From Problem to Solution: HVAC Contactor Troubleshooting and Replacement

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In this video I explain step by step how to troubleshoot and replace your HVAC contactor. It's a very easy job to figure out if that's your problem or not and it's just as easy to replace it. I also give some tips as to what else could be wrong when you have a unit that won't come on.

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Опубликовано:

10 авг 2023

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Комментарии : 50

@bhen205 25 дней назад

You my friend just saved me 100s of dollars. Although it took me several hours of troubleshooting, once I found you video I knew it was a high probability that this was my problem and I was right. Thanks for saving homeowners from having to call a technician for potentially small and easy fixes.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 24 дня назад

You are welcome! I'm so glad to have helped... Yes for a $15 dollar part the HVAC companies will charge $150 plus. It's understandable, but I like to save $$ whenever possible... 😊

@themeat5053 11 месяцев назад

Thanks, Rudy. You're making this easy for us.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 11 месяцев назад

You're welcome! Thanks for the feedback... 😀

@alwaysrockn2009 9 месяцев назад

Good video. It was helpful explaining the single vs dial pole. I’ll be replacing mine along with a new Capacitor in a few days.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 9 месяцев назад

Excellent! Thank you for the feedback... 😀

@davidcolwell1577 8 месяцев назад

Very good video! Well explained and clear. Thank you.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 8 месяцев назад

TYSM! 😀

@sijahwmvaj Месяц назад

This is super helpful just the thing i needed

@TheHomeImprovementChannel Месяц назад

That's awesome! SO glad to help... 😊

@stingk5295 4 месяца назад

Great Video!

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 4 месяца назад

Thanks for the great feedback... 😊

@nhattuygiaithiensaunguyen9885 9 дней назад

Thank you so much your video , help me learned new things

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 8 дней назад

You're welcome! So glad to help.. 😊

@haint7709 2 месяца назад

Nice video. Ta!

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 2 месяца назад

TYSM! I really appreciate it... 😊

@HD-bh8yr 6 месяцев назад

Nice video. I am not a prof in this area. But I just installed a new contactor, the old was rusted and broken, but the plunger did not pull in when I turned on the thermostat. I am sure I installed correctly because quite simple, took pictures, and when manually pushed in the fan/compressor run. It seems I can only see the reading of 26v on my volt meter of the control wires from the inside transformer only when the plunger get sucked in otherwise 0. My question is how do you test if the control wires actually get 24v without connect to a contactor? Thanks

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 6 месяцев назад

HI, if you have 26vac between the blue or "C" wire (Could be black) and the red wire (I'm assuming you're working on a heat pump) then your transformer in the air handler is in good shape. When the T-stat is calling for heat or ac the yellow wire should be energized coming into the unit. This yellow wire should be the one to energize the contractor. Depending on what unit you have, the orange reversing valve may or may not be energized. Most of the time it's de-energized in heat mode. If you have nothing on yellow coming into the unit, I'd check out the t-stat... Between yellow and common... Hope that helps.

@nitadavenport3964 5 месяцев назад

What contractor did you replace that with I've been looking all over for a contractor I can't find one with the exact numbers and mine is just like the one you replaced

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 5 месяцев назад

The exact numbers may not be super important. The voltage is usually 24 volts and you'll want one that's the same amperage. Depending how big the unit is... Also if the original was a single pole or double pole. The one in the video I just got from Amazon.. Hope that helps.

@georgeterbush2976 8 месяцев назад

Can you explain what the symptoms were before replacing the contactor? Was the outside unit completely dead or could you hear the compressor running but no fan spinning? Thanks.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 7 месяцев назад

HI, in this particular case I replaced it for preventative maintenance... Usually when the contactor goes bad you might have a little humming noise and the unit isn't running... It'll affect the whole unit compressor and fan. The best bet is only if you're comfortable with working with electric take a volt meter and see if you've got your 240 VAC coming in from the house but it's not on the output of the contactor. If you see this, make sure you have the low voltage 24VAC on the coil of the contactor.. If it's not there then it's probably not the contactor but the problem is somewhere else of which are many possibilities. Hope that helps.

@georgeterbush2976 7 месяцев назад

@@TheHomeImprovementChannel Thank you for the tips. That helped. The 24VAC was at the coil of the contactor and it pulled in the contactor contacts which turned on the compressor and fan. The problem I am having is the unit is not getting out of defrost mode. It's possible the compressor coils are not getting hot enough (80 degrees) to open that little defrost sensor clamped on the compressor coil. I'm not an HVAC guy. Just a homeowner learning what I can on RU-vid. Thanks for your channel!

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 7 месяцев назад

Yes it could be ... I've also seen the circuit board inside the outdoor unit fail.. That does control the defrost as well... If you search RU-vid for possibilities on defrost problems, you should be able to find a video that someone did outlining all the possibilities. That board will send out a signal to the reversing valve to switch it into ac mode which sounds wrong, but it actually is able to heat up the coils that way... One other thing, it's a long shot but if you're stuck in defrost there's a possibility the reversing valve could be the culprit. @@georgeterbush2976

@georgeterbush2976 7 месяцев назад

@@TheHomeImprovementChannel Thanks again for the suggestions. It was warmer yesterday so I turned the heat pump on and it was in defrost mode for a few minutes, then Whosh, the reverse valve energized and the fan started spinning again in normal heating mode! I'll keep an eye on it. Thank you.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 7 месяцев назад

Oh cool! If it turns out to be an intermittent problem, I ran into that once and it was a major pain! It turned out to be the defrost board... @@georgeterbush2976

@molifehacks5258 Месяц назад

Could a bad contactor keep blowing a fuse at the disconnect?

@TheHomeImprovementChannel Месяц назад

HI... It's doubtful. The best thing to do is isolate things from the circuit until the fuse stops blowing. For example if you suspect the contactor you can disconnect the output of it leaving the low voltage connected so it'll engage. If the fuse stops blowing you'll have to move on to the next thing. I would find out which wires are coming from the compressor and disconnect those and see if it's coming from that. Obviously if you're not comfortable working around electrical things then don't try it, but if you are, that would be my strategy..

@dontworrybehappy4379 Месяц назад

Just to be clear you were referencing the 240v at the contractor but you said to shut off all the power in the beginning. ???

@TheHomeImprovementChannel Месяц назад

Yes I always recommend shutting off the power before beginning a project because I don't know who's comfortable working with power and who's not... if that makes sense. However there are times that you have to turn the power back on to test stuff and that's where someone not comfortable shouldn't attempt to do that...

@jhguygih 14 дней назад

Where is the 27v transformer? I get that issue. 240 on connector, no 27v. If i push manually everything works. Nest inside house says system is running happy. Where do i find the transformer plus a fix?

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 13 дней назад

HI! It's really called a 24V transformer even though it's more like 26+... Those are located inside your air handler somewhere close to where all the power hookups are. If you're not comfortable removing the covers on your air handler and working with live electric, I absolutely don't recommend you do this job yourself...

@jhguygih 13 дней назад

Thank you. I've traced down the cables to inside my house and then to the furnace board where one small hidden cable was broken into 2 pieces. It took me hours to find because it was connected but almost inside the plastic cape it was loose. Fixed and saved at least 200 bucks. Thanks

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 13 дней назад

@@jhguygih That's so awesome! That's a good find and you probably saved more than that!.. Good job.

@confucius247 12 дней назад

My daughters LG air conditioner, after being cleaned by a technician recently, started to work differently after he left, e.g. when I turned on the inside unit, the fan blows at full capacity and then the inside unit shuts down. The outside motor (compressor) doesn't kick in at all when this is happening, and then the inside unit that is blowing the fan at full speed shuts off within a minute. I rang the technician and he said that he was willing to come back to have a look at it and of course take my left arm for the problem he caused in my opinion, because it was working fine before he pulled it apart to clean it, so I told him to FO in the nicest possible way. I am not in anyway a technical kind of guy, but I think I can change the capacitor by myself, if that is what it is. I would appreciate any assistance that anyone reading this can provide me with, e.g. do you think it is anything else apart from the capacitor. The outside motor (compressor) kicks in after about half a dozen attempts at turning it on and off, when the inside unit was blowing air at full speed, so it sounds to me like it is the capacitor, as that is what gives the compressor that extra kick from videos that I have seen. Appreciate all assistance in advance.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 12 дней назад

HI, without seeing it there's no way to really know what's going on. But if it was working before he came, he probably knocked a wire loose somewhere. To me it doesn't sound like a capacitor. I probably would have let him come back, especially if he caused the problem..

@confucius247 11 дней назад

@@TheHomeImprovementChannel Thanks for getting back to me, yeh he was pretty rough with his work, and I did tell him to come back to sort it, but he said he would have to charge, that's when I said, yeh nah, your toast, we have 7 air conditioners here and he won't be touching any again since he's attitude sucks, especially when he lives up the road. I will open up the inside unit and see if there are any loose wires and go from there.

@patfromamboy 9 месяцев назад

I used to work everything hot. I replaced all of the light switches and outlets in my parent’s house energized. It was more fun that way. I didn’t have any problems. I used to work on everything hot at the power company to keep everything energized too. I just got used to it. It prevents any mistakes if I’m wrong about something being de energized too. I treat everything as being hot. I don’t recommend it for normal people though.

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 9 месяцев назад

Oh yea, i've done that too.... But it's like you said, I can't recommend it for someone else.. 😎😎

@kennethhinckley6578 2 месяца назад

Ridiculous statement.

@Whyusemyname Месяц назад

Same here until I shocked myself. Now I take the extra 2 minutes to kill power and test everything. Much less stressful

@captaincat40 Месяц назад

You brave enough to try that on 460 volt 3 phase? 😅

@cheiftribe8746 26 дней назад

WOW very impressive Mr. Electrical man!

@stevieg3078 19 дней назад

You say the first step is to turn off the power. Then you say it's a good idea to check the power going into the contactor. So I guess that is really the first step. Do you agree?

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 18 дней назад

HI... No I don't actually. When someone is removing the electrical cover if you're not used to it, there's a chance you could short the metal cover onto the exposed leads coming into the contactor. A small chance, but nevertheless a chance... 😊

@stevieg3078 18 дней назад

@@TheHomeImprovementChannel Good answer. I agree. Thanks.

@chizzelfingers 23 дня назад

my connectors are rusty and the ground 1 just pulled off,maybe the prblem?problem?? any thoughts

@TheHomeImprovementChannel 21 день назад

HI, yes if your wires are pulling loose that's a bad sign, but without seeing it I can't be sure of anything. If you have a volt meter, try to see if you have continuity through the contactor. I doubt the ground pulling off would cause the unit to not work... (But I would still fix it)