Great video and tips! My AC compressor fan stopped working so I replaced the start capacitor since it is an inexpensive part and the existing capacitor was over 10 years old and the top was rusty. While I was in there I cleaned up the wires and checked for any damaged wires, but everything looked good. The fan still didn't work. I spun the fan manually with a wooden dowel to make sure it spun freely, and it seemed fine. I depressed the plunger on the ac contactor and the fan started with no problem. I went back to your wonderful library of HVAC videos to find more info about the AC contactor which suggested to watch this video. Glad I did! You mentioned replacing the batteries in the thermostat even though the display is working AND there was no low battery indicator. Sure enough, I replaced the batteries and the AC compressor fan turned on! I've got a better understanding of my HVAC system, I've got a new start capacitor so shouldn't have to worry about it for another decade, I cleaned up the wiring, and I now know that a pair of fresh batteries can make the difference! Thanks for your great how-to videos!
Very similar story. I did change the batteries just to be thorough, but every indication was that the thermostat was working fine. You'd hear a nice crisp snap of the relay and the squirrel cage fan would kick on, but no compressor. Before going into the compressor itself, I decided to swap in a known-good thermostat. Voila, nice dependable AC again. I was picturing a potentially expensive repair, but a $25 thermostat did the trick. So -- just because your thermostat starts the squirrel cage blower, your thermostat can still be the culprit.
I'm really hoping you see this comment. I moved into my home 13 years ago. The first thing I had to do was call an HVAC guy out to charge the system because it wasn't cooling. Over the past 13 years I've replaced the A/C capacitor several times, the furnace heat sequencer several times, the thermostat, fatigued and broken wires and last year the fan motor in the A/C. Every other year, sometimes more often, I was having to fix something. At the end of last season my evaporator coil was freezing up so I figured I'd have to have the system charged again this spring. I procrastinated and didn't do it and then it got hot. I thought about it and decided I was tired of working on it and always worrying whether this 35 year old system was going to heat this winter or cool this summer. I decided to replace the whole system. Being retired and living on a fixed income I found the cost to be prohibitive. Fortunately, I've always been a big time DIYer. Plumbing, electrical, building, renovating... there was never a job I wouldn't tackle. I decided to order a new system and install it myself. Doing it myself would save me about $10,000. The equipment arrived on Tuesday and I had it all installed by Thursday. Friday and Saturday were spent trouble shooting trying to make it work. I watched countless videos on RU-vid looking for helpful information. Blurry, shaky, poor audio, poor explanations, no explanations, incomplete explanations and inconsistent explanations. Thirty minute videos spending the first twenty minutes explaining what they are going to explain to me. Suffering through them all hoping to find ten seconds of useful helpful information. Occasionally I found it, but it was never enough. I know most of these people are trying to share and help, but I would certainly not enjoy being trained by any of them. Then I found you. It was your A/C, furnace and thermostat videos that got me over the hump. Clear and concise with simple yet detailed explanations. How to wire this and how to test that. After three weeks of killing heat I am finally cool. The job turned out to be a lot bigger and more difficult than I expected and pushing seventy years old didn't help, but thanks to you I got it done. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and for doing it so well. I don't subscribe to many channels, but you just got added to my short list.
You are THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!! I received a $3,700 quote to replace my unit that was "too far beyond repair"......$28 capacitor, then worked through finally figuring out how to use the multi-meter I've had for a decade to find the high pressure switch needed reset after cleaning the coil. Words cannot describe how grateful I am that you are on RU-vid!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!
My AC repair guy was charging $1200 to fix my issue, after watching this video I ordered a new contactor for $18 on amazon and fixed it myself. Thanks a ton you saved me a lot of money!!! It’s worth noting I’ve never worked on ACs before
Thorough video that got my unit up and running for less than $60 bucks and done TODAY with no waiting. With everyone working from home, this was a lifesaver. Kind Thanks, from this Novice
Absolutely nailed it, Jay. I am one of those people that jumped at the contactor and ordered one, without watching this video. Turns out when I checked the thermostat wires, had 24 vac, up until they connected with the delay on break timer. At the contactor 24 volt side was getting all kinds of wacky readings.. Ordered new delay timer as well. Thanks to your videos, $31 probably saved me thousands! Props to you! Oh as a side note, also ordered a dual run capacitor as a backup since its been high 80's for over a week her in Fl.
THANK YOU! You saved me a very expensive service call. My AC wasn't cooling and I followed your instructions. The condenser and compressor would not come on. I found a cut 24v signal wire from the control board to the compressor solenoid. In my case the 24v signal wire cable is routed under the crawl space of the house and comes out at the back of the house to the Condenser/Compressor unit. Well, the cut/broken wire...that bugger, was severed exactly where it came out from under the house. That said, it was difficult to locate because in the first place because I had inspected the cable and found nothing wrong. I was almost at the end of my patience when my mind told me to tug on the cable where it came through the wall to the condenser unit. Well, as soon as I tug on the cable the compressor/fan came on immediately and ran like a charm. I ended up soldering the broken White signal wire. So, just wanna say thanks again for your suggestions. Lesson learned: never give up when you think you're stumped. Just take a break from the task and come back later and give it another try.
Thank you for all you do, you have saved me from calling a contractor and a whole weeks worth of waiting for him to show up. Again, a big "THANK YOU"Jay.
Amazing video. I simply replaced my batteries in the thermostat and got my ac unit working. I'm a residential electrician and my immediate first thought was going to find the problem outside, particularly the contactor, but watching the video before I ran outside I saved myself money and time. I had no idea the thermostat had AA batteries, changed those out and now I'm back up and running. Thank you, liked and subscribed
This video saved my a$$. I went through all 10 steps. After trying everything, I finally went into the attic, found the correct unit (there were two), and opened up the panel with the fan controller, and sure enough just like the video mentions, discovered a shorted fuse! I replaced the fuse, switched the breaker back ON, and the outside fan shortly kicked back on! Dude, thank you so much!!! You saved me a ton of $$$$.
Thank you so much for these. I diagnosed a control board issue last fall and today diagnosed a short in the thermostat wire. Your explanations have given me so much confidence.
You're the PRO ..! and I'd like to say thank you for showing the world some basic things to troubleshoot central AC units. Handyman like myself love to watch your shows..!
Saves me hundreds of dollars. My condenser unit is not receiving 24v. I always suspected it's the thermostat but I don't want to replace it without knowing why. Your thermostat bypass video saves the day. Thanks! Subscribed
Your the best channel I’ve found on the content you offer, very simple, but thorough, friendly and no drama! Great 👍 work. Thank you for the time you give of yourself.
Way to go. You covered every single possible reasons for the issue and in easy to understand language. Half of these I already knew, but I'm glad I learned the other half. Turned out my problem is the cutoff box installed by AC electric. I just bypassed it and all is good now. Many thanks.
I watched several of your videos and thanks to you now have a good grasp on how HVAC systems function. I narrowed down the problem to the contactor coil not getting power or pulling. After checking all of the 10 reasons mentioned in this video and still not getting power to the contactor coil I went back to searching on line and found another video with a much simpler solution. My thermostat has a separate fan switch that can be set to "On" or "Auto". A house guest must have been warm ( I keep it set to 77 deg) and set the switch to On which for some reason stops 24v power from being sent to the contactor even if the system is set to cool. When I switched it to Auto the compressor started up and everything works. I wanted to share that just in case someone else had an issue with warm house guests. BTW, thank you for posting these great videos.
Thanks for the tip on the auto setting preventing 24V from going to contactor. I had the same issue during troubleshooting. These are great well-made videos!
Awesome video, just diagnosed defrost control board with no low voltage to contactor, jumped directly to contactor from C-Y on board got low voltage, then foungd contactor was bad also.Replaced contactor unit fired up in ac mode as called by tstat.
Jay, many thanks for your AC Playlist. I was able to use it identify and replace both a bad capacitor and a bad contactor. As I worked through the trouble shooting list, I had to go to the attic to access the 24V control board in the furnace housing. While replacing the front cover of the furnace, I inadvertently rotated it 180* to place a corner with zero backing insulation over the pressure switch that tells the system that the furnace cover is back in place. Your tip stating that if there is 24V of power present at the thermostat wires of the condensing unit outside, then the problem is in the condensing unit. If 24V are absent outside, then the problem is inside. When I removed and replaced the furnace cover to its original position with enough backing in place to depress the pressure switch, everything ran perfectly. As you know, HVAC systems have a lot of "moving parts". Thanks for creating such a complete list of trouble shooting solutions.
general amintenance for 8 yrs and this video has to be one of the best videos on youtube. listen carefully and take notes and you WILL fix the contactor not pulling
You are by far the best source of info I've came across. You should teach people, very easy to understand. You helped me diagnose an issue with my jumper between RH and RC on a Honey well zone board. The factory jumper was smaller gauge than the 8/18 wire i was using and causing intermittent contact. Pulled out OE jumper and made one with wire, fits tight and works as it should. Thank you.
Dude! You rock! I watched the start of your video where yoy said the contactor might not be broken. So I started watching this and suddenly remembered I had switched off the AC at the thermostat so I could run the fan. Turned it to AC and the contactor popped In and the new motor is running flawlessly!!! House feels cooler already, and it is 101 degrees today in San Antonio. THANK YOU SO MUCH! ❤️
This is a fantastic video that I come back to every couple of years when I'm troubleshooting AC at home. Thanks a million for making such a useful video!
These videos are the best. Thanks so much! I was able to use this to troubleshoot and fix my AC on one of the hottest days when all of the service technicians were booked up. Cheers!
I am now retired from about 30 years from ac services or residential maintenance and could not have been explained better than that from a hands on perspective
Good job....My problem was a contractor that was stuck in. After looking at it, it was welded together. Hope it did not hurt the system. It seems to be working fine now. I watched all you videos and they are a big help. You are the best. Thanks...! Al Sautner.
You are awesome! I am constantly trying to gain understanding of how the AC system works and you just lay it out. I would love to see an overall video from start to finish of the workings of the system including; sensors, switches, wires and what they power and where they go. Keep up the good work for us novice people out there.
I'm in school for HVACR and your videos really help me fill in the blanks. In fact this video helped me diagnose one of the units at school where the compressor wasn't coming on. It was a bad coil in the contactor. Other people tried all kind of things but I was the one who got the diagnosis right. Thank a bunch.
The contactor switch was not pulling in, and before I replaced the contactor, I decided to watch this video. I glad I did because number 8 was the problem! The high pressure switch tripped and I just needed to reset it by pushing the red button. Now I just need to figure out why it tripped. But this guy makes the best vids on AC that I have seen!
Excellent video!! Very thorough on the explanation of what signals cause the contactor to engage and what can cause it Not to engage. One other thing that can potentially cause it not to engage and this falls under 'Bad Wiring'-- if the wiring (or connectors) are corroded or partially broken such that it can't carry enough current to magnetize the coil enough to pull the plunger. You could still read 24-27V on the line but it may not be able to carry enough current because it's compromised. I ran into this personally last week. 😝
Mark I seen that exact situation, contactor works when connected straight to the 24v transformer and signal line reads 24v outside at the contactor but contactor still does not pull in
I don't typically comment, but this was a good video. I was troubleshooting the power to my AC unit for the last hour or so. Last year, I had a bad breaker. This year, voltage was good out to the unit, up to the contactor, so I ruled out the breaker. I manually engaged the contactor while my blower motor was running and the thermostat was calling for cooling and the AC unit kicked on. Led me to believe my contactor was bad. I watched your video to see if I missed some wires to test, because we all forgot stuff. Also, to me, the contactor doesn't seem like a part that just goes bad all that often. You mentioned the low voltage not having enough power to engage the contactor and to swap batteries. I recalled, my low voltage reading was 11v and that is too low. The light bulb kicked on, I swapped my batteries, and now my house is nice and cool. Thanks man!
Truly an incredible video. After watching several different videos on the net I watched 2 of yours and was able to diagnose and solve my problems. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Excellent presentation covering a lot of territory. I will apologize in advance if you covered my comments in subsequent or prior videos. I would add that cleaning the contacts on the relay periodically might save the homeowner a service call. An HVAC technician noted my relay contacts arcing, while servicing an unrelated issue, and he wanted to sell me a new relay. All relays arc somewhat, because it is switching 240 VAC off and on. However, they get dirty, like everything else inside the outdoor condenser. After pulling the main fuse and/or killing power at the breaker in the service panel, I spray Electrical Contact Cleaner all over the relay, particularly on the actual contacts that typically arc when cycling on and off. In addition, if the system is near the end of its typical lifespan, I will use a small piece of 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper on the contacts - very lightly, to remove carbon buildup. The downside to this practice is the contacts are probably silver coated to enhance conductivity and slow corrosion. Thus, I use as fine of wet or dry sandpaper as I have on hand, and lightly clean all surfaces of the contacts to remove carbon and other residue. The relay is an inexpensive item, so I will probably buy a spare to keep on hand since I have been cleaning my relay contacts for several years. The large can-shaped capacitor is another component that would be worth keeping a spare on hand, because they all eventually die. Use your cell phone camera to have a clear record of what color wire goes to each terminal. As the condenser fins collect dirt, grass clippings, and cottonwood fluff, the fan has to work much harder to pull air out of the top of the condenser. That usually leads to the capacitor failing, and often the capacitor is operating both the compressor and the fan. That is the main reason to routinely clean the condenser fins a couple of times per season - rinsing from the inside out. Always kill power by removing the outdoor fuse or breaker, and/or at the service panel. I got in a hurry once, thinking I was only going to rinse the fins and could easily avoid the high voltage area, trying to finish before dark. I was a licensed electrician in the 1970s, so I knew better. Water hit the two insulated legs of 240 volts, and Kapow! Two-hundred-forty volts explodes. There were two previous nicks in the insulation of the #8 wire from years of rubbing against the louvered exterior cabinet, that shorted when water hit the wires. Several HVAC technicians missed the nicked insulation during previous service. No harm other than my ego. At least I now knew those #8 supply wires needed to be replaced. The installer should have zip-tied the wires away from the louvered grill of the exterior cabinet, but there is never any excuse to clean fins or perform any service while wires are hot.
Hey Jay, hope your having a great week! You sound like you are on a show on tv bro, Your very well spoken yet easy to understand. Great job thank you sir! Blessings
@@WordofAdviceTV wouldn't it be nice to have a wire diagram for the switch from the disconnect to the relay contacter to the compressor and then the fan ? Nordyne and ( Miller stopped putting the diagram out there ( mobile home central air unit with furnace inside ) what a joke these companies were. , I say were because they changed hands in the last 15 years at least 12 times
Thank you buddy.. I am a plumber by trade and knew nothing about hvac until watching a few of your videos. My outdoor ac unit fan was not spinning when thermostat turned on. Actually wound up being the 5amp fuse on the control board at furnace under home
Thanks Jay. My Carrier shut down during 95 plus heat--I thought the capacitor was shot. But after opening the panel I found the Contactor wasn't pulling in. After watching your RU-vid show I checked the indoor blower in the attick and YES--too much water in the condenser pan; the safety float was up, shutting down the outdoor unit (just as you said it would) Naturally I took credit and my wife thinks i'm a genius.
This video helped me fixed my AC system. The problem was item #2 of this video - Tripped Condensate Overflow Switch. Thank you for the free education. Subscribed.
Thank you very much for all your explanation. You just saved me some money. I pressed the pressure bottom and condenser is up and running again! Thank you! 🙏
Thank you for making this video, it potentially saved me and my family a lot of money. Never would of thought of the sensor having a reset button that you can press. God bless and have a wonderful rest of your day.
I live in Tucson AZ. My dog chewed low voltage wires. Spliced everything back no air. Would have never checked the fuse on unit had it not been for this video. Its 106 outside and I'm nice and cool now. My wife and kids don't have to stay at a hotel and I didn't have to call a service person. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much !!!! This is the most informative AC video I've ever seen. Your comment about a weed wacker getting to the 24V coil switch is exactly what happened! I didn't even finish watching the video because it was a quick check and you saved me a bunch of money!! Thanks so much! Liked and subscribed!
You are the man!!! I possibly had three issues! The flux capacitor was bubbled out and not operable after replacing still nothing but changed the contactor and the transformer and bingo we were back in business! I wonder what a HAVC tech would have charged for that service call. 40 dollars in parts and took me all day to deduce the problem, but if I knew what the issue was would have been a 20 minute job. Couldn’t have done it with out your videos. Thank you bro
Awesome! Glad to hear you were able to get it all fixed yourself and my videos helped in the process! It would have cost you at the very least 300 bucks. Thank you for coming back to leave a comment! Stay cool! ;)
Thanks Replaced outside capacitor for s&g when my blower motor was actually bad. Then outside unit stoped working. Thought I messed up the simple install Found the plunger not going in and followed this video Discovered I broke the common wire on the inside control board when removing the motor. Repair complete! Thanks
Props bro. Subscribed. You saved me from destroying my Sheetrock by suggesting the condensate overflow switch was the problem. I had jumpered the contactor to keep the house cooled (Atlanta, August). When I finally checked the attic Unit, water was up to the rim of the catch pan. Some chlorox in the drain line cleared a pint of snot. Now we are cooling fine and condensate is draining.
Glad to hear you were able to find the problem and get it fixed! Without destroying any walls :) Thank you for subscribing and coming back to leave a comment. Stay cool!
Thank you. I was changing a thermostat and must have shorted a couple of wires. When i put the new thermostat on I got a blank screen. Fearing the worst i jumped into troubleshooting the outside unit. After watching A/C contactor not pulling 10 reasons why, i decided to check the fuse in the indoor unit. You saved me a lot of money. Not to mention this is my sister's business and Friday morning is her busiest day. Hopefully more diyers will run across your channel
You're the best youtuber in this field. Please help me. Lol My ac wouldn't turn on, but my blower inside is working. When I push the plunger in, it turns on, but when I let go, it shuts off. I replaced the capacitor, and now my ac is short cycling. On for about 10 seconds, then off. On, off, etc.
Good tips! Woke up to no power in the house (which came back on shortly later), 58F indoor temps. Checked the thermostat and it clicked, but nothing happened with the heat pump. After checking the voltage on the outside unit, I thought about you saying that the fan should blow and ours wasn't. I thought it might be the condensate line being full, but it was empty. Then I moved on to the disconnect fuse for the air handler and turns out one of the 60A 250V fuses were blown. The emergency heat has been working overtime and I think it finally took the old fuse out. $16 later I'm back in business. I'll make sure to give the unit a break. It's been unseasonably cold with the arctic blast of Christmas 2022!
My ac just stopped working on the hottest day of the year. Thanks for saving us. I went through all your reasons and replaced the capacitor on my Lennox. That got the AC to the point where it would work, but only if the connector button was held. I thought maybe it was the thermostat or fuse or a connector. I discovered the furnace unit had a power interruption when the controller door was off (that took a while). I taped the power on, and checked for 24-27 volts at the controller and outside. Both showed power, still no automatic fan movement. Finally, I considered that my ac unit was older (probably 12 years old) and we had just moved into this house. The unit looked clean from the outside and down the centre, but when I opened up the sides of the unit, they looked like a clothing dryers lint screen. I cleaned the unit, found the high pressure switch (your reason #8) and reset. Problem solved. Thanks for posting this video....you are awesome
Thanks for your videos. I used this one and others to test many parts of my a/c system to (eventually) find out that the control board was wired improperly. The condenser wasn't getting voltage from the control board. Turns out, the "y" wire was in the "Y2" position on the board, and when switched to "Y1," the condenser started up right away when the thermostat called for cool.
Dude! I've fixed a thing or two and already knew I had 24V outside. I was about to head out for a contactor but thought about your video for a few. Realized I couldn't see plunger. Went back out, pulled the cap and there it was, an earwig stuck right in the spring. Thank you!!
Great videos! Excel here in MN recently replaced a board in my Saver Switch. The tech that did it somehow failed to install it correctly. Tec from Centerpoint comes out and could not figure out what was going on (thank you Home Service Plus) and suggested that the control wire was bad. I ran a new control wire, old one was pieced together so I figured time to replace anyway. Still no control voltage. Scratching head looking at the unit and decided to take the Saver Switch out of circuit and contactor pulled in. Called Excel to let them know and they sent a tech out on Monday who fixed the bad install on the Saver Switch. Your videos helped be out a great deal on this problem. A lot of great info and I didn't have to suffer through the heat on the weekend!
I see this is 2 years old..but these saver switches are just like what energyStar devices do!?! I think??? Allows either the power CV company or some other company to control the electrical usage!! Tell me how energyStar device that runs for 2 to 3 times longer than a similar device...is better or uses less power??? 🤯🤯🤯 where are my manners.. Thanks for the video!!!
Jay, thank you man!!! Just saved me a boat load of money!! The simple solution after troubleshooting, was to drain the condensation pan, which had triggered the overflow switch Thank you!!
Thank you. Great video. Your troubleshooting process led me to the root cause. The symptom on my HVAC was that it would run for approximately 10 seconds then turn off. The drain pan in the attic was dry; however, the condensate float switch had water when I removed it. Re-installing it as is restored service. I will monitor the performance of the system. I have ordered a new condensate float switch (Safe-T-Switch SS2) from amazon just in case. The next troubleshooting step will be to unclog the drain pipe if the switch trips again.
Thank you so much.. You saved me big money on an AC tech visit. I replaced the compressor's capacitor, contactor, fan motor, AND the air exchanger's control board and transformer--none of it was solving the problem. Then I found this video. I was getting 30 V to the compressor, so as you said, the problem was at the compressor, and it ended up being the High Pressure Switch. Pushed that baby in and we're golden! At least I got some upgraded parts out of the whole affair, and I know a whole lot more about AC systems and electricity.
Very knowledgeable bro.mostly more b.s and one tracked mind a-c mechanics.. Dispatch to rip off and change parts for no reason.. But you know what you talking about.. Very good. God bless you bro. You are honest.
Thanks for the AC tutorial. Was able to diagnose my problem to a bad thermostat wire. Mouse must have gotten to it over the winter. You saved me time and money. Thanks again.
You are a natural at this. Great video and its SAVED for future referance! This is an odd one but you might know the answer and your Contactor comments got me thinking: I have a dual fuel Bryant system with a gas furnace and heat pump. My thermostat and wiring test perfectly so no problems there. Here is the issue: On a chilly morning, hovering around the set Balance Point of 35 degrees, I call for 5 degrees of heat. The heat pump comes on for a couple of minutes but then due to the higher call of 5 degrees the fossil fuel furnace kicks on which is to be expected. BUT the heat pump continues to run, or seems to be running, although I can't confirm if the compressor is on because i am in such a hurry to shut it all down! I know that these 2 units should not be running together and I know what this could do to my heat pump if I let it go on. I know from testing my stat that I am not sending 24V to the both units simultaneously, yet each work independently when testing. The odd thing is that if I call for just a degree or two the heat pump will start and stop properly but as I said, it will continue to run-on after the aux gas furnace fires up (with no power on the Y wire!). It makes my head want to explode. Are there any timer boards or timed relays in a heat pump that might be malfunctioning to allow this to happen? You might be the smartest guy I have ever seen on RU-vid so if you don't I might have to walk down the street and just jump off that bridge :)
Had my AC go out over the weekend in the summer in South Ga and was able to troubleshoot and fix the issue with your video. One of the best videos I have seen. Thanks!
Lo & behold, I crossed 2 screwdriver between r & y * sure enough, the outside unit kicked on right away. I replaced the condenser & the single pole condenser contractor thinking it'd work. NOT. Your video helped me figure out how to diagnose that the thermostat is FUBAR. Great video man. You helped save me about $380 with a 15 minute video! CHEERS!!!
Thank you so much, was able to figure out that the condensate pump wasn't wired correctly so the condenser wasn't turning on. 10 out of 10 would recommend, keep up the great work man
Great video!! Thank you so much. I too watched two of your videos and found the low battery in my thermostat! You saved my life! Well, not really, but I don't like to sweat and my house was getting pretty hot so...
Thank you so much for such a well-detailed video! I'm trying to learn how to fix a lot of things myself. Last year in March our AC got into a sick state after a power surge. That usual "it's off and fan is auto but the unit outside is running constantly and won't turn off" thing. The service guy was very kind to explain things to me, so I at least understood how to cut power to the unit and that the thermostat can be one of several causes. In my case, the contactor was stuck and he replaced it. Here I am not even a year later and same issue. Hoping to fix it myself this time. I'm suspicious it's the contactor again, but I feel like it shouldn't be going out so soon, especially considering the unit wasn't used most of the winter.
I hope you can fix it yourself this time , buddy . Everybody knows there is no better feeling . And this video is a GREAT HELP !!!! I live in BATON ROUGE , LOUISIANA , and I could not tell you how many times we had to replace the CONTACTOR , because ants got in between the contacts or points and shorted it out .... just like he said in the video . That stuff gets very very expensive ... APPARENTLY ANTS ARE ATTRACTED TO ELECTRICITY and the contacts area ... it sounds funny , but when she is up and running again , consider trying to block off ant , etc from coming into the area of the CONTACTOR... sticky tape or paste or something to block their access ... in my particular case I could actually see how they got there !!!! 🌅🌅
you are a God of youtube DIY videos... thank you and may God bless you. i stoped on # 2 of this video. the water limit switch wasnot triggered by water but by builded up rust from the water that collected and evaporated....thus leaving rust and calcium build up that triggered the water limit switch in the drip pan. people check all the minor stuff befre you spend $200 on a service call. thanks again brah!!!!
Thanks for all the videos. Im in HVACR school and your videos have been a tremendous help. You should teach an HVACR class at your local community College.
Jay, thank you for the video. I was trouble shooting my Trane and went through your steps. Turned out to be faulty thermostat wires at the contactor. A/C nice and cold again.
#11 if you want to add it? Probably less common? My older 1996 Carrier system has a Time Delay board just below the two-pole contactor. After going through your list and even took a chance and replaced some parts, I had to call in a pro. He retried a few of the diagnostic tests I did and quickly made his way to the time delay board and determined that was the problem. In just 5 minutes a new time delay was installed, set to 5 minutes, and we were up and running normal again. $157 total for the job. $90 for the visit and the rest was the part and install labor and taxes. Thanks for you video! Even though it didn't correct my issue I enjoyed tinkering around and swapping out parts, namely the contactor which I learned, even though it has a single plunger it was still a two pole contactor and relaced the two capacitors as well.
Your channel is one of the best ones on RU-vid. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I just bought my house and the AC wasn't working, not sure how it got by the inspector? But it did, but with your help I was able to pinpoint the problem. It was a broken low voltage wire for the contactor. Thanks again, you're the best brother😎😎
Thank you! after checking everything I tried pressing the High Pressure switch reset button and that clicked! I turned the power back on and after a while noticed that my AC Unit was back up and running! It's been storming on and off here in MN, so I'll need to go out and give the Coils a good spraying when it's clear out. Thanks for saving me from having to call it in!
Thanks SO much. I immediately subscribed to your channel. My contactor quit because the lawn service cut the wires from the house to the condensor unit. Weed wackers are evil!
Jay, you are the man! Thank you so much for all your videos. You saved me numerous times. Saving me both time and money. I had no idea that the float switch would affect the condenser.
What's up youngster once again great job on the videos, you've helped me fixed my A/C, both replace the blower motor and troubleshoot the capacitors. Thank you big man it is much appreciated.
Hi. You have got to be the smartest HVAC advice guy on RU-vid. Thank you so much for your diagnostic help so far. I am mostly clueless about electronics. I hope I can ask you the following question to see what you think. My contactor is not engaging because 24V is not getting to it. I can make my AC run fine if I just hold down the contactor manually. When I measure between the RC and Y contacts on my battery-operated thermostat (when set to OFF), I get 27V. When I follow the red wire from my thermostat into the furnace closet, I see that it branches to a condensate overflow safety switch and then later to a condensate pump. It then goes to my utility company's power saver box. If I put my meter leads on the wire right before it goes into the power saver and on the white wire (call it W1) that's going directly to my contactor outside (it was directly connected to the yellow wire from the thermostat), I read 27V. If I then test across the orange wire coming OUT of the power saver and W1, I get zero volts. When I turn the AC to auto/cool, I still have no voltage. I chose to test the orange wire because it connects to the red wire (R1) that goes directly to the contactor with W1. There is also a brown wire coming from a 120/24V transformer that connects with both the orange wire and R1. My first thought is that something in the power saver is losing the 27V. But, I wonder also whether the brown wire coming from the transformer is actually supposed to supply the 24V that the contactor needs. There are also several other wires coming from the power saver that go to that transformer and to the circuit panel on the furnace. Should I learn to test out that transformer? My utility company is ignoring my requests for assistance so far. I'd appreciate knowing whether you'd immediately suspect a problem with the power saver or if I'm over-simplifying things. Thanks for your help.
Hey Ray! Sorry to hear about the AC troubles! From what you described, it sure does sound like a bad power saver switch.. You could temporarily (or permanently - up to you ;) disconnect that power saver switch to see if that is indeed the only problem. I don't think mine is exactly like yours but it should be similar... I have a video on that specific topic, don't know if you have seen it yet: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HtEGHEDmqpA.html
@@WordofAdviceTV Thanks. I looked at your power saver video as soon as I suspected it. My power saver (attached to the side of the furnace indoors) looks a lot more complex - several wires going in or out of it. I'm clueless, because I don't understand circuitry, I'm afraid. The power wire coming from the thermostat connects directly to another blue wire that goes directly into the power saver. If I measure between that connection and the W1 wire that's going to the contactor, I get my 27V. If I disconnect the power wire from the blue wire and connect the power wire directly to the R1 that goes to the contactor, the voltage disappears. So, I'm not drawing a good picture for you, I think. I appreciate your help very much, but I guess I'm going to, first, get the power saver removed (hopefully, Duke Energy will do that quickly for me). Then, if I can't figure things out, I'll need to hire a smart electrician. Thanks very much though.
Okay, no problem! If it is a little complicated then it's probably best to let Duke Energy remove the box for you. I could try to walk you through it but it would be a sad day if something accidentally gets shorted out in the process. Hopefully the box is all it was, good luck!
@@WordofAdviceTV OK. Not giving up quite yet. Duke removed the power saver, but still having problems. Tell me if this makes sense. The red wire coming from my thermostat branches off to a condensate flood switch and then to a condensate pump. That wire then attaches to a thick red wire coming out of a transformer (refer to this as Connection A below) . This side of the transformer has two leads (the thick red wire and a thick brown wire) and I'm assuming it's the 24V side of the transformer. The thick brown wire connects to another thick brown wire that's attached to something inside the furnace chasis (blower or heater?) and also attached to another thick brown wire that's grounded to the chasis. Then there's another thick brown wire connected at that same juncture of wires that runs outside of the furnace chasis and connects to the red wire that goes outside the house to the contactor. The yellow wire from my thermostat is still connected directly to the white wire that goes to the contactor. If I strip a bit of both the red and white wires that go to the contactor, and attach my meter leads to each, I read one half volt with the AC turned off and 2V with it turned on. If I attach my leads to the stripped area of red wire going to the contactor and to Connection A (see above), I read 27.5V whether the AC is turned on or off. Sadly, I don't understand the rules for measuring at the proper places with my meter. Is it valid for me to measure across the stripped areas of the red and white wires that go to the contactor and expect to see the 27V? Thanks again.
Dude. Thank you for this video. All I had to do was change the batteries in my thermostat. I would never thought to change them because the thermostat was on.
Hey Jay, I love your site for A/C repairs. We don't have hot weather yet but I like to be prepared. We had one day about a week ago the temp went to 76 degrees, I turned on my A/C and even though the fan inside was running the fan outside was not. I removed and read the Starting capacitor with a meter and it read open at all terminals, so I bought another, I replaced the capacitor and the fan outside still will not run with the A/C on. I pushed the contact button with power on and the outside fan started and ran. So I went inside and checked the wiring. There's a red and white wire from the unit outside that comes into the circuit board on the indoor unit. The white wire is hooked up but the red wire is loose. I figured that's the power wire so I touched it to the terminal on the board that has the other red wire hooked to it. When I touched the terminal with the red wire the outdoor fan turned on even though I had the A/C turned off. What I need to know is where does the red wire go that comes in from the unit outside. Does it go to the terminal with the other red wire or does it go to the terminal with the Blue wire which is Cooling ? Your web site has been a blessing for me but I'll not give up because I did A/C work 30 years ago and automotive A/C work from 1985 to 1989. I'd hate to think I have to place a service call for 1 wire disconnected. Thank you for any help you can send my way.
Hi there! Glad to hear my videos are helpful and thank you for the detailed question! The two wires coming from the outside unit would go to Y and C on the control board thermostat strip. (doesn't matter which wire goes where) That's the most common scenario. Let me know if that doesn't make sense in your case. Good luck!
Hi Jay, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I connected the wires like you said and set the Tstat for a lower temp and the compressor fan came on so I'll wait for a little warmer weather to make sure the compressor is working correctly. I don't know how the red wire became disconnected, could be when I removed and cleaned the flame sensor for the furnace short cycling. I spent several years installing residential HVAC systems but never on the repair side. I also did automotive HVAC for 12 years with Chevrolet. I spent my last ten years in a maintenance dept at a local hospital. I'm going to send your link to all the guys that I used to work with and see if I can't get you 8 or 10 new subscribers. Thanks for everything.
ahhhhhh maaaan, you save me a million buckss... the reason why my fan not working outside as like you said on your first step, someone mowed the wire. THANK YOU MUCH A MILLION TIMES.
Loved the video and all the explanations. Great tip on the Ants in the contactor. Just fixed my friends AC. Took the contactor apart, cleaned out the ants, put it back together and everything worked.
Dude. Thank you! Traced down that my low voltage wire to the compressor wasn’t getting 24v from the circuit board. Jumped R and Y on my thermostat and the compressor kicked on instantly. Thank you thank you thank you!
Thanks for making me feel like an idiot.... I spent half the day watching other videos, testing the capacitor, testing the fan motor, testing the contactor, etc. Everything was checking out fine; but I was only getting 10 vAC from the circuit board to the contactor i.e. not enough to energize the coil. Lost story short, your video reminded me to put fresh batteries in the thermostat and then everything started up normally.
I spent hours checking everything, only to discover that the thermostat had become slightly unseated and wasnt making contact. Gave it a light whack and everything worked fine!
Yeah! Got the part and installed it on my ac condenser today. You were right Jay, it was labeled so got the new one reinstalled with no confusion. Thanks for giving me the confidence to do this with your video and quick response. You have the knowledge and attitude of an excellent instructor! If you don't mind, I have another question. My 11 year old 4 ton Goodman condenser unit is vibrating more than it should be as I see shaking of the 4 sided grills when unit is turned on. Something else new is the pulsating quality, or wave-like sound to what should've been an even level or tone of normal operating noise at the condenser unit. Mine is not clanking, jolting or harsh. It's just the normal operating sound that seems to have a pulsating quality that goes regular, softer, regular softer, sort of like turning the volume up and down on a consistent, regular bases throughout the time it's running. Almost like it's not getting consistent power. I've cleaned the fins off what I have access to the half side of the evaporator coil in the attic, and took apart the outside grill to hose down the condenser unit fins. They both looked fairly clean before I began as I change out my air filter and wash the fins regularly. There's no clanking or other harsh noise, and the compressor and fan kicks on right after the thermostat turns on. It also blows cold air. But this wave like sound is something new, and making me think something is not quite right. If possible, I'd like to get more life out of my unit and address the problem before it damages something. I've googled and looked at symptoms of a motor fan or a compressor going bad, and neither quite fit the sound I'm experiencing. Any ideas or suggestions so I have some idea what I'm dealing with? I've now replaced both the capacitor and the contactor just for regular maintenance purpose given its age, and see no improvement. so any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for reading this long post.
Glad to hear the repair went smooth! From what you described, your unit sounds like every third air conditioner I see... So I don't believe that is anything serious. Unfortunately for noise issues I can't give you much suggestions besides trying to tighten down all the screws. I have had units that I could not quiet down no matter what I did to them but the AC worked and cooled the house just fine. That pulsating sound is a pretty common occurrence but I don't have a technical answer for you as to why it does that.. :/ I also see brand new units running like that. So if it were at my house, I wouldn't worry about it :)
Thanks so much for the help. I thought it was going to be a tough component fix, and turned out to be a shorted pair in thermostat wire. I appreciate the orderly checklist though. Saved me a bundle
Your videos are great and you’re awesome for making them! You’ve helped me fix many things around the house, thus saving me hundreds in expensive repairs. Thank you so much!! I have a question about your list of ten things. Which of the ten, if any, can be ruled out as the problem if the unit starts up by manually pushing in the contactor? Mine starts up so I assume it’s getting the power to run but I’m not sure what else I can exclude from testing.
