A/C repair and replacement

Bike N Gear said:
Anyone know the quality of current RUUD products? Our existing unit lasted 25 years, but quality could have dropped. Starting to gather quotes for replacement of one or both 2 ton units.
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Not personal experience but some techs about 10 years ago told me they were top tier, but cheaper cause they don't advertise like Lennox and Carrier
 
Anybody know how difficult it is to replace the condenser fan motor? Quoted $1000 as the temporary fix before buying a whole new system. Parts from Grainger are $148.
 
shouldnt be that hard, a bunch of wires and some bolts . . . . as long as the wire colors match up with whats there it should just be like paint by number (turn off the breaker first)

will also depend on how the fan is mounted on yours, on ours it just sits on top of the condensor and is mounted to the grate on top.
 
So my AC isn't working. Not the cap. Inside fan is not coming on so nothing is starting. thermostat seems to be working. I'm thinking it might be the heat relay? Seems to be consistent with the symptoms and the old owner had marked the juction box where it's mounted in the attic with Sharpie "Heat Relay", so must have been replaced before. The whole system is probably from the 70's or 80's, it's a Carrier in the attic.

Any advice or wild guesses welcome, going to try to test the relay tomorrow. Tonight I'll drink beer to cool down. :D
 
GSTim said:
So my AC isn't working. Not the cap. Inside fan is not coming on so nothing is starting. thermostat seems to be working. I'm thinking it might be the heat relay? Seems to be consistent with the symptoms and the old owner had marked the juction box where it's mounted in the attic with Sharpie "Heat Relay", so must have been replaced before. The whole system is probably from the 70's or 80's, it's a Carrier in the attic.

Any advice or wild guesses welcome, going to try to test the relay tomorrow. Tonight I'll drink beer to cool down. :D
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Is the outdoor unit coming on? Does the indoor fan come on at all? Like, will it come on if you put the thermostat to 'fan on'? Does it just not come on with the cooling mode? What kind of thermostat? What's the heat relay? Does it have electric heat?
 
GSTim said:
So my AC isn't working. Not the cap. Inside fan is not coming on so nothing is starting. thermostat seems to be working. I'm thinking it might be the heat relay? Seems to be consistent with the symptoms and the old owner had marked the juction box where it's mounted in the attic with Sharpie "Heat Relay", so must have been replaced before. The whole system is probably from the 70's or 80's, it's a Carrier in the attic.

Any advice or wild guesses welcome, going to try to test the relay tomorrow. Tonight I'll drink beer to cool down. :D
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Fan not starting is less expensive then fan running and not cold
 
Mahnken said:
Is the outdoor unit coming on? Does the indoor fan come on at all? Like, will it come on if you put the thermostat to 'fan on'? Does it just not come on with the cooling mode? What kind of thermostat? What's the heat relay? Does it have electric heat?
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Outdoor unit not coming on. Fan not coming on with "Fan On". Older programmable thermostat, can hear it click when it goes past the set point. No electric heat, hot water baseboard furnace for the heat. This is cooling only.
 
GSTim said:
Maybe I should change the battery first??
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You can try. But if you hear the relay click it's probably ok. Have a multimeter? Can check for 24 volts on the R and C wires at the thermostat. Can jump the R and Y at the thermostat to see if cooling comes on, if it does, the thermostat isn't working, if it doesn't then there's some other electrical thing going on. With neither the indoor fan or the outdoor unit coming on, I feel like it's probably a low voltage issue somewhere. I don't think the heating relay would have anything to do with it.
Edit: could also be high voltage at the indoor unit not working, which would mean there probably isn't any low voltage. Either way, sounds like either an electrical issue with the indoor unit, or a bad thermostat.
 
Scratch that, inside fan does come on with Fan Only. Changed batteries and still nothing outside. I had already changed the cap outside.
 
GSTim said:
Scratch that, inside fan does come on with Fan Only. Changed batteries and still nothing outside. I had already changed the cap outside.
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Turns manually?
Contactor issue?
 
Scratch that, inside fan does come on with Fan Only. Changed batteries and still nothing outside. I had already changed the cap outside
Bike N Gear said:
I can say with absolute certainty this statement is not always true.
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Who did you use that would actually work on an old unit without wanting to replace the whole thing?
 
I'll have to check the fan tomorrow. I might have replaced that fan motor years ago. Can't remember back that far. 😁
 
GSTim said:
Scratch that, inside fan does come on with Fan Only. Changed batteries and still nothing outside. I had already changed the cap outside

Who did you use that would actually work on an old unit without wanting to replace the whole thing?
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Cool o matic had a guy named Dave. He left and I never got his last name. He diagnosed my system as stolen refrigerant. Not a leak.
Her isn't there anymore. Should try to find him.
 
GSTim said:
How do you know if the contactor is engaging? Sorry total hacker on HVAC.
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Have a multimeter? Can check voltage. If not, have someone turn the cooling on while you're at the outdoor unit, you should be able to hear it engage. Also might be able to carefully push the contractor in with a screwdriver and see if everything comes on... Actually, don't do that, lol. Does the indoor fan come on when it's calling for cooling?
 
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