I have an air-conditioning unit ( & heat pump) that does not seem to be cooling very well.

About a month ago the outdoor fan quit spinning and the service tech replaced the starter capacitor. FWIW the whole unit was replaced in 2005

It runs now but seems to be running slow and the outdoor unit seems very hot (it could just be the outside temp being in the 90s)

Anyway - I was wondering how I can verify what direction the fan should be running.
Right now it is sucking air down and out through the coils. I was just wondering if this was correct. It seemed more logical to blow the hot air straight up although that would put the compressor and the fan itself in a hotter environment. Does anyone know if it should be blowing up or down?

The air is supposed to be taken into the coils and blown out of the top. Looks like your unit is backwards. Time to call the repair man back for a free fix.

If you are sure, that's what its doing you are right,, it should be blowing very warm air out the top of the grill,, pulls in from the sides and out the top,, call the tech back he should stand behind the work you paid him for,, could be he installed a multi funcional motor and just has to switch a couple wires to change the direction of the fan

if you are sure,,thats what its doing you are right,,,it should be blowing very warm air out the top of the grill,,,pulls in from the sides and out the top,,,,,call the tech back he should stand behind the work you paid him for,,,,,could be he installed a multi funcional motor and just has to switch a couple wires to change the direction of the fan

Thanks for the answers - I have a call in to get him back out.

To test the direction I put a sheet of paper on top of the unit and it was sucked hard against the grill (not blown off like I would have expected). I will look at the pitch of the blades and the direction of the fan to be sure.

Thanks again to both people who answered.



UPDATE: and follow-up question - I checked when I got home last night to verify that the fan was blowing down into the unit. I used the same test of setting a piece of paper on top of the unit. Guess what - it was now blowing upward. (nobody has made any changes to the unit) - Is that even possible? Could the motor be "choosing" different directions when it starts? The unit is the outdoor unit for a heat pump (although we are only talking cooling here). I am 100% sure that a couple days ago when I checked, air was being drawn down into the unit ( and a sheet of paper placed on top was pulled tight against the grill). Now when I checked again last night, the air was rushing up and out of the unit (a sheet of paper would not sit on top of the unit but was pushed up and off).

A couple other things that I noticed - (1) the cooling seems better now (with the fan pushing up), and (2) , when the fan was pushing down into the unit it seemed to be running slower than usual.

The repairman is due out on the 29th (lousy Sears contract - don't get me started) - I will post a follow-up once the repairman has visited.

thanks for the answers - I have a call in to get him back out.

To test the direction I put a sheet of paper on top of the unit and it was sucked hard against the grill (not blown off like I would have expected). I will look at the pitch of the blades and the direction of the fan to be sure.

thanks again to both people who answered.



UPDATE: and follow-up question - I checked when I got home last night to verify that the fan was blowing down into the unit. I used the same test of setting a piece of paper on top of the unit. Guess what - it was now blowing upward. (nobody has made any changes to the unit) - Is that even possible? Could the motor be "choosing" different directions when it starts? The unit is the outdoor unit for a heat pump (although we are only talking cooling here). I am 100% sure that a couple days ago when I checked, air was being drawn down into the unit ( and a sheet of paper placed on top was pulled tight against the grill). Now when I checked again last night, the air was rushing up and out of the unit (a sheet of paper would not sit on top of the unit but was pushed up and off).

a couple other things that I noticed - (1) the cooling seems better now (with the fan pushing up), and (2) , when the fan was pushing down into the unit it seemed to be running slower than usual.

The repairman is due out on the 29th (lousy Sears contract - don't get me started) - I will post a follow-up once the repairman has visited.


Final Update - the repairman came back out and found that the wiring was wrong on the starter capacitor. All is now well. The fan runs in the right direction and cools much better. (hope this helps someone in the future)

Glad you got it going.