Possible A/C Compressor Failure

I have a tech coming out tomorrow to check it out, but I thought I'd run it by you guys first...

The house started to heat up yesterday afternoon (hottest day this season -- thought it was normal). Went to a ballgame and got back around 10:30.

It was about 85F inside and the blower was running.

The compressor unit (4-year old Bryant 661) was not running and making a humming noise every minute or so. It was radiating a LOT of heat from both the fan motor and compressor. So, I opened the windows and made an appt. this morning.

I got up this morning and tried it again. The unit kicked-on with the compressor and fan running. I let it run for 10 minutes. Both lines were warm and no cold air -- no luck.

History: The sub-contracting service company failed to seal the system when installed. 2 summers in a row, the system needed charged (the 2nd visit they realized there was a leak and fixed it ). Both times, the condenser froze-up into a block of ice.

Could this have shortened the life of the unit? It's warranty parts + labor so I'm just wondering what it could be. Freon leak, capacitor, etc???

Thanks!

RH77

Low freon to a point will over heat the motor and trip it out on safety.

If it ran in a vacuum it could have pulled moisture in if LP switch wasn't working or isn't there. moisture + heat + ref./oil = acid.


Could be a bad cap....they should easily be able to tell if those items are in working order. If they charge it up and get it to work....you still have a leak.

Well, it was one of those great GE caps. Runs great now.

Dew points were up in the 70's last night, so it wasn't fun at all. Now, the system's charged properly, and the humidity is flowing down the drain :)

Several in the neighborhood were reported by 2 companies to have failed. Lots of lightning here lately -- best guess by both of us as the cause.

In all honesty, if you're ever having a crummy day just realize that you make people's lives a whole lot better.

Have a good weekend...

RH77