HVAC Help

[Greg.B]

Ok I need some help ASAP, what else is new.

Ok the problem is what I believe a bad run capacitor on my blower motor.

The other day I noticed some clicking noise in the furnace and found that the blower motor was not spinning. I literally opened the door, and reset the system, and it ran for a day or 2 very well.

I get home tonight and its just clicking and not turning on. You can hear the motor hum, but it turns slow, almost to the point its not turning.

So I shut it down as to not cause further harm.

As noted I believe its the run capacitor, but don't want to cause any harm if I'm off base.

Also what kind of stores have these caps if it turn out to be that.

The until is less than 5 years old.

[rjwaldren]

Any HVAC supply house or electric motor shop should have the caps for <$8 depending on the size. Your not likely to damage anything by simply swapping the cap. And if it fixes it you'll save yourself alot of money, so it's worth a shot. Is there any type of contactor around the motor? A cap shouldn't give you a clicking sound - is the clicking coming from the thermostat?

Be glad that the problem is one the blower end, I just had to drop $4500 on a new unit.

[Tom Slick]

make sure to discharge any caps you are handling. they can be quite a shocking experience!!

[DUD]

Mine went out one Sunday last year, I took the old one with Me. I drove around until I

found a HVAC truck at Home, knocked on the door, He caame out and looked. I gave Him $10.00 and went home. The blower ran again. Bill

[Greg.B]

Any HVAC supply house or electric motor shop should have the caps for <$8 depending on the size. Your not likely to damage anything by simply swapping the cap. And if it fixes it you'll save yourself alot of money, so it's worth a shot. Is there any type of contactor around the motor? A cap shouldn't give you a clicking sound - is the clicking coming from the thermostat?

Be glad that the problem is one the blower end, I just had to drop $4500 on a new unit.

The clicking was actually the thermostat turning on and then I guess a safety that turns it off if the blower doesn't turn on.

I was able to find a place that has caps. I need to get a round one, but they only had oval, so I took it, with the hope that I can get it to fit.

For $2.80 cents, hopefully I have the fix. The harder part is going to get the blower unit out a bit to access the screws that hold the caps in place.

Wish me luck.

[Black wallnut]

Sorry I can help per-say but this HVAC forum has helped me with a problem I had in the past. As this hour it might provide an option until business hours.

I apologize in advance if it's bad mojo to post a link to another forum......

http://www.hvac-talk.com/vbb/

It's not that it is bad Mojo to post this it is more a matter of you're selling this forum short. Members of our forum are very versed in an enormously wide range of subjects. It has been the rare case that a question does not get a thoughtful correct answer within a day or two. Most times questions, even the off the wall type get responses withing a couple of hours. We have active members throughout the world.

That said it is usually a good idea to also point others to another resource online if you know of one. Most advice given on the WWW should be considered cautiously suspect until confirmed to be correct from several sources.

[Greg.B]

Update:

Well got home, got the new cap in and nothing, or who knows is what I should say. It did not start the blower right up. I "carefully" put a screw driver in the wheel and gave it a spin, and it came to life. Been running fine for an hour now. I am scared to turn it off.

With that said. What is the problem ? Dirty motor is my next best guess. I am going to wait to see how it runs for some time and then stop it, and try to restart it. If that does not work then I am going to clean the motor with compressed air and retry.

[Hellrazor]

Sounds like the motor is failing or has a bad spot. Check if the correct voltage is getting to the motor. If that is correct, the motor is bad.

[Greg.B]

Additional Update:

So I decided to pull the blower housing and ended up finding what appears to be some of the internal "gook" the capacitor leaked. Which makes me think that was the problem.

I also cleaned the back of the motor, and when I turned it over by hand it as very free moving. Buttoned it all back up and its running fine right now, starts up 1-2-3.

I will keep an eye on it and keep you guys posted. As usual thanks for your input.

Oh I was also thinking that it did not work the first time, because doesn't a capacitor have to charge ? I am pretty sure they come dead. (But I don't know about this 100%)

[Daryl]

Could be the bearings in the motor. While you are messing around in there I suggest you find the oil holes on both ends and give it a lube job. Just a few drops actually.

[rjwaldren]

No, the cap will charge nearly instantly once power is applied across it, actual timing varies depending on the value.