have seen the plugs get hot and make bad connections or blow the connectors right off. It' s easy to be a armchair quarterback but I did play with some of this stuff for 40 years! Ha, Lol. Now I'm all crippled up and like pestering you guys once in a while. Good job, chances are its open but I have seen them reset overnight before. Keep after it, follow the process as you do. I would screw something up yacking at a camera during a trouble shoot for sure! Later!
30 yrs of old school and new school knowledge I have. I have fancy tools also with knowing how and when to use them. I do not have a dedicated capacitor tester or ever will have with how garbage magnetic test leads they have shown in this video. I like to dig into them terminals with my normal meter leads . A tip I give to beginner techs. Bad dual run caps do not make a compressor or condenser fan motor fail. If C, F, H terminals can't be read due to corrosion or whatever. C has the most terminal connections on it, Herm has the 2nd most and F has the least # of connection terminals on it with usualy only one but sometimes two .
Would the compressor manufacturer give a warranty due to a failed capacitor if they know? I had a series of units with a potential start relay coil that burned off. It would have been great if the systems made an emergency shut down to save itself. Nice to follow your jobs that you perform in a good way
A capacitor is a maintenance item. The compressor motor does have an inherent protection that interrupts the electrical line once it senses increased amperage/heat. Sometimes if the protector is left activated for extended periods it will not reset or the windings themselves will burn.
@@topher8634 Was just curious about the compressor manufacturer gives a new one as warranty by that type of failure 😬I know too well about burned windings by extensive cycling of the winding protection. Lost some hundreds compressors in my time in the business😬
Because newer big ticket items like HVAC, water heaters, refrigerators are all made from far inferior parts than the last time you bought one 15-20 years ago. That is the mass scam at the heart of this all. 20 years ago the windings in that compressor were a much thicker gauge and therefore she could have run it without the capacitor for a month… no damage. We did this to ourselves because we are cheap.
Would the use of the Amrad Capacitor with the CPT compressor protector terminal and hard start kit from install day 4 years ago have prevented this compressor failure? If so seems like cheap insurance. In addition how about a sureswitch? It also seems to have some protection
Amrad CPT is only to protect the compressor from a hard start kit kicking the **** out of the compressor if/when the run cap fails. I don't see a hard start kit on this package unit.
@@Brisket9392 Scroll compressors are supposed to start without the need of start kits; sometimes a long power line can cause a voltage drop. If you need a start kit it must be for scroll compressors!
That is the best thing to do. But, the average customer thinks that the thermostat is an accelerator. In their mind, the lower you set it for cooling the faster it will get there.
@@george_KC1TQF Honestly, the designers of these systems shouldn't rely on the owner to know when a capacitor has died, and the possible impact on the compressor. They should design these systems to safe the compressor when the capacitor isn't doing it's job, not kill itself.
Coming from my ElecEngr education and work experience, and having a family member owner/operator of an HVAC business, here's my take: 1) because of the amazing price hikes on new AC units, pressure is mounting on manufacturers for emphasis on "Reliability Engineering" 2) in any system, safeguards can easily be built-in to .............a) protect expensive parts of the system if a small, low-cost item fails (for example, if your car engine failed due to a shorted-out taillight bulb undermining the electrical system, lots of lawsuits) .............b) have an owner-readable small LED display indicating the fault. Those small LED displays with an IC chip circuit to drive them would cost pennies due to 'economies of scale' the AC manufacturers have Most of us have had to change start/run capacitors OVER and OVER and OVER again. "Planned obsolescence" is not going to work with the amazingly high costs of new units if they are failing in under 5 years. There is now a huge opening in the market for an ElecEngr/HVAC team to do for air conditioners what Dyson did for vacuum cleaners, what Toyota did for compact cars, and what SpaceX did to NASA. The executives running these companies who allow victimization of consumers by failing to include "Reliability Engineering" into their products may experience what happened to US auto makers in the 1970s when Toyota took big chunks of their market share. Personally, I find it pathetic it's been going on this long. .
The way he was bending those wires around multiple times can almost guarantee a bad connection at the lugs. That and normal operational vibration can cause "invisible" wire breaks that can only be found with the meter. This happens at the compressor and fan terminals all the time because these are the source of all vibration. I NEVER trust a wire to lug connection without continuity testing from terminal to terminal.
The home owners can always get a second and a third opinion. Because some techs just want to install new or refurbished units compressors can be replaced if you can find them and some techs are smarter than others
From your capacitor readings, the compressor would have been starting , like crap, but still starting while the cfm was not running. I imagine the compressor overheated multiple times due to that. Judging by the spider webs in that unit when you opened the first panel, i doubt that customer has been regularly maintaining that machine. I would charge them labor and refrigerant and recommended a service plan for maintenance for the future. This could have easily been caught ahead of time with bi annual maintenance.
OK, just to be clear: you are saying this resulted from a failed capacitor and that the compressor fan motor was not running. So the homeowner needed to recognize no cool air blowing in the house, and shut the system down asap. And then check the capacitor values. And go from there.
Wonder if the controller board logic could be re-designed to include "fuzzy logic" fault detection, so that the system would halt & go into failure mode before compressor damage could occur? In other words: stop the system via micro-circuit logic, instead of depending on something mechanical. The residential home owner could see a notification on their LED display thermostat: "contact an HVAC repair technician", and would need to persist even if the HVAC circuit breaker was re-set.
That's the difference in residential and commercial hvac equipment. I work in industrial automation and deal with a lot of hvac. All of our stuff will alarm and notify the team and shut down/pause any associated processes.
My 10+ year old Amana 2-stage heat pump does that (at least on the start side.) I don't have a communicating them for it, but the LED in the unit reads out a trouble code and locks out after 2 failed starts. Most of the inverter units (e.g. minisplits) are even more advanced: they closely monitor compressor speed and amp draw, though those don't require the huge start caps. This unit is pretty basic, but the higher end units are more like a car where the computer will tell you exactly what is going on, assuming it has power.
Once he tests at the terminals, worth a try. If the internal safety is locked open, a nice bang might get it to close. Kinda like wacking a sticky pressure control. Get those contacts to move.
Isn’t the customer’s HVAC system under a manufacturer’s warranty? Most major manufacturers provide a 5-year parts warranty if the customer fails to register the new HVAC during the first months after installation for the standard 10-year parts warranty.
My experience is that yes, the parts are covered. But not the labor and I think probably not the refrigerant too. For Ruud, the only way you get 10 yrs. vs. 5 yrs. is 1) has to be installed by licensed HVAC company and 2) You have to be original owner. It's not transferrable. A second owner would get the 5 yrs. only.
We have a 2 1/2 year-old 5-ton residential system that is checked bi-annually. Generally How long does a run-capacitor last? Will my service tech be able to notify me that it needs to be replaced before it is no longer any good? We live in the desert, average summer temps in 110 F plus, I don't want to wait until it goes out to replace it.
I'm in central eastern Florida. My capacitor failed after 4 years. It's not a complicated repair. My suggestion is to determine the correct capacitor needed and buy one to keep at home. If you watch some RUclips videos, you can (with minimal mechanical skills) change it out yourself. It's usually the first thing to fail. BE SURE TO follow the procedure to discharge the capacitor before you remove the old one. If you don't want to worry about it, replace it every three years. That would be my suggestion.
did you at least try a start assist? rheem i believe uses LG compressors which are junk. this would never happen to copeland. i only buy digital meters from fieldpiece but meters are the only thing i would ever buy from fieldpiece.
@@Perly53 it depends on what part of usa ur in im pretty sure all of goodman amana still uses them. Goodman Amana is a real good brand. Carrier now does LG used to be Copeland. Carrier used to be all about America not anymore. You know Ive been seeing copeland in trane/american standards which is strange they went away from their own brand. I just hate LG cus i got real tired of replacing LG compressors under warranty. But hey maybe by now they've fixed the problem I really dont know. but its real annoying when u sell a bunch of carriers and 2 months later the compressors go out txvs going out on carrier and trane. Super super intermittent issues with carrier expansion valves. but not goodman not much problems. had some serious issues with their heat pump reversing valves leaking. also had to do a lot of warranty gas valves but thats a super easy job really didnt bother me. but honestly i never know what compressors these companies use cuz they dont call and ask me haha. from my understanding Copeland has just gotten too expensive and doesnt want to to lower their standards. its pretty sad when you see RHEEM installing LG compressors.
The only thing I disagree with you on your troubleshooting as I would’ve given them 24 hours. I would’ve told him to turn it off. Give it 24 hours try it. You could’ve even installed a start kit so when the customer tries it the next day if it needs help it’s there. I have never seen an internal overload not reset. Even though it’s cool to the touch it doesn’t mean that it’s not hot inside that compressor.
compressors going out are the worst, seems like the newer ones go out quicker than the older ones back with R-22. I dont know a lot im not an expert it just seems to be something I hear.
Given the prevalence of failed flag terminals or terminals in molded plugs at the compressor, the only proper way to ohm out a compressor is right at the fusite terminal. You just deemed the compressor DOA without ruling out the wiring harness between the cap and the compressor.
Correct, 100%
I’m not in HVAC but I thumbed it up.
Poor diagnostic, lazy. Should of checked compressor pins
I just condemn every compressor. Compressors for everyone 🎉🎉🎉
@@hvacmisadventures lol I like that. Actually made me laugh after a wicked work day today
To avoid bad wires I recommend checking the ohms at the terminals on the compressor itself. Nice video.
Imagine putting a compressor in and same result. Then you find a broke wire or connector off. Thats one of them, mistakes you should only make once.
I made that mistake a month ago lucky the guy got a second opinion. The unit was 15 years old and it was about time to change it but he didn’t want to spend the money to have it done. I’ve never been so embarrassed.
@@rwood1995 Better to never make that mistake; it's very costly!
Well she should be mad at herself. She kept running a damn unit that wasn’t cooling
@@robertlamey7612 As a home owner I had no idea that leaving the the unit energized would do additional damage. Valuable video for me, I will turn the unit off at the beaker if the unit stops cooling for me.
Another thing that puzzles me about this video. If it's just 4 years old, is there not at least a parts warranty remaining?
Great overall work. As others have mentioned, I like to check right at the terminals. I've seen too many terminal wires get loose / corrode etc.... I've brought some compressors back to life with a new set of wires.
My current job is a maintenance technician in a residential townhouse setting. Your channel is invaluable to the expansion of my existing knowledge on HVAC work. It has also helped temporarily satiate my desire to learn more in the HVAC field to hopefully one day become an HVAC tech. Can hardly wait for the next video and if you somehow read that, thank you!
as a junior tech out of Toronto Canada, I'm getting so much value from your content! please keep it up!
You could have manually actuated the contactor after replacing the cap to see if it ran for a few seconds before you spent all that time on hooking up all your gadgets and saved how much time?
I get what you're saying, also when you work for yourself I believe time is relative... Keep in mind he is also taking time to set up all the camera shots. Plus he paid good money for those gadgets, makes sense he wants to put them to use.
Also he posts alot of his work to youtube and social media. So better for him to do the official process not the practical process. You can talk to any equipment rep or technician and most of them will tell you pushing in the contactor with a pen or screw driver or anything other than itself pulling in is not by the book nor is it recommended. You know how it goes. For legal reasons and such
I don't know, when I troubleshoot I prefer to apply a standard approach which may be overkill in some situations but will save a load of time and/or costly mistakes if the problem is more complicated. The shortest path to the fault isn't necessarily the best way to determine a cause & solution. Personally I think you're just jealous of those "gadgets" (aka instruments and tools).
@@rjdestiny-mx4ir
There is NOTHING WRONG with pushing in a contactor.
It should have been done immediately after changing that cap. Everything else was a waste of time.
Best is to use Amrad capacitor with CPT fuse wire. If the cap fails, the compressor won't start, avoiding killing it.
bout to go into hvac and this vid alone just was so interesting and u know how to explain everything so well. love this vids man
Thanks for this video. I learned a lot. I had no idea that a bad capacitor can cause the compressor to fail if left too long. Moral of this story, if your AC quits cooling turn it off until a tech can look at it. Also those PM visits are essential to identify when a capacitor is starting to go bad. A stitch in time saves nine.
Good job, did what you could do. He is lucky the compressor is in stock and under warranty.
I thought he said compressor in stock but was silent on warranty? If under warranty, particular compressor replacement, Rheem would want to inspect themselves or send an authorized tech.
@@tonymanero5544 Rheem warranty is 5 years.
I normally take all my readings at the compressor terminal to ground. Thats the way I work.
If you don’t mind, what should you see between each terminal to ground and between the terminals?
@BabyKMoney to ground you should see OL, any reading showing to ground means COMPRESSOR grounded. Between START AND RUN is the highest, between c and r and c and s, the readings must equal to the highest reading, hope that makes sense
@@zahedaminullah6934 thanks boss much appreciated
@@BabyKMoney no problem,I work for a big company and we are taught the legit and proper way. I want to spread my knowledge to anyone who decides to take shortcuts. In this trade, a shortcut is a repeat call and equals a mad customer!
@@zahedaminullah6934 absolutely man I really appreciate it I’m omw to a call currently that I think has a bad compressor! So thanks a lot man
Please post more brother you’re my favorite hvac youtuber🙏🏽
I always check the compressor temperature with my infrared gun, saves the trouble of removing the fan to check by feel.
Damn the sounds of those cicadas I can feel the humidity
That's so funny because I sit here watching, wondering if that's outside my house or on the video.🤣
So how do you know the wire connections at the compressor are good when you did not check?
Content creators do that on purpose not showing everything they did when they were testing so they get more comments that way that’s why he don’t have time to answer any questions in comments
@@hvactechwanttobe1499 This...Blame youtube
I love reading all these atmchair technicians.
1) he has been on this bisiness long enough that hr knows his M-12 and when to stop.
2) If the compressor run to common and start to common have that high of resistance that is an open overload, the comp. lead terminals are a plug.
Great vid, keep up the good work !
I'm surprised you didn't "ohm out" the compressor while replacing the capacitor. and also maybe a bad wiring harness to the compressor or loose contact even tho it appeared solidly connected?
why doesn't the control board stop trying to beat up the compressor when it keeps failing to start? that seems like a basic system survival feature?
Just had this exact thing happen to me, No amps with power going in to compressor, checked everything, put a hard start on it just for literal shits and giggles...compressor started
I see failed capacitors on HVAC channels a lot.. and they often cause damage. Wonder why they don't put some sort of self test on these.. the computer checks the cap before trying to start? If it fails the test.. then stop trying to start... Or maybe after a certain number of failed starts.. the system goes into limp mode until it is reset.
I always check the compressor windings and shorts before getting the cap off the truck. Saves time.
Sorry for the side story I just got to writing and well here it is and it's a good one on why you don't ignore things going wrong and just hope it will magically fix itself lol.
Good work overall, I personally am not a fan of attaching gauges for the sake of attaching gauges but I have heard reasonable arguments both ways I just fall on the side of don't introduce contamination and di minimus loss adds up over time. My thoughts on it might be because I am more of a market refrigeration guy and I'm used to systems are in service for 20 or more years. One of our stores the racks where installed in the 60s and has been converted multiple times to different refrigerants over the years, it was originally R-12 now it's R-408a. That whole rack really needs to be changed out but the customer just won't do it, they got a bill from us a few months ago for like $90k for 3 new compressors on a 4 compressor suction group one of which had to be changed as emergency service on a Saturday all because a check valve failed slugged back through a 1" line and they ignored the alarms for like 12 hours until it had already destroyed 3 compressors.
Always check compressor terminals themselves..You could save some steps if you change the order of your steps a bit..
I have been going through this sort of thing right now. Compressor went out about a month and a half ago, its still under warranty tho but shipping new parts has been a pain, during a very hot summer. Luckily got the new a fix next friday!
and yet i see Trane 40+ year old units still going strong 👍 new just means new.. very impressive expensive paperweight.
Old GEs Heat Pumps ....
With The
Clima tuff
Fat Boy Orange Color
Going Strong
In Nevada 120° Desert
....
System ♡ Virgin ♡
Never being open for R=22
Charge Check up......
Think this units
Getting Close to 50 Years Old......
♡ American Made ACs. Units ♡
With G. E. motors.....
Again
Made in
U.S.A
❤❤❤❤❤
R22 is out and the replacement gas is rising in price and replacing the old 40+ year old electricity hog with a new more efficient unit will be cheaper.
@@GoatzombieBubba cheaper... yes.. and for the months it works well will be a good deal 👍 THEN call China for parts 🤔
Those old Trane's were bulletproof. They were built when energy consumption wasn't the focus, reliability was. So much of today's issues are the weakening of components in the attempt of getting the maximum amount of efficiency out of them. We created a conflict between reliability versus efficiency. You are now running thinner materials in the coils, thinner walls and fins, lighter windings all in the attempt to squeeze out every little bit of savings. Add in cheap Chinese parts and you see this scenario. I started working on ACs in the mid 80's. These guys today change out more capacitors in a month than I would in a year or two. The old parts were built so much better as well. Makes me wonder if all the waste from failing parts really saves us in the long run with the failures of so many components versus the energy they save.
Man i love you're truck 👍🏿
If I understand correct, that capacitor being shorted on the herm would have let a huge amount of current through the start winding. That would have continuously overheated that winding and if it didn't blow it out would likely trip the thermal overload over and over. I'd much rather see that one fail to open than short as then no current goes through to the start, but I guess the Run still takes abuse. I presume you pulled the plug on the compressor and ohmed it out right at the pins before declaring it dead. A bad common pin connector could cause open circuit winding readings. Probably not likely to be the case there given the shorted capacitor, but not impossible either. Best practice would be to check it anyway before replacing the compressor I would think. A nearby lightning strike or other surge might cause multiple failure points.
My only issue is the way you checked the compressor windings. Always eliminate the wires. I always check on the actual pins of the compressor, only way to be 100%
I’m not an AC professional, but this was a really cool video. Thanks for sharing.
A hard start kit would be my last option before i determine the compressor is bad on a single phase system.
@JakePorterUSA your right if you have open winding its over with. They don't make this new to equipment to last like they did back in the day.
@soultraneproductionz9180 If they made them with the same quality they’d have to charge x4 the price and no one would own them.
At least isolate terminals on compressor and check for a ground or shorted terminal to terminal or open terminals, iif not open due to thermal overload. Then give it beating with something! Dead blow 🔨 prefered or try hard start kit.
.. And if really want to get fancy. Wire it to run backwards with thought of freeing up stuck motor that can be done even with single phased motors if you know just a little more than basics
@@jameslang9170 Now a days all parts come from China or Bangladesh!
@bobboscarato1313 That’s why AC units are cheap if you had a factory in America that was built to code and had to pay American workers union wages what do you think an AC would cost? $50,000?
The quality of Hvac equipment has gone down hill and prices keep going up. I always explain to the customer I don’t make the equipment, just install it. Did the customer do yearly maintenance?
True, but same with everything else too
Greeting from Crimea, Ukraine!
Nice job!
Hello stay safe and beat the Russians!
some of the commercial units i used to work on. had manual resets.. I really dislike auto high limit resets either for pressure or thermal.. this way if someone resets it they know something went wrong and to keep an eye on it.. this type of thing.. it couldve been the fan part of the cap that went out and beat the compressor to death and killed the compressor side of the cap by restarts over and over.. its sad residential units dont employ manual resets.. esp with modern equipment.. ive seen some minisplits like higher end daikinsand fujitsu systems that generate service notofications on the communicating displays and turn themselves off.. but convemntional equipment just runs or tries to run till it nukes itself
Did you ohm it to ground?
2:37 Are they using steel terminals on the caps now? I was under them impression that they were copper, brass, or nickel plated copper?
you ever check for Acid in the refrigeration system?
It wasn't grounded, just had a bad ol
After new cap, Could have first pushed in the contactor to see if compressor/fan even runs.
If more techs would recommend soft starts so many of these problems would never happen, its the best 300 ive ever spent
What happened to Trevor? Haven’t seen him in awhile. Hope all is well
third lead test ohms should equal the ohms of the first two added together
As a quick check, would you want to ohm the motors out. Just to save the new cap. or do you tend to go for it.
Could be right but what if you gave it the benefit of the doubt and returned later or next morning to see if O/L might reset? If it was cool or was it warm? I don't even like to burp the charge on those factory charge systems unless critical. Temp drop across the coil tells 95% of what's going on usually. Ya, I know others are bugging you about all the hook up with instruments but bumping that compressor would have saved time and set course straight to compressor start components. I hate to say it but I have seen the plugs get hot and make bad connections or blow the connectors right off. It' s easy to be a armchair quarterback but I did play with some of this stuff for 40 years! Ha, Lol. Now I'm all crippled up and like pestering you guys once in a while. Good job, chances are its open but I have seen them reset overnight before. Keep after it, follow the process as you do. I would screw something up yacking at a camera during a trouble shoot for sure! Later!
30 yrs of old school and new school knowledge I have. I have fancy tools also with knowing how and when to use them. I do not have a dedicated capacitor tester or ever will have with how garbage magnetic test leads they have shown in this video.
I like to dig into them terminals with my normal meter leads .
A tip I give to beginner techs. Bad dual run caps do not make a compressor or condenser fan motor fail.
If C, F, H terminals can't be read due to corrosion or whatever. C has the most terminal connections on it, Herm has the 2nd most and F has the least # of connection terminals on it with usualy only one but sometimes two .
Dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.
Shouldn’t the compressor be under warranty?
Nice video Zac, i look forward to watching the install of the new compressor 👍 Au
Would the compressor manufacturer give a warranty due to a failed capacitor if they know?
I had a series of units with a potential start relay coil that burned off.
It would have been great if the systems made an emergency shut down to save itself.
Nice to follow your jobs that you perform in a good way
A capacitor is a maintenance item. The compressor motor does have an inherent protection that interrupts the electrical line once it senses increased amperage/heat. Sometimes if the protector is left activated for extended periods it will not reset or the windings themselves will burn.
@@topher8634
Was just curious about the compressor manufacturer gives a new one as warranty by that type of failure 😬I know too well about burned windings by extensive cycling of the winding protection. Lost some hundreds compressors in my time in the business😬
They do warrant the compressor even when due to other failed parts.- Otherwise you better call the factory!!!!
Because newer big ticket items like HVAC, water heaters, refrigerators are all made from far inferior parts than the last time you bought one 15-20 years ago. That is the mass scam at the heart of this all. 20 years ago the windings in that compressor were a much thicker gauge and therefore she could have run it without the capacitor for a month… no damage. We did this to ourselves because we are cheap.
Good job good tech i am impressed keep up the good work
Good vid. I’m in the UK
Would the use of the Amrad Capacitor with the CPT compressor protector terminal and hard start kit from install day 4 years ago have prevented this compressor failure? If so seems like cheap insurance. In addition how about a sureswitch? It also seems to have some protection
Thinking same thing
Amrad CPT is only to protect the compressor from a hard start kit kicking the **** out of the compressor if/when the run cap fails. I don't see a hard start kit on this package unit.
@@Brisket9392 Scroll compressors are supposed to start without the need of start kits; sometimes a long power line can cause a voltage drop. If you need a start kit it must be for scroll compressors!
I don’t think it had a hard start kit. I asked what if it had a hard start kit with that CPT capacitor the day it was first installed? @@Brisket9392
Usually the best thing a customer can do is just SHUT IT OFF.
It is best but usually just the opposite is done. Usually the thermostat is dropped to its lowest point.
Tstat set to 58.
That is the best thing to do. But, the average customer thinks that the thermostat is an accelerator. In their mind, the lower you set it for cooling the faster it will get there.
@@george_KC1TQF Honestly, the designers of these systems shouldn't rely on the owner to know when a capacitor has died, and the possible impact on the compressor. They should design these systems to safe the compressor when the capacitor isn't doing it's job, not kill itself.
@@clarkwolfe Can't sell compressors like that. They are designed to last till 10 years and a day
Coming from my ElecEngr education and work experience, and having a family member owner/operator of an HVAC business, here's my take:
1) because of the amazing price hikes on new AC units, pressure is mounting on manufacturers for emphasis on "Reliability Engineering"
2) in any system, safeguards can easily be built-in to
.............a) protect expensive parts of the system if a small, low-cost item fails (for example, if your car engine failed due to a shorted-out taillight bulb undermining the electrical system, lots of lawsuits)
.............b) have an owner-readable small LED display indicating the fault. Those small LED displays with an IC chip circuit to drive them would cost pennies due to 'economies of scale' the AC manufacturers have
Most of us have had to change start/run capacitors OVER and OVER and OVER again. "Planned obsolescence" is not going to work with the amazingly high costs of new units if they are failing in under 5 years.
There is now a huge opening in the market for an ElecEngr/HVAC team to do for air conditioners what Dyson did for vacuum cleaners, what Toyota did for compact cars, and what SpaceX did to NASA.
The executives running these companies who allow victimization of consumers by failing to include "Reliability Engineering" into their products may experience what happened to US auto makers in the 1970s when Toyota took big chunks of their market share.
Personally, I find it pathetic it's been going on this long.
.
I prefer US made capacitors over the foreign units. Titan HD, Amrad, Mars.
why? none of them last any longer? lol
I have had more Titans fail within months than other brands.
I've had good luck with mars
Titan is garbage
Titan Pro are made in PROC .Titan HD are made in America and are a reliable cap in my experience.@@justinwells8265
I didn’t realize a bad capacitor could kill the compressor.
The way he was bending those wires around multiple times can almost guarantee a bad connection at the lugs. That and normal operational vibration can cause "invisible" wire breaks that can only be found with the meter. This happens at the compressor and fan terminals all the time because these are the source of all vibration. I NEVER trust a wire to lug connection without continuity testing from terminal to terminal.
Ones we have to check compressor terminals
that compressor should be under warranty?
Very competent.
Hey boss can you do a video how you organize your week. As a business owner
Shouldn’t the board have a lockout if the compressor tries to start so many times?
Not on residential systems. Just low/hi pressure switches and an internal overload in the compressor
The home owners can always get a second and a third opinion. Because some techs just want to install new or refurbished units compressors can be replaced if you can find them and some techs are smarter than others
Do new capacitors come in already charged?
No you have to charge them for two days.
I like.what ur doing,,we just need more narrative😂,like Bob ross😅
Thank you for the video.
I am not from the United States. In these revisions when the repair is not done. Is the customer charged?
always ask why? check windings before u blow another cap. log the ohms for future megs
Was the condenser coil and evaporator coil clean
hey man you didn’t check individual legs to ground after turning off breakers
Yep, if the cap or the condensor fan goes bad, you got to shut that system down.
Hard start
A four year old unit doesn't have a warranty remaining? At least for parts? I thought a 5 year warranty is typical and a 10 year warranty optional.
So if the ohm values on the meter won't settle down and keep jumping around like yours did is that a sighn there is something wrong with the windings?
Did you charge for the capacitor 🤷🏽♂️
I'm confused about the reading on the open winding to the compressor. Wouldn't it read OL instead of an extremely high resistance?
Mfgrs should have a warning from too many failed starts that you can observe
Aside from your call charge, the capacitor is relatively cheap, how much is a new compressor (to the homeowner)?
What kind of shoes do you use in the field? 🙏
Probably just had a burnt plug at the compressor. He'll discover that after he recovers it, gets the compressor bolts out, and unbrazes the lines.
The compressor still should be under warranty..
From your capacitor readings, the compressor would have been starting , like crap, but still starting while the cfm was not running. I imagine the compressor overheated multiple times due to that. Judging by the spider webs in that unit when you opened the first panel, i doubt that customer has been regularly maintaining that machine. I would charge them labor and refrigerant and recommended a service plan for maintenance for the future. This could have easily been caught ahead of time with bi annual maintenance.
They won't spend $ 350.- for two yearly visits.-
OK, just to be clear: you are saying this resulted from a failed capacitor and that the compressor fan motor was not running. So the homeowner needed to recognize no cool air blowing in the house, and shut the system down asap. And then check the capacitor values. And go from there.
@Perly53 all I recommend to homeowners, is to shut the machine down and call a pro asap.
Most consumers don't take care of their stuff.
@@bobboscarato1313 I wouldn't pay $350 for two visits either. It's $149 where I am.
Wonder if the controller board logic could be re-designed to include "fuzzy logic" fault detection, so that the system would halt & go into failure mode before compressor damage could occur? In other words: stop the system via micro-circuit logic, instead of depending on something mechanical. The residential home owner could see a notification on their LED display thermostat: "contact an HVAC repair technician", and would need to persist even if the HVAC circuit breaker was re-set.
I agree 100%. Seems a few pennies' worth of micro control could save $thousands. Allow auto-reset 3 times, then set to manual reset required.
That's the difference in residential and commercial hvac equipment. I work in industrial automation and deal with a lot of hvac. All of our stuff will alarm and notify the team and shut down/pause any associated processes.
Yes, all of that control and safety equipment exists in the market. Just not on the cheapest units the people want to buy
Yeah these American units are so trash. A minisplit has so many different error codes
My 10+ year old Amana 2-stage heat pump does that (at least on the start side.) I don't have a communicating them for it, but the LED in the unit reads out a trouble code and locks out after 2 failed starts. Most of the inverter units (e.g. minisplits) are even more advanced: they closely monitor compressor speed and amp draw, though those don't require the huge start caps. This unit is pretty basic, but the higher end units are more like a car where the computer will tell you exactly what is going on, assuming it has power.
Sucks that in this trade…… once you touch it…… you own it…….
At least in the customers mind you do
Well if your good at diagnosis and at the job then shouldn’t be afraid of that. Rack in the money
do you ever work on commercial boilers for hydronic heating??
Wouldn't it being out on thermal be shown by OL between windings? You were reading ohms between them still...
I've had good success by hitting it with a hammer! No joke
Once he tests at the terminals, worth a try. If the internal safety is locked open, a nice bang might get it to close. Kinda like wacking a sticky pressure control. Get those contacts to move.
It probably will mean another callback and a lawsuit!
Nice video my friend 👍👍
Isn’t the customer’s HVAC system under a manufacturer’s warranty? Most major manufacturers provide a 5-year parts warranty if the customer fails to register the new HVAC during the first months after installation for the standard 10-year parts warranty.
My experience is that yes, the parts are covered. But not the labor and I think probably not the refrigerant too. For Ruud, the only way you get 10 yrs. vs. 5 yrs. is 1) has to be installed by licensed HVAC company and 2) You have to be original owner. It's not transferrable. A second owner would get the 5 yrs. only.
Yeah, I heard Rheem/Ruud. 😊
We have a 2 1/2 year-old 5-ton residential system that is checked bi-annually. Generally How long does a run-capacitor last? Will my service tech be able to notify me that it needs to be replaced before it is no longer any good? We live in the desert, average summer temps in 110 F plus, I don't want to wait until it goes out to replace it.
I'm in central eastern Florida. My capacitor failed after 4 years. It's not a complicated repair. My suggestion is to determine the correct capacitor needed and buy one to keep at home. If you watch some RUclips videos, you can (with minimal mechanical skills) change it out yourself. It's usually the first thing to fail. BE SURE TO follow the procedure to discharge the capacitor before you remove the old one. If you don't want to worry about it, replace it every three years. That would be my suggestion.
What work pants are you wearing?
What tool was that you used to check the capacitor
Supco capacitor tester
@@george_KC1TQF All you need is a regular ohmmeter! Just discharge capacitor first!!!
@@bobboscarato1313 I knew that but the questions was about the specialty tool that he used in the video.
Great video.
I took an L today with a Mitsubishi mini split. I wasn't able to get it up and running.
Not covered by 10 year warranty?
did you at least try a start assist? rheem i believe uses LG compressors which are junk. this would never happen to copeland. i only buy digital meters from fieldpiece but meters are the only thing i would ever buy from fieldpiece.
What manufacturers use copeland?
@@Perly53 it depends on what part of usa ur in im pretty sure all of goodman amana still uses them. Goodman Amana is a real good brand. Carrier now does LG used to be Copeland. Carrier used to be all about America not anymore. You know Ive been seeing copeland in trane/american standards which is strange they went away from their own brand. I just hate LG cus i got real tired of replacing LG compressors under warranty. But hey maybe by now they've fixed the problem I really dont know. but its real annoying when u sell a bunch of carriers and 2 months later the compressors go out txvs going out on carrier and trane. Super super intermittent issues with carrier expansion valves. but not goodman not much problems. had some serious issues with their heat pump reversing valves leaking. also had to do a lot of warranty gas valves but thats a super easy job really didnt bother me. but honestly i never know what compressors these companies use cuz they dont call and ask me haha. from my understanding Copeland has just gotten too expensive and doesnt want to to lower their standards. its pretty sad when you see RHEEM installing LG compressors.
The only thing I disagree with you on your troubleshooting as I would’ve given them 24 hours. I would’ve told him to turn it off. Give it 24 hours try it. You could’ve even installed a start kit so when the customer tries it the next day if it needs help it’s there. I have never seen an internal overload not reset. Even though it’s cool to the touch it doesn’t mean that it’s not hot inside that compressor.
"Unable to Repair..." I'm confused by this title. You diagnosed the problem, now awaiting replacement of bad compressor. How is that Unable to Repair?
i thought getting a reading between terminals is what you wanted ? i’m confused, i thought if u had OL it was bad
why didnt you try using a hard start?
Compressor had open windings. It wouldn't help!
Who is the manufacturer of the core depressors?
Appion CCT14 - Around $60 -- Steep.
@@Brisket9392Thanks, I’ve used other brands but the o-rings wear out fast and I can’t find a kit to replace them so .. throwaways!
Nice.. ty for sharing
compressors going out are the worst, seems like the newer ones go out quicker than the older ones back with R-22. I dont know a lot im not an expert it just seems to be something I hear.