The Condenser Fan Motor Capacitor on my TRANE AC was replaced Sept. 2010, I had a handy man come to my home to do a repair for something unrelated and he took look at my AC and said he should replace the Capacitor. If I didn't I would burn my unit out. I wasn't home at the time a friend was and let him do the work. He gave me what is suppose to be the old Capacitor - My ? Can a Capacitor burn out in less than a year? The unit is hardly ever used.

Although it is possible, it is highly unlikely that a capacitor would go bad in this short time. However, if it was improperly installed or the improper value, this could be what the handyman noticed. Since you were not there to ask the guy exactly what he thought the problem was, you may never know. As long as he didn't charge you more than $50 for the new capacitor+labor, I'd probably be happy.

If you can take a photo of the capacitor and post it here, we might be able to glean some more info for you.

Hope this helps,
WallyH

Power surges, lighting strikes, etc, can take out capacitors. Also, are you sure he replace the fan motor cap, or did he replace the compressor cap. There are usually dual caps in condensers. Please ask him exactly what he replaced and why, then let us know what he has to say.. Note that capacitors are fairly inexpensive and easy to change out, so like Wally said, if he didn't charge you too much, I would just let this one slide. He may have saved you a very expensive repair down the road.

Yes, it can go bad. It seems we have had a lot of trouble with replacement capacitors due to poor manufacturing practices. However, you did not say why he thought it was bad, or why he was looking at the A/C in the first place. Visible signs of a bad capacitor is oil leaking out of it, or pooched out on the sides or bubbled out on the top or bottom. If there are no visible signs of failure, He would have had to use a test meter to assess the capacitors condition. But again, your story leaves me wondering why he was looking at all.

If my serviceman unplugged my capacitor, will this make it look like I need new condenser?