{"id":585,"date":"2019-08-12T11:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T15:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/?p=585"},"modified":"2019-08-09T01:00:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T05:00:37","slug":"capacitors-ac-what-can-go-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/air-conditioning-service\/capacitors-ac-what-can-go-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"The Capacitors in Your AC\u2014What Can Go Wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/stripping-electrical-wire-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Hvac-wires\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/stripping-electrical-wire-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/stripping-electrical-wire-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/stripping-electrical-wire.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Your air conditioner is not a magic wand. It\u2019s an electronic device that works with wires, switches, capacitors, and everything else that\u2019s contained within our modern technology. So when something goes wrong, there\u2019s usually a technical way to figure out what\u2019s going on. Troubleshooting electrical devices isn\u2019t rocket science.<\/p>\n<p>Does that mean you should open that baby up and start pulling out wires? Of course not.<\/p>\n<p>If your AC isn\u2019t working, even if you\u2019re <em>positive<\/em> it\u2019s an electrical problem, you can always contact a professional for anything technical having to do with <a href=\"\/air-conditioning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">air conditioning in Katy, TX<\/a>. That being said, sometimes curiosity can\u2019t be stopped! How can we figure out if your AC problems are due to a bad capacitor? Let\u2019s find out!<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Bad Capacitor or Something Else?<\/h2>\n<p>First of all, if your air conditioner isn\u2019t blowing out cold air, is short-cycling, or making strange noises, it could be for a multitude of different reasons. It might be a clogged filter, a refrigerant leak, or even that your air conditioner is the wrong size for your home. However, if you\u2019ve replaced the filter and you\u2019re sure it can\u2019t be any other issue\u2014it could be a bad capacitor.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is a Capacitor?<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s an electrical component that works as a temporary battery for the motors. Capacitors store voltage and then send it to the motors. Most motors have two capacitors, one to start up the motor and one to keep it running. Capacitors are <em>temporary<\/em> components, meaning they may go bad and fail before the end of the AC\u2019s system life.<\/p>\n<h2>Common Symptoms of a Bad Capacitor<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>AC is not blowing cold air.<\/li>\n<li>AC takes a while to start once you turn it on.<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s a humming sound coming from the AC.<\/li>\n<li>It shuts off on its own.<\/li>\n<li>It won\u2019t turn on at all.<\/li>\n<li>There is a clicking sound from the cabinet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do any of these sound familiar? If you\u2019ve ruled out other problems, it could be a bad capacitor. Lucky for us, there are ways to evaluate your unit\u2019s capacitor.<\/p>\n<h2>Assessing Your Capacitor<\/h2>\n<p>While your air conditioner is on, you can press a long, thin object (a wire or stick) through the vent and gently push one of the fan blades. If the fan continues to spin by itself, there\u2019s your proof that you\u2019ve got a faulty capacitor. In addition to this, there could be a humming noise coming from your unit while it\u2019s not running, and this can also be a clue that you have a broken capacitor.<\/p>\n<h2>What Do I Do?<\/h2>\n<p>Well, you could try to replace the capacitor itself. You\u2019ll want to choose a capacitor that is the right size, but more importantly, you\u2019ll want to choose one that matches the correct voltage rating and microfarads. The microfarad will <em>have to match exactly<\/em>, but the voltage doesn\u2019t have to match perfectly. But we don\u2019t recommend you try this yourself, as even the smallest error can result in a powerful electric shock. Our team is here to handle the job of finding the right capacitor and replacing it correctly\u2014without any safety concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Here at AC Comfort, we\u2019re pretty used to bad capacitors in air conditioners, as well as the slew of other things that could be wrong with it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"\/contact\/send-message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Contact us to replace your bad capacitor.<\/strong><\/a><strong> At AC Comfort, your comfort is our business!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can we figure out if your AC problems are due to a bad capacitor? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[70],"tags":[90,88],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.accomfort.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}