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Heating & Air Conditioning

A/C condenser fan running but compressor is not

11 years ago

I came home earlier today, and the house was hot. I noticed the furnace fan was running and thermostat was calling for cool, but the outside unit was not on. No fan, and no compressor. I checked the breaker and it was tripped. I turned it on, and after a few minutes the condenser fan turned on and I thought it was cooling.

An hour later or so, the house was up to 84 degrees. I went outside and the condenser fan was running, but the compressor was not. I was outside for awhile, and could hear a hum every 15 minutes or so. I assume this was the compresser trying to start up?

Is the compressor shot, or is there an overload or something else that I can check?

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Comments (5)

heatseeker
11 years ago
Probably run cap for compressor or it is stuck. A technician should be able to get it started and back on the road to cool town.
jtwtech
Original Author
11 years ago
The tech came out and it's back up and running for now... He put a hard start on it. The unit froze up 3 weeks ago and they charged it. Today, he said that it's pretty low on freon again, and showed me the leak in the coil. Looks like we're going to have to replace the unit as they can't repair the leak, because it's too big. There's an oil slick on the side of the fins.
busboy
11 years ago
How old is the unit(s)?
jtwtech
Original Author
11 years ago
18 years old
clocert
11 years ago
Most time the coil leak can not be repaired. Also, after 18 years, it is the time to consider a new system.

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