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They said it wouldn't work...
They said I should call a pro...
"They" being the voices in my head...
Fuck "they"....
As you may recall, when I left you I had just purchased a Fluke 114 multi-meter and was waiting for the rain to subside so that I could begin the diagnostic procedure on my A/C unit.
Well, I was finally able to open it back up and begin my quest for cool air.
I flipped the circuit breaker switch off and tested with my voltage detector to make sure the line wasn't hot.
I then connected my Fluke to the contactor relay's input stage with the help of some alligator clips and turned the juice back on.
I confirmed that power was getting to the contactor relay, then I took the unit off-line again to move my leads so that I could confirm that power was making its way THROUGH the relay and to the fan motor itself.
Well, the motor was getting juice but wasn't turning...it was also very very hot.
I killed power once again - grabbed the specs off the motor (1/5hp, 230V, 1100 rpm, 5" 1/2" shaft, check...)
I also grabbed the run capacitor and got its specs.
I found an excellent website - http://www.heatcoolparts.com - they sell all kinds of HVAC parts, including a motor for my Rheem unit as well as a run capacitor.
The motor matched my broken one in all but one respect - it was only 1,075 rpm, not 1,100. But I thought, what the hell?
So I ordered it and the corresponding 370 microfarad run capacitor.
They arrive a few days later and, of course, it's raining.
After the rain stopped later in the week, I pull the old fan out for a direct comparison.
To my surprise, they are almost identical, except the new fan has two extra wires.
This worried me until I noticed a diagram on the side of the fan that showed a 3-wire configuration. You simply take the two unused wires and hooked them together, at least, I was pretty sure that's what the schematic told me to do.
Apparently, the two wires I wouldn't be needing were for multi-speed fans.
Next obstacle, getting the damn fan blades off the old motor shaft and onto the new one.
There was a set screw holding the blades in place - it came out pretty easily but the blades didn't budge.
"No problem," I thought, "I'll just get some WD-40 and my rubber mallet out and that'll be that"
Yeah, right - after two days of soaking this shit in WD-40 and banging away I managed to move it not a single centimeter. These blades had been mounted on this fan for 20+ years and had no intentions of leaving their home.
So, I broke down and drove - yet again - to Sears. Thank God for Sears.
Their cheapest model of 3-jaw puller didn't have quite the reach I was looking for - so I got a little more expensive and badass looking one.
Once I figured out the basic mechanical system of the puller tool, I set to work extracting the blades off the motor shaft.
I was fucking DREAMING when I thought that I'd be able to hammer the blade unit off of the shaft.
Even with this powerful tool - it took quite a bit of time and muscle to free the blades so that they could be transferred to the new motor.
But, it finally happened and I began to see light at the end of the tunnel.
Now, all I had to do was put the blades on the new shaft, re-install the set screw, mount the motor, and wire that puppy up.
My next concern was that I couldn't quite remember how the old motor had fit onto the mounting bracket.
So I took the bracket outside to the unit and saw how it was supposed to fit onto the bottom of the top cover of the condenser - and then compared the orientation to my screw options on the new motor.
Something wasn't quite right....the way it was rigged up would've had me placing the mounting bracket between the fan blades and the motor unit - which wouldn't work because the unit was supposed to hang down from the top.
I finally realized that I all I had to do was remove the 4 long screws holding the motor together (one at a time) and reverse them so that the mounting nuts were on the back (or top) of the motor.
Presto! Now the mount matched up perfectly with the motor and I could see that getting it put back in place wouldn't be much of a chore.
Now, the wiring...
The colors were a bit different, but I kinda remembered how they all went. Plus, the diagram on the side helped a little.
It showed that the red and purple wires went to the run capacitor, and that the black went to the output stage of the contactor relay.
The yellow and brown wires were supposed to be connected together as this was not a multi-speed application.
Easy enough, I guess.
So, I popped the fucker in and wired it up as I thought it should go. The only iffy part was there was no indication of which leads of the run cap I was supposed to connect the wires to...so I guessed.
I got everything put back in place and brought the power back on-line.
Went inside with bated breath and turned the A/C on and threw the thermostat back down to 60 degrees.
I heard the internal blower kick in and ran outside like the last dismissal bell on the last day before summer vacation.
The fan was turning! It seemed a little slow, but I really couldn't remember how fast it was supposed to turn anyway.
So, I went inside and waited....
As I noticed my house starting to slightly cool-off I felt redeemed. I felt accomplished, and I started to feel comfortable.
After an hour or so - things weren't looking so good.
Yeah, the house had cooled down some, but the thermometer hadn't budged in quite a while, and hadn't made it anywhere near 60 degrees.
I went outside to check the situation and the fan and compressor were both off (even though the inside blower was still running full force).
Damnit!
It was getting dark and mosquitos were starting to bite, so I flipped the breaker off and went back inside.
I opened the windows and cranked the attic fan - there' still work left to do.
The next morning before I got into the shower, I started the unit up again and it acted like it was working OK, so I left it on and took a shower.
Before getting into my truck and heading out for work - I noticed that once again, the fan and compressor were both off.
There were a few more days of unproductive rainy weather, so I wasn't able to observe what was happening until this past Thursday afternoon.
The A/C would work for about 10-15 minutes then shut down. I noticed that the condenser unit was getting very very hot as well.
It seemed as if it were sucking air from the top and then blowing it out through the coils at the bottom vents.
Is this right? It seemed kinda backwards to me, so I thought that maybe the fan blades were on backwards. So, I took them off the shaft and turned them around.
This was an act of pure desperation, but I thought "what the hell?"
That didn't make any difference...things were starting to look bleak.
Then I thought..."maybe I read the schematics wrong, maybe the yellow and brown wires AREN'T supposed to be connected."
I then read the limited info in the manual that came with the motor, it reads:
"Multi-Speed Fan Motors may have leads that will not be used. Exposed copper of these lead ends must be individually insulated. In addition, their bare wire ends must not be connected to either of the leads where voltage will be applied. If the unused leads are not individually insulated, the motor will burn out."
Hmm, "individually insulated" - what the fuck? Does that mean insulated from the other wires in the rig, or from each other???
Just to test this out, I cut them apart from where I'd taped them together and taped off each one individually.
This caused the motor to not run at all...
So, I put them back together and had one last-ditch idea...
Swap the leads on the run capacitor!
I don't know much about AC electronics, I've mostly worked with DC applications, but I thought it was worth a shot.
Once again, I killed power - swapped the leads and switched the fucking thing back on....convinced that I was wrong about this as well as everything else in my life and would resort to calling in some over-priced professional who would undo everything I had done and charge me several hundred more (if not thousands) on top of what I had already spent.
I went inside, a little less enthusiastic, switched my thermostat to "On" and dropped it down to 60. As always, the internal blower sprang to life...and I sauntered half-heartedly outside to inspect my latest failure.
To my surprise and delight - the blades were spinning at fucking light-speed!
There wasn't the heat build up around the coils as before.
I went back in, made myself a drink and sat with high hopes and a renewed spirit.
In no time my house was cool and comfortable again - the thermostat dropped like crazy and the unit stayed on until it reached my desired temperature.
That was Thursday night, and I still run outside to check on the thing several times a day, but so far so good....
I've suffered a couple of losses recently, and am not going through the best of times...but I got that fucking A/C working, and hope is restored.
I have, however, noticed that the ants are back....guess they were waiting for me to fix the A/C.
History is a wheel.....
-ReverseLogic
"-Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself." - Ferris Bueller
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I like that you're writing from personal experience, and of course I appreciate your quotations at the end, as a sort of final word to tie it all together. And I admire that you can actually understand and do all that mechanical stuff, because I'm a stupid mess when it comes to things like that!... (
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