Central Air Conditioning Units

Case History: This case exemplifies why insurance companies check for lightning damage. This four year old central air conditioning unit was replaced with a new one at cost of $1,600 to the insured. The air condition technician said that he believed that it was lightning damage because both the fan and the compressor went out at the same time. When the insurance adjuster asked the technician about the compressor, he said that it was shorted to ground, and when he attempted to start the unit, it just hummed. The adjuster also questioned the technician about the capacitor, and he stated, he check it. The insurance adjuster was smart enough to know that if the compressor had been shorted then when the technician attempted to start the unit, the circuit breaker should have tripped. The capacitor is actually two capacitors in one metallic can; one for the compressor and one for the fan. As depicted in the photographs, the capacitor was bulged, and it was the culprit. Furthermore, you can not check the winding of the compressor to see if they are shorted to ground without first removing the bad capacitor. After replacing the capacitor, the unit ran flawlessly.

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This Unit Was Replaced at a Cost of $1600 to the Insured. It took a $20 Capacitor to Fix the Unit (AC05-01).

Capacitor Can is Bulged at Top on Right Side (AC05-01).

This Reading Should Have Been 35 uF - Instead, It Was 0.17 nF.
One (1) uF equals 1,000 nF (AC05-02).