We have a unit that is central air and electric furnace combined. It was originally Intertherm, but the outside part (compressor?) has been replaced with a Rheem. The inside part is now 11 years old.

I do not understand all of this, so please bear with me... I am trying to communicate it as well as I can, from my technician to your ear :) .

Three times in eight days, our home has filled with an acrid smell and a little smoke. Three times we have turned off the breakers and called our repair guy.
The first time he said that the fan relay had burned out, and he replaced it. The second time, four days later, he said that the fan relay had burned out again because it had been receiving power back on the wrong leg but that he had capped off this leg - so that the problem was fixed. Four days later - today - he said that something was arcing across some kind of switch, part of a capacitor maybe, so he replaced the capacitor with one that had no switch. This leaves us with no cut-off at the fan motor; it will only be cut off as a result of the thermostat (or of course the electrical breaker.) [If this sounds all wrong, it is not the technician's fault. I was not home and not able to talk to him directly; however, after the third try, I think I would like a second opinion just to be safe.]

1. Should this fix the problem?
2. Should I be concerned that there is no cut-off at the fan motor? I assume it was put there for a reason? Will this mean that it cannot trip the breaker if something goes wrong? Is this dangerous?
3. When we switch to heat, does this mean that the blower will not keep blowing for a few seconds after the heater cuts off? Won't something overheat that way?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Should this fix the problem?

No way really to be able to tell. After so many tries I hope so.

Should I be concerned that there is no cut-off at the fan motor?

It would be nice to know what cut off you are talking about.

When we switch to heat, does this mean that the blower will not keep blowing for a few seconds after the heater cuts off? Won't something overheat that way?

Anything is possible.

Now we need to use some correct terms for this stuff.


Brand and model number of the unit?

First is this unit in a mobile home/manufactured home?

Why did he have to replace the relay two times? He should have fixed it corectly the first time. I hope he did not charge you for the relay and labor the second time.

Describe cut off on the fan motor?

Thank you for responding! I am very ignorant, so please tell me:

Is there an appropriate way to ask the technician what cut off he is talking about? He just said that the fan could only be cut off now via thermostat. What is the intelligent question to ask him here?

The inside part of the unit is Intertherm. Where can I find the model #?

Yes, it is in a double wide.

Don't know for sure why it took two more trips, but he has not charged us for the other two trips. Seems to be a very honest, very nice guy... but he is very young and I am starting to think maybe inexperienced. I don't even mind if he is "learning"with us - everyone starts somewhere - because he has been very up front and not charged us more BUT I WILL mind if my house burns down :)

Where do I look to see the cut off? I know... I am at 0 on the learning curve. My dad, the electrician, always used to handle this stuff for us. Sure wish I had observed!

One more thing that might be germaine: when the relay burned out the first time, the fan would NOT cut off at the thermostat. The only way that we could get it to turn off was with the breaker. I think the switch that he removed was the one that malfunctioned at that time. Also, we live in the deep south, and the a/c has been running almost constantly the past couple of weeks (during the day). Tech said that it had plenty of freon, and the unit is actually larger than was recommended for the house, but I don't remember if we added 1/2 ton or 1 ton.

Something is fishy here. Incompeant HVAC tech or one without the proper tools.

1) The current draw of the compressor should be checked and compared with the nameplate
2) The voltage at the compressor should be checked when running
3) It should be compared to the voltage at the panel when running

An anomaly should show up.

Model number will be located inside the grill that covers the front of the unit inside.