Hottest day of the year, and my A/C is out. The wife just headed to a friend's house.

Best I can tell, my outdoor cooling fan is seized. I went out to look at the compressor and observed nothing but a hum and a hot spot above the motor. I've turned off the breaker for now and will try it again in an hour after it cools, but I'm not optimistic. I have heard the fan squeal occasionally in the past. It was calling out in pain I guess.

So, @#12 or anyone, what I am I looking at? Is it reasonable to replace only the fan motor or is the guy going to convince my wife we need an entire compressor? It is 26 years old, so I can pretty well guess. I hear a big sucking sound where by bank account used to be.

 

I hope it's just the fan.

 

I hope it's just the fan.

Fingers crossed. I’m just concerned they’ll push to sell an entire unit instead of a repair. More efficiency might be nice but the cost can’t be justified.

 

Have you tried rotating the fan by hand to check for binding?

 

Usually the capacitor goes first and the fan isn't lubricateable. Got 40 years out of an AC and it was still running when it was replaced.

Fan and Fan speed switch were the normal problems.

 

Could be that the fan is just stuck. When my refrigerator stopped cooling a couple weeks ago I found that the fan wasn't spinning anymore. Removed and cleaned it with an entire can of lubricant (dried well afterwards of course). It's been running ice cold ever since.

 

Have you tried rotating the fan by hand to check for binding?

I haven’t yet. I can’t get at it without some effort but could probably poke it with a stick. Worth a shot.

 

Can you get a little oil into the bearings?
That often works wonders.

 

I'd be surprised if it needs anything but a new fan or motor, at the worst, and the fan or motor may be repairable at moderate cost.

Given how long it has been in use, there is little chance of anything but ball bearings. Sleeve bearings just won't run that long without at least annual lubrication.

If the windings haven't fried, and they probably have thermal protection, it may be possible to replace the bearings. This is usually fairly inexpensive if you do it yourself, but trying to pull the old bearings might prove difficult without the right equipment. Bearings are sometimes pressed into an interference fit and/or "glued" with something from the good people at Loctite or their competitors - you don't want the outter race to turn. On the other hand, I've replaced bearings in an assortment of fans and blowers and most have come out with very little effort.

It is not terribly unusual to find bearings with metric outer dimensions on a shaft of imperial/U.S. customary dimension.

 

If it is the cap

it reasonable to replace only the fan motor or is the guy going to convince my wife we need an entire compressor? It is 26 years old, so I can pretty well guess. I hear a big sucking sound where by bank account used to be.

Normally just the fan can be replaced, you shouldn't have to replace the whole unit.
Give it a spin, if it turns easily it could well be the cap.
Max.

 

The squealing I’ve heard suggests it was more than the cap but we’ll see. My wife found a local guy that will be here within the hour. I wish I had a few days to work on it but it’s brutal here.

UPDATE - Not as bad as I feared. The motor did start again this morning and ran long enough to cool the house down. The service guy offered a new motor for ~$160 plus $85 installation, and no charge for the visit so far! That all sounds quite reasonable. The motor is getting quite hot. The wife put a couple of frozen water bottles right over it and that seems to have eked out a few more minutes of run-time. I have no doubt it needs a fix and $245 doesn't sound that bad. I'd love to have the time and equipment to refit new bearings but I have neither.

 

It is often easier to just get it fixed. I have a dishwasher that had the top seal on the main pump leak water into the bearing. I was going to try to get it all apart but ended up just buying a replacement complete pump on Ebay and swapped it out. When I get the enthusiasm, I may have a go at fixing the old pump. The problem will be getting it apart to remove the bearing and seal as it is a glued together pump housing.

 

It's done. $250 later and the house is approaching a comfortable temperature again. The guy said he had to use a "rescue" motor, meaning it's a universal replacement. No OEM replacement for my 26 year-old unit.

 

It's done. $250 later and the house is approaching a comfortable temperature again. The guy said he had to use a "rescue" motor, meaning it's a universal replacement. No OEM replacement for my 26 year-old unit.

Did he leave you the old one??
Max.

 

Did he leave you the old one??
Max.

Nope

 

Nope

Possibly doing you a 'favour ' and 'disposing' of it for you.
I would have hung on to it just for a possible 'repairable' spare.
Max.

 

Possibly doing you a 'favour ' and 'disposing' of it for you.
I would have hung on to it just for a possible 'repairable' spare.
Max.

I have a box of metal scrap I keep in the garage and every once in a while when it gets heavy enough, I take it to the recycler for a few bucks in return. I assume somebody that accumulates dead motors has a way to get a few bucks back on them. Maybe he would have let me have it for free but I assumed he might charge me a bit.

On the other hand, I've got at least one dead starter on my garage shelves. Hmmm....

 

I am a pack rat so keep anything that is discarded by repairers. Often that can be fixed ok. After all, you are paying for the new one and the old one is yours already.
When I die, my kids will have SO much stuff to dig though

 

When I die, my kids will have SO much stuff to dig though

Like many elderly women, my mother became a bit of a hoarder after my dad passed. I do NOT want to do that to my kids!

 

My Mum and Dad had a couple of months continuous yard sale before they moved into a retirement village. Then, after they died, it was just a large job to clear things up, not a ginormous one.
I think it is genetic

 

Yeah, my folks both grew up on the farm during the depression and then WWII. You did everything yourself and never threw anything out. So I spent half my life keeping stuff and will struggle
in the second half to get rid of it all.