I have an older model Lennox Air Conditioner and when I turned it on today for the first time this year, the compressor unit comes on, but the fan does not come on immediately. Is this normal?

I've had this same problem the past four years. Each year I've had this same issue and it ultimately ended in the fan motor seizing up and then me having to replace the fan motor. Four years in a row with the same problem seems incessant to me. Should I just replace the entire system and be done with it? Also, each time I've replaced the fan motor, I've also replaced the capacitor. Does that need to be replaced annually?

Not knowing the age or model number you want get anyone to advise you to replace
Replace the capacitor 1st,, I`m pretty sure the fan has a capacitor all to it`s self, they are pretty cheap

I had the capacitor tested and it is fine. I guess I'm going to pull the fan motor for the 5th straight year and go have it looked at. This is quite the frustrating problem, having to deal with this every year. I'm not even sure what could cause a problem like this?? An electrical surge? Do I need to pull the fan motor off the condenser at the end of the season every year and store it in a safe place, then install it again at the beginning of the season?? Has anyone else ever had this kind of problem?

Usually fan motor problems are caused by lack of return air.

Joshdta - how can that be fixed?

Well, it may be simple, it may be very complicated. What I will need to know is how many returns you have in your house now. What size the return air duct is at your furnace. And on the name plate or tag of your furnace, I need the BTU output or the cfm rating. Cubic feet per minuit of the furnace. Then I can tell you exacty what size it should be. What happens if there is no return air is the motor will have a drag on it because it can not spinn fast enough and will then burn out.

I am headed home from work now, but I will be back on in a little bit I can help you farther.

Joshdta - I'm not currently at my house, but at work. I am on the West coast, so I'll have to check this when I get home and then I'll do another post. Thanks a lot for your help!

Return air ducts!! I`m confused,I thought the problem was with the outside condenser unit fan motor,, sorry

Opps my bad I got mess up it is the outdoor fan motor not the indoor fan. And the only thing I could think of that would cause it to go out time and time again would be getting a motor with the wrong rpms. Or maybe a dirty condencer coil.

OK... I was wondering how the indoor air returns would affect the outside condenser unit. Oh well... I decided to pull the fan motor last night to take a look at it. When I disconnected it from its mount and tipped it to remove the last few bolts, a bunch of rust-colored water came pouring out a small hole in the fan motor. On further examination, the hole appears to have been part of the motors design. It isn't that big, but it sure allowed a lot of water to pour out when I tipped it.

Obviously water (either from rain or snow melt off) somehow got into the fan motor causing it to break. As I thought about it, I recalled that water like that has come out of the motor each year for the past four years. Despite my efforts to seal all the possible points of entry by water using outdoor caulk, somehow water is continuing to get inside the fan motor.

This raises yet another question... If this motor was built for the purpose of being mounted inside an outside condenser unit, why would it not be sealed by the manufacturer to prevent water from rain or snow melt off during the winter, from getting inside it and causing it to break? Is this the fault of the manufacturer who didn't seal the motor properly allowing water to get inside? I don't think I should have to try and caulk every little possible area of the motor to keep the water out. Has anyone else had to do this?

Are you getting the exact replacement motor as the original or are you get universal motors? The other thing is, could there be a center cap missing from you ac unit?

I've tried a few other types of motors. I don' think I've ever gotten the same one. The center cap is there. I always have to remove it to take out the motor. It just doesn't seem probably to have the problem I'm having... because it seems I've done all the normal preventative measures to protect it. But it's happening nevertheless and that's why I'm so frustrated with the issue. I may just remove the fan motor at the end of the season and store it in a box for the winter and then re-install it in the spring.

Thanks for your attempts to solve this mystery! Where's Nancy Drew when I need her?

These motors are constructed to take the weather. If you are siliconing all open areas of motor closed, your motor will over heat and burn out. Most of these holes are for cooling of motor. There may a small hole at each end of motor for oiling, but they come with plugs from the factory. Most new motors come with sealed bearings, so there most likely isn't any oil ports on your motor. I really don't recommend sealing any part of your motor with silicone or any thing else. As it could cause the water to stand in the motor when it should just drain off. You really shouldn't have to replace motor every year, or even every five years. Hope we can help you get this figured out. Something is definitely not right here. Good luck and please let us know how things work out.

Sorry, just saw your last answer. I recommend getting exact replacement motor for unit. Use the model and serial number of unit to order next motor.

I sure would change brands of that motor you are installing first and pressure wash the condenser and use a larger start cap.

No,no,please don`t pressure wash the condenser,, and only use the capicitor that is called for

Please cornbread,, bad advice, is not good

To wash condenser, just use your garden hose with an adjustable pressure nozzle. You don't want too much pressure or you will bend fins. Just enough pressure to wash off grass, cotton, dirt, etc. And wmproop is correct, only use correct size cap for motor. The only time you use a larger cap on a condernser is for the compressor, when it needs a hard start.

77
You got to have some good experiece at that age

My pressure washer has an adjustable valve to control the flow pattern and have not blown the fins coils out of a condenser so far
The worse case I had was a dryer vent outlet 1 foot from the condenser.

Actually not my age.lol. Just my screenname.
And you are correct about washing the coil. Just make sure to let the asker know not to use to high of pressure. Pressure washer will work just fine as long as you know how to use it.

Welcome to the site. Stick around and help out, and maybe even learn a thing or two. I learn new things on this site almost every day. Take care.

Sorry it's been so long since I made this post, but I gave up on the AC for awhile and when it got really hot last month, I decided I'd better give it another shot. I replaced the fan motor yet again (fourth year in a row as indicated in my earlier post) which was bad and had water in the motor. I also replaced the Capacitor and the fuses. When we tried to it started again, it kept popping fuses. A review of the wiring diagram revealed that there were two wires transposed (a white and a black) which must have been wired wrong by the last guy I called out to help fix it. Once the wires were connect correctly, the AC worked beautifully and it has been going now for about two weeks! It's been really hot around here too. Today, I just finished building a roof over the outside condenser unit to prevent too much rain/water from getting into the fan motor. The condenser unit was placed by the builders right under the eve of the house and the gutters had been removed long again, causing an excessive amount of water to drop directly into the fan motor. I'm hoping that all of these repairs help to keep me from having to replace the fan motor on a yearly basis. Thanks everyone for your help! (By the way... I made sure there was more than 2 feet of clearance between the top of my condenser unit and the roof I built, which is what I was told to do by a local AC wholesale guy I had been working with.) Thanks again!

It feels good to have AC again!

Thank you for the update, we appreciate it. Please let us know how things are working next year.

Glad you are cool and happy,, although it would seem to me a easier and cheaper to have just replaced the gutter if knowwhere else just over the condenser unit

Goodluck

Actually... I had all the supplies to build the roof anyway and since I just got laid off my job, didn't really have the money to buy the gutters right now. Eventually, I will put in the rain gutter, but hopefully the problem is solved now, for the short term. Thanks again!

I was going to suggest to check whether a drip leg was added to the wires entering the fan. This is just a loop that allows water to drip off the wire rather than following the wire into the fan. It's an important little detail.

You;ll see them on you cable TV, your weatherhead for electrical and your telephone. The wiring always maks a dip towards the ground first. Water cannot travel uphill.