[gary2713]

My outside unit has gone down. This unit is a 2.5 ton Godwin (I believe). I do have power to it so it isn't a breaker. When you stand next to it, and turn the t-stat to on (cool, auto), the unit clicks. The fan tried to turn (about 1/2 a turn and straining), and then stopped and simply hummed. The t-stat was turned off and then a few minutes later turned on again. The unit just hummed. It turns out that over the course of some time now, the air inside the house (this is the first floor unit), would start to blow kind of warm, after a while of running. My wife would either turn the unit off for a while or turn it to fan for a while and then back to AC. I guess she was sort of jump starting it as it where. It worked for a while, but now, all is dead. I suspect the fan motor has burned out or seized. Am I headed in the right direction? Or capacitor? Or both? Thanks for your time and expertise. I am a builder, not an HVAC guy. In know enough to know when to call in the trades and when to try it myself. Hope to hear back soon. Thanks guys.

[esquire1]

Go to the outside unit and have your wife turn unit on at stat to cool. Does the contactor pull in?

[gary2713]

How can I tell if the contactor has pulled in. I mean, where is it and how obvious is it? Thanks.

[esquire1]

It is in the condensing unit(outdoor unit) It is where the 240v wires come into the unit. It has a set of contacts in it. The contacts are either pulled in or not pulled in according to to call for cool. Be very careful vut you can push the contacts in manually to see if unit will run

[gary2713]

The contactor does pull in. It immediately hums... the fan jumps and tries to turn then it stops. It makes about 1/4 of a turn. It acts like it has resistance and then gives up. Then the unit just hums. We tried it a second time. The contactor pulled in again and it just hummed.

[esquire1]

OK Now disconnect the power and turn that outdoor fan motor by hand or use a stick to get at it. Does it turn freely? Look at the capacitor. Is it bulged? It will be round or oval and silver. It sounds like the fan motor is shot. If you have to replace it also replace the capacitor of same value as well. You can also test by turning power on and using stick to try and help motor start. Be safe in doing this.

[gary2713]

The fan blade turns freely. I did so by using a long screwdriver. No resistance at all. I gave the blades a good shove, and then turned the clicked the t-stat on. My pre-turning the blades got it jump started. The outside unit is running, no air is coming from the vents.

[esquire1]

You have a time delay relay for the inside blower. May take 5 min. for it to come on. Wait a see. Thr problem on the outside unit is a bad capacitor. Replace it with one of same value. If this is dual cap it will say something like 35/5 or 40/5. If your inside fan hasn't started go to thermostst and jumper R-G and see if fan starts

[gary2713]

I just put a digital t-stat on this thing so when you remove the face to get to the wiring, the circuit gets interrupted and of course the unit stopped. I did jump the R and G and air flowed from the vents at that time. With the unit off outside, it wasn't cold air obviously. I do have to replace this t-stat even though I just installed it this morning. The temp down button does not work. Made in Japan I Taiwan I guess.

[esquire1]

Well, get the stat taken care of and replace your cap and I think you'll be up and going. Any more problems you can email me at: [email protected] Make sure you get the correct stat be it heat/cool or heat pump. I prefer Honeywell.

[gary2713]

I assume the capacitor is the silver cylinder along side where all the wiring is. Looks kind of like a starter in a car? It's got a brown, yellow and two red wires. It's the only thing there besides I guess the circuit board.

[esquire1]

Sounds like it Shut power off when working on this. It will be marked F C Herm. F=fan C=common Herm=compressor. On the side it will have value in mfd Replace with the same

[gary2713]

Always. Safety first. Thanks a lot.