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snowwhite77 · Aug 5, 2008, 12:17 PM

Okay I am pretty darn sure that my ac fan cap is bad the you can hear the unit running but, fan doesn't turn on if I leave it off for a day or so I can turn it on but after the inside reaches temp it shuts off like it should but will not turn back on (the fan) anyway I am wondering as a woman that is fairly handy how hard will it be to fix and how much.. and am I on the right path?

N0help4u · Aug 5, 2008, 12:43 PM

Did you have it up full blast to the coldest temperature? Sometimes that will freeze the freon.

brians08 · Aug 5, 2008, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by snowwhite77

okay I am pretty darn sure that my ac fan cap is bad the you can hear the unit running but, fan doesnt turn on if I leave it off for a day or so I can turn it on but after the inside reaches temp it shuts off like it should but will not turn back on (the fan) anyway i am wondering as a woman that is fairly handy how hard will it be to fix and how much.. and am I on the right path??

I will need some more information to help you.
Is this a wall unit or a central air type with outdoor condenser?
After the first cycle, what exactly happens? You said the fan doesn't run but what about the compressor? What sounds do you hear when it isn't working correctly?

I suspect you will need to open up the unit at some point and use a volt meter to find out where the problem is. It is possible that you have a bad capacitor but it could be something else like the thermostat.
Remember that start/run capacitors often have very high AC voltages on them (400+ volts) when the power is on so extreme caution is needed!

snowwhite77 · Aug 5, 2008, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by N0help4u

Did you have it up full blast to the coldest temperature? Sometimes that will freeze the freon.

No I keep it around 78

snowwhite77 · Aug 5, 2008, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by brians08

I will need some more information to help you.
Is this a wall unit or a central air type with outdoor condenser?
After the first cycle, what exactly happens? You said the fan doesn't run but what about the compressor? What sounds do you hear when it isn't working correctly?

I suspect you will need to open up the unit at some point and use a volt meter to find out where the problem is. It is possible that you have a bad capacitor but it could be something else like the thermostat.
Remember that start/run capacitors often have very high AC voltages on them (400+ volts) when the power is on so extreme caution is needed!

The unit is outdoors the unit is rheem its big all I hear is a humming sound like when it is on just the fan is not rotating like I said if I leave it off for a day or so it will run but when it reaches indoor temp it cuts off like it should but doesn't come back on you can hear the unit running but the fan doesn't kick back on. As for the volt meter I don't know where to check at I have never worked on a ac unit I usually tinker with small electronics and cars..

brians08 · Aug 5, 2008, 02:03 PM

The question is whether the compressor is running or if it is also failing to start.
Can you get access to the indoor evaporator coils? If you can, then you would want to check to see if they begin to cool. If it is just the outdoor fan and the compressor is working then the indoor coils will begin to cool right away. If the compressor is not starting then the indoor coils will not change temperature.
(I am assuming the fan you are talking about is the outdoor fan?)
In any case I think it would be worth your time to open up the outdoor unit check the capacitors. I am not familiar with a Rheem system so can't tell you where to look but the capacitors shouldn't be too hard to find once the cover is off. If you don't know what they look like you can Google "start run capacitor" to find pictures.
Take them out and bring them to an electric motor repair shop to have them tested.
Make Absolutely sure the power is cut to the unit before removing the cover! There should be a breaker switch next to the outdoor unit. Also take careful notes of which capacitor connects to which wires so you can put everything back together exactly as it was.
If the caps are all good then the diagnosis becomes more complex. Could be a relay, could be mechanical binding, could be something on a circuit board, etc...