Central A/C (Rheem): outside blower/fan unit doesn't come on
Alan Denney
As the following should make obvious, I don't know squat about HVAC...
I have Rheem central A/C and (gas) heater in my townhouse...
The A/C was checked out last August, and it worked fine through the rest
of the summer (I only used it 15 days or so).
Fast forward to this year: I go to use it for the first time. Thermostat
and controls work fine, air kicks on, seems to cool OK at first...
... but the outside fan doesn't come on!
Now, I can't recall if it used to kick on immediately or after a bit
of a delay, but I left the A/C running for a good 10 minutes or so and
the outside fan never activated.
The outside unit has its own breaker on the outside wall, which had been
left on all "winter"... I shut it off and back on. Likewise, I cycled
the breakers on the main electrical panel. The fan still didn't come
on within 10 minutes or so (I was wary of letting the unit run without
the outdoor fan working).
Likely cause? Should I let it run for XX minutes next time before
giving up? (Is it designed to shut itself off if the outside unit
isn't working?) Other ideas short of hiring a repair outfit?
Thanks in advance.
--
Alan Denney yose...@netcom.com I'm Pro-Anarchy... and I Vote!
Steve Irving
changed on my A/C unit cost me about $80 and I changed it myself.
It could also be starting or run capacitors....again, these aren't all that
expensive and are easy to change.
First thing I'd check though was that all the electrical connections inside
the unit were hooked up and tight.
Alan Denney wrote in message ...
Mark
>
> As the following should make obvious, I don't know squat about HVAC...
>
> I have Rheem central A/C and (gas) heater in my townhouse...
>
> The A/C was checked out last August, and it worked fine through the rest
> of the summer (I only used it 15 days or so).
>
> Fast forward to this year: I go to use it for the first time. Thermostat
> and controls work fine, air kicks on, seems to cool OK at first...
> ... but the outside fan doesn't come on!
>
> Now, I can't recall if it used to kick on immediately or after a bit
> of a delay, but I left the A/C running for a good 10 minutes or so and
> the outside fan never activated.
>
> The outside unit has its own breaker on the outside wall, which had been
> left on all "winter"... I shut it off and back on. Likewise, I cycled
> the breakers on the main electrical panel. The fan still didn't come
> on within 10 minutes or so (I was wary of letting the unit run without
> the outdoor fan working).
>
> Likely cause? Should I let it run for XX minutes next time before
> giving up? (Is it designed to shut itself off if the outside unit
> isn't working?) Other ideas short of hiring a repair outfit?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> --
> Alan Denney yose...@netcom.com I'm Pro-Anarchy... and I Vote!
Hello Alan, Dont run system without fan running, attaboys for thinking
of this.
Time to call for service. Get references from friends and family.
Some possible causes:
Bad fan
Bad capacitor
Bad dirty/contactor
Loose/burnt wire
No low voltage to contactor from t-stat
Poor power supply from disconect switch-blown fuse or burnt wire
Mark
turtle
i do hvac work for a living , or air cond. work for a living.
what you are saying seem to be a problem . now if you have a outdoor
temperature switch on the fan it will do what you are saying and be good,
now if outside temperature is under 60 degrees.
you can run a test on it. now turn unit on and turn it down to 60 degrees
and go outside where the condenser is and get a chair. sit down neer it and
what to see what it does. if fan comes on some then goes off and keepes
doing this and the house is getting cooler all the time. you have a
temperature switch on it. now if in about 10 or 20 minutes the whole unit
gettes quite and you hear nothing you have a fan out. it can be the
capasitor, motor, burnt wire. now if at anytime you feel very hot air rizing
from the grill in the top , you have a fan not working.
this is a crude test but you really need to call a hvac man to see about it.
now you electric bill is going to be way more that the highest hvacman will
charge to look at it, if the fan is out.
well if we are looking at it you can turn power off to the condenser and try
to turn the blade with a screw driver and see if it is out of oil or just
froze up. a lot of Rheem condenser fan motor have oil holes on them. you can
oil the motor and see if it needs oiling. if blade is hard to turn it needs
oiling.
you had ask if it will hurt anything by running it with out a fan. well not
for testing for a hour or so but prolong use will get to the compressor.
let me know if you have any other thing that i don't know about or did not
tell you about.
Just a thought from
TURTLE
Alan Denney wrote in message ...
|
|As the following should make obvious, I don't know squat about HVAC...
|
|
|I have Rheem central A/C and (gas) heater in my townhouse...
|
|The A/C was checked out last August, and it worked fine through the rest
|of the summer (I only used it 15 days or so).
|
|Fast forward to this year: I go to use it for the first time. Thermostat
|and controls work fine, air kicks on, seems to cool OK at first...
|.... but the outside fan doesn't come on!