New thread.

I am very happy that your post shows Maria NOT going to Florida!!!

This one agrees:
https://weather.com/storms/hurrican...a-lesser-antilles-northeast-caribbean-islands

Hang on...that was yours. I meant this one:
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/where-will-maria-go-after-the-caribbean/70002756

I would hang around and answer some posts today but my A/C quit during the night.
External measurements show that the fuse on the circuit board has probably blown. Good thing it has a microprocessor in it! Without that circuit board, it wouldn't have this failure mode.

Fortunately, this is my day job. I will have that sucker running in an hour, even if I have to Frisbee the circuit board and install relays.

 

Yep. It's a circuit board problem.
Now...where's that box of relays...

 

Fortunately, this is my day job. I will have that sucker running in an hour, even if I have to Frisbee the circuit board and install relays.

What brand of AC? Ford?

 

What brand of AC? Ford?

I think it's a Heil, but residential air conditioners are so generic that you don't usually need to know the brand name. Maybe if you need a circuit board...which I don't. The compressors are Copeland, the capacitors are Ge or GE-neric, the relays are Mars Brand. The motors come from Grainger. What's it matter? Do you think it needs Linux?

Anyway, I found out why it's taking so long. My Fluke 27 took a dump...and it's only 39 years old!
No wonder it couldn't decide between 240 VAC and zero.
Two ends of a 6 AWG cable with two different voltages?
Now it can't display any reading on the Ohms scale.
My Micronta had a battery in it that expired in 2001.
(Funeral music)
Good thing I have a Harbor Freight meter.

To the tune of, "Goin' up the Country":
Goin' up the ladder...gonna twist myself some wires.
Goin' up the ladder...do not need a pair of pliers.
Gonna climb up the ladder and fix that thing of mine...
Gonna climb up the ladder and get cool right on time.

I used to have a job where I sang, "Calibrate, calibrate, dance to the music.

Am I crazy because I like to work?
I don't think so.
It's interesting and rewarding to figure out what's wrong and get good results!
Especially when you realize that an A/C corporation would be selling me the whole air conditioner for $3000 when I can fix it for a relay and two time delays.

"Goin' up the ladder...

 

Thought maybe it was like your Exploder.

 

Thought maybe it was like your Exploder.

Kinda yes. It has an unnecessary microprocessor, and I'm amputating it.

Is this the IQ Thread or the Hurricane Thread? Way off topic, either way. We might have a Moderator on our butts at any moment.

 

I would hang around and answer some posts today but my A/C quit during the night.

Need any help with that? ... I know someone who's really, really good at fixing A/C's ...

 

Need any help with that? ... I know someone who's really, really good at fixing A/C's ...

These two guys?

 

These two guys?

Sorry but that is the best video ever!

 

These two guys?

I posted that in the Jokes Thread about a week or two ago. Total ROFL for an A/C man!
Totally cringe worthy, too.

 

I posted that in the Jokes Thread about a week or two ago. Total ROFL for an A/C man!
Totally cringe worthy, too.

I know that is where I got it. As I said above, best video ever.

The old dude in the video should have gotten an emmy.

 

PS, the A/C is up and running. The house has cooled down by 6 F in 100 minutes.

I am going to wait for cooler weather to install the heating section. The original heat relay is still usable and still mounted properly. I just need to connect the control wiring. About 4 connections: meltdown safety circuit, thermostat control, and interlock to the fan relay. Not an awful job, but not a fun thing to do when the attic is about 115F.

The main problem is that the multi-wire connector to the circuit board was also melted, so all the wire ends must be cut back and re-connected to the right places without a microprocessor board to use for connection points. Easy enough for me to design the control system, but not easy to stand on a ladder in sweat dripping temperatures while I make nice, clean connections in the right places.

@shortbus If the hurricane gets any closer you can have your Thread back.
The A/C is fixed, anyway.

Edit: Is this Off Topic?
The damage on that circuit board was not the result of a component getting old. It had a hole in it like a plasma torch had hit it and steel pins in the connector were melted. What causes a plasma ball to suddenly appear in a circuit board which had worked properly for 15 years? An over-voltage condition. Would I have an over-voltage that drastic if power lines all over the state were not being replaced? Why were they being replaced? A hurricane.

I think I should replace my whole-house surge protector ($30 @ Home Depot). It probably died trying to save that circuit board.

 

I think I should replace my whole-house

If you leave it at that, then it sounds like a plan...

 

If you leave it at that, then it sounds like a plan...

I can't click a, "like" for that.

I am very invested in my house.
I realize you were trying to make a joke but you hit a nerve.
Please let that topic be out of bounds.

 

I can't click a, "like" for that.

I am very invested in my house.
I realize you were trying to make a joke but you hit a nerve.
Please let that topic be out of bounds.

Wow... seriously, I didn't know you were having serious problems with your house.

 

Wow... seriously, I didn't know you were having serious problems with your house.

I'm not having any problems with my house. Not even a loose shingle. Why would I replace a house that can survive a hurricane with no damage at all when 24 inch (diameter) trees were snapped in half at the trunk?

(This post is for public consumption. We already settled this in PM.)

 

All man A/C!

 

Is this the IQ Thread or the Hurricane Thread? Way off topic, either way. We might have a Moderator on our butts at any moment.

This Thread split is the nicest thing I have ever seen a Moderator do.
Thanks to which ever one did it.

 

This is a better photo. One circuit board as it was born, minus a relay in the upper left corner. The original board suffered a high resistance relay contact which got so hot it un-soldered the fan relay, so I stole the fan relay off the spare circuit board. The solder blob in the upper left corner of the damaged board is where I over-soldered the burnt copper pad under the fan relay.

And then there is the board that died. Notice the plasma cut hole in the board and the melted connector. One board is a spare, but I can't plug it in to a melted connector and you can't buy a wiring harness or a connector from the manufacturer, so the air conditioner gets a whole new control system, and I get to design it.

 

This is a better photo. One circuit board as it was born, minus a relay in the upper left corner. The original board suffered a high resistance relay contact which got so hot it un-soldered the fan relay, so I stole the fan relay off the spare circuit board. The solder blob in the upper left corner of the damaged board is where I over-soldered the burnt copper pad under the fan relay.

And then there is the board that died. Notice the plasma cut hole in the board and the melted connector. One board is a spare, but I can't plug it in to a melted connector and you can't buy a wiring harness or a connector from the manufacturer, so the air conditioner gets a whole new control system, and I get to design it.

So you're turning this into a project? You're going to design the new control system, PCB and all?