Hi,

My 18-month-old home has two condensers in the back yard; one is working fine, the other woke up half the neighborhood at 3am this morning when it started screeching until I shut it off. Aside from the noise, the fan is turning. I've noticed two things, either of which I think could be the problem.

1. The bottom of the problem motor is covered with a black crusty substance, which the other one is free of. Could this indicate that the "permanent lubrication" has leaked out of the motor? If so, do I need a new motor?

2. When I open the condenser, I notice that the fan assembly is "loose"; there is some play, and I can move the assembly up and down a bit. Could the screeching just be vibration from this, or is this play normal?


If I have to replace the motor, I'm fine with that. I'm going to be renting this house out soon and living in Korea for a few years, so I'd rather have this fixed now before I make that move.. especially since the local shops want $90 just to come out and look!

At 18 months old, it should be under warranty

at 18 months old,,it should be under warrenty

Oh yes, it's under warranty.. for parts only. A guy I know who works for my builder says that the contracted company will charge $800 for labor to replace the fan motor.. but hey, the motor's free!

So yeah, I'm not crazy about that solution. Here is a picture of the offending fan motor:

http://www.bitey.org/fanmotor.jpg

That brown gunk does not exist on the working motor in the other condenser, it's spotless. I know the setscrew is missing on the photo, I'd just taken it out when I took the picture.

Oh yes, it's under warranty.. for parts only. A guy I know who works for my builder says that the contracted company will charge $800 for labor to replace the fan motor.. but hey, the motor's free!

So yeah, I'm not crazy about that solution. Here is a picture of the offending fan motor:

http://www.bitey.org/fanmotor.jpg

That brown gunk does not exist on the working motor in the other condenser, it's spotless. I know the setscrew is missing on the photo, I'd just taken it out when I took the picture.
That robbery or they are charging $300 + per hr

$800.00 is totally outragious,, $250.00 would be a big price,if you have the motor, its not 30 minutes work

Looks like you lost the oil seal. 800.00 is way too much to change a motor.

OK, so I've picked up a replacement motor (Dayton 4M205G), and I'm going to attempt the replacement tomorrow. One issue: the old motor had 3 lines, this new one has 5.

In the image below, the top picture shows where the three original lines were plugged in:

1. brown
2. black
3. yellow


The bottom picture just shows the originals as they were before I removed them. The new motor has the following:

Brown/white
Brown
Black
Purple
Green - I know what to do with this.

Any advice on how to configure these four lines would be greatly appreciated!http://www.bitey.org/condenserbig.jpg

I hope you new or someone told you,, you need a new capiciter that matches what the new motor calls for, if you didn`t get one,before install,the motor has a diagram on side that tell you where each wire goes

I hope you new or someone told you,,,,you need a new capiciter that matches what the new motor calls for,,if you didn`t get one,befor install,the motor has a diagram on side that tell you where each wire goes

Really? I thought that since the new motor matches the old one in every way, that I could use the old capacitor. There is a chart on the new motor:

Brown/white----------------------C
----------------------------------A
Brown----------------------------P
Purple-------common-------------.------L1
Black-----------------------------.------L2
Green-----------------------------GROUND
_______________________________________________

OPTIONAL 3 WIRE CONNECTION
Brown/white... INSULATE
Brown... C
... A
Purple... P... L1


I'll be back at Grainger tomorrow morning anyway, so if if picking up a new capacitor is the right thing to do, I will do it. I assume I leave the old one in there since
The compressor appears to be using it, so I would then have two capacitors in there?

Just get a new dual capacitor, (exact replacement of what is there) that will be the easiest for you to change. Othwise you have to mount the new cap somewhere, it's totally up to you, the are not very expensive.

Got everything plugged in and turned it on; SUCCESS! The new fan is working like a charm so far, and the lower floor is cooling as I type this. I'll keep an eye on it for the next few days; thanks for your help, guys!