SICK of my central air...please help me figure out why it keeps shutting off.

[NoPaint]

Gentlemen,

My central air stops working about 3 times a year. I call a guy, he fixes it. I am sick of this process. I want to figure out what the root of this is. The last time the guy came he replaced something outside by the compressor that was tubular and had a ton of wires going to it. I don't know what this is but it was round and had a bunch of wires going to it and it is found in a weatherproof gray metal case. Feel free to get technical I am very capable with my hands and engineering I just don't know ANYTHING HVAC! Thanks so much.

 

[blujacket]

3 times a year? I would be getting a more qualified tech who knows what they are doing. From your description, it's probably a dual run capacitor that was changed.

 

[NoPaint]

I think it was the capacitor. Here is the thing. I can't even turn on the blower fan for in the inside. So the fan that would run the cooled air around or just move the interior house air is dead also. Any thoughts?

Oh and there have been a number of different people/companies out to fix this.

 

[blades]

More or complete history would help a lot otherwise it is just a guess in the dark. What is the age of unit also and make.

Freon leak- shuts it down when level too low. Outside temp too low will cause shut down, bad sensor. Compressor pump bad, cause multiple problems. Bad winding in one of the motors, causes excessive line load. Voltage supply or amperage supply too low or some sort of short, ground loop, any new construction near by?or have you added additional equipment to that line or to your household have seen situations of insufficient supply from power company or breaker/fuse box overloaded. Just repaired a electrical feed line, insulation had worn/broken down at a bend in the conduit, pulled new line through. If your power leads are 30 or more years old or alum. replace.

There are a awful lot of variables that just can not be covered with out full history,

 

[NoPaint]

Wow, there are a lot of variables!

Ok here is the best I can do and say that I think its probably a board that has gone bad because the interior fan is dead. I've had boards replaced in the past. Never buying a Carrier again. I will be a Trane man!

 

[blades]

Point is with this much going on repeatedly there must be an underlying cause. A faulty ground on a 220v system will play havoc with everything. I know the the AC is 220 for the condenser, the rest of your HVAC is on 110 if it is a type of gas unit, if electric could be 220. The control boards of course are not using 110v AC but rather 5,7.5,10,12,or 24v DC or a mixture thereof. Again something as simple as a loose connection can cause untold headaches, but having a set of starter cap. go out sounds like something more substantial. Ref. Carrier, I installed a carrier central AC in 1972, that particular condenser lasted 2 years then the pump went bad, the replacement ( again Carrier/ warranty) lasted until I replaced it last summer, still working, I just upgraded and got something more efficient. At present I maybe chasing a slow leak in the freon loop as I had to recharge it at the beggining of this summer. I has only run once or twice since then as it has been a fairly cool summer so far here in WI. and the house has stayed below 75 deg. trigger point, for the most part.

 

[blades]

Dang I gettin old, forgot the KISS principle, If you have a programmable thermostat, change the batteries, that will give a no run problem also.

 

[fbelec]

what does it say on the part that is being replaced? if it is a capacitor and it is going bad that often you probably have a bad motor that it is hooked up to (fan or compressor). and some central air conditioning systems have a switch mounted to the evaporator (inside coil) that turns on the fan when the coil reaches a certain temperature and the same switch lets the fan run until the coils temperature rises. so if the compressor never comes on the fan inside won't either.

 

[fbelec]

forgot to say that carrier is usally a good name and it is usually the most efficient on the market.
and also in case your running into part changers and not real technicians have them take a amp reading of the fan and compressor power wires. both hot legs. it could be drawing more amperage on one leg than the other. if you are wondering how that can happen thats called leakage. not of refrigerant but current to ground.