I've had a couple problems with the unit not coming on or going off before. I have taken sandpaper and cleaned the contacts when it would'nt turn on before and it seemed to run fine for a couple days. Right now it will not turn off and after looking through some of the troubleshooting questions and answers I am kind of wondering if this is the only possible problem before I go out and pay a couple hundred dollars for a new part.

To answer my own question, it was the points that was the cause or my heat pump not cutting off. Of course you cannot buy just the points. You have to buy the whole thing that the wires connect to. And in Virginia you cannot buy them from a Carrier dealer(unless you have an HVAC license). You have to call a HVAC company to come out and tell you what you already know is wrong with it and then let him order it and repair it. Carrier calls this a liability. I call it a money racket. But, if you get on line (like I did) and find it on the computer from a dealer you can have it in a few days.