Reasons Why Your AC Isn't Starting Up And The Air Conditioning Repairs That Fix The Problem

If your air conditioner condenser doesn't seem to be doing anything, there might be a power problem. The air conditioning repair technician has to check a few things to figure out what's wrong. If the compressor starts, but the fan doesn't, that helps narrow down the problem to the fan motor. If the fan and compressor are both dead, then a few things could be to blame. Here are the reasons for this problem.

Power Is Disrupted At The Circuit Breaker Or Fuse

The air conditioning repair technician might check the electrical panel first. They may move the circuit breaker all the way to the off position and then flip it back on to see if the AC starts up. If nothing happens, they may move to the disconnect box to check for a burned-out fuse.

The technician can use a multimeter to check if power from the electrical panel is flowing into the disconnect box and back out of it toward the condenser. If no power is coming out, the problem is probably a bad fuse, and that's an easy air conditioning repair since a bad fuse is easy to replace.

The Contactor Or Capacitor Is Bad

Power from the disconnect box enters the condenser and flows to the contactor, capacitor, fan motor, and compressor motor. If the contactor is bad, the other parts may not work. A contactor is a small part that's easy to take out and replace when it's bad. It has several wires hooked up to it, so the repair technician has to be careful about hooking the wires back up properly when the contactor is replaced.

The air conditioning repair technician can test the contactor and capacitor with a multimeter to see if they are getting power and passing the power along. If the capacitor is bad, the fan and compressor may not start, or they may strain to start and run, so it's important to replace a faulty capacitor as soon as possible to prevent harm to the motors.

The Fan Or Compressor Motor Is Bad

You can tell if the fan and compressor motors are working by listening for them to start up when the AC kicks on. If you hear the compressor but not the fan, the problem might be a bad fan motor. The motor can be replaced by pulling the fan out of the condenser and taking the fan apart. The new fan can be put on the assembly and the fan returned to the condenser.

This air conditioning repair is a little more involved than switching out a contactor or capacitor. If the compressor motor is bad, it will probably need to be replaced since compressors aren't usually repaired. For more information, contact a service provider like Gordon Mechanical NV.