Sooner70
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So my AC died last night. I poked around and concluded that the only issue was the condensor fan not running. I booked an appointment with the HVAC guys, but in the meantime the predicted high for today is 111 F (44 C). So.... One trip to Home Depot later, I have a perfectly redneck, but perfectly functional solution.
rmx256
I am a hvacr teacher and I totally approve of this hack.
MicrodosingClimateChange
If it's dumb and it works, it ain't dumb.
treboresque
unremarkableasterisk
I have done the same while awaiting the new fan motor to be delivered. Works well!
Eyeetsass
If the fan isn’t coming on you likely have a blown capacitor, or as I like to call it, a $30 problem.
LordKitchenersValet
Okay, I feel dumb. I just paid $400+ and the tech who came out late on a hot Sunday told me the bearings had worn out but he replaced them and also my system was old and I should upgrade once winter hit and the tasking slowed down.
Gonna pass this on to my partner. She's smarter than me, but I guess neither of us figured it out so you're smarter than both of us put together. o7
rmx256
You can't replace those bearings. You replace the whole motor.
RoyDMercer
You need to incorporate some duct tape into your solution. It's only right.
Sooner70
I mean, you're not *wrong*. I even bought some "just in case", but it seems to be working perfectly fine without it and I don't want to have to clean off all the sticky crap after I get the unit fixed.
RoyDMercer
Just joking. Congrats on your inventiveness.
Sooner70
For what it's worth.... Your post ate at my brain. There obviously is some air leakage between the orange fan and the AC unit. Duct tape would fix it, but again, who wants to clean off the sticky shit? My latest solution: I took a 10' drop cloth and rolled it up so I had a 10' long, roughly 3 inch diameter "tube" that I shoved into the gap between the orange fan and the unit. Now I'm really cooking!
CrackWhoresAndCheese
Duct tape would also kept it from vibrating off in the middle of the night.
Sooner70
On that note... It's an odd thing. At HD most of the fans had a flat screen on the front & back. But ONE fan, had a concave back screen. Yes, that's the one I grabbed and it nests perfectly with the "native" screen. Honestly, I had paracord and was prepared to tie it down but it is totally not necessary due to the nesting.
sevro77
Often it's the capacitor which is dual purpose where one side runs the compressor and the other is the fan. From an HVAC distributor they are around $10, probably Amazon too but likely double that price. Just need to match up the two capacitance figures. These will already be 300-400 volts which isn't as critical to match as long as it is higher than the intended circuit which would be 220-240v in the US.
Sooner70
From what I can tell it's a bad bearing. The fan itself does not spin freely.
somerandomusernamebecauseididntlikemyoldone
bad fan bearings are the bane of my life
Frostedjakes
Please don't attempt to replace an AC capacitor if you're not familiar with how they work.
HulaJesus
Just gotta let em sit over night with breaker off then short them out with a shorting probe of you cant measure to see if theres any pixes left hiding in them. They reward the careless with a solid zap and a spin the whell of fate to see if you or a loved one get to learn the lesson.
Sooner70
1 - I'm not a heavy power guy, but I do have a patent for an electrical circuit (not an idiot either). 2 - I'm relatively certain the problem is the actual motor; not the capacitor.
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Sooner70
The fan does not spin freely. Turn it off. Use a screwdriver to turn it, and it spins for about 1/2 turn before hitting something and stopping cold (see what I did there?). Push it past that "bump" and it will turn for about 1/2 a turn before hitting something and stopping again.
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Sooner70
Why would I want to do that? Shits working!
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Sooner70
Did you miss the part about the set up being functional? It ain't the compressor. A fan tacked on isn't going to help if anything is wrong with the compressor.
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Sooner70
Nope.