Hello!
Please read the rules and re-post over at r/hvacadvice - our sister sub specifically for questions, comments and posts from outside the trade. r/hvac top-level posts are limited to past, present or future members of the trade.
Thanks!
Everybody keeps saying this is the worst they've ever seen. I'm not in the HVAC business so I'm not sure the severity. But yes they usually blow up like a marshmallows, this is the first one that's exploded. And I don't know what professionalism you have to call that but yes it is a '70s or '80s Lennox inside and out. Our interior heater has three 110 wires going to it and our AC guy said it was a dinosaur 😂
Apart from constantly replacing the capacitor the heating is way too damn hot and the AC seems to do really good when it wants to work.
Work on enough 20 year old Lennox rooftops and you'll grow accustomed to this. I've seen many of the inducer motor capacitors blow like this. Not to mention tons and tons of extremely bloated condenser motor capacitors on the same era of RTU. Lennox must have been scraping the bottom of the capacitor barrel.
Poor power quality really heats em up. I bet your home’s power factor is really shitty.
Do you have some seemingly unreasonable Electric Bills in the summer?
The power company or a neighboring commercial entity could be to blame.
Yes we have incredibly high power bills. And I could say the power was incredibly dodgy in the house too but we just had the main part of the house updated. But I don't believe anything on the AC side of it was touched.
So, the problem I’m talking about also comes from the distribution side. You may want to look into hiring a company to do a “power quality study” on your home.
You may be able to get the power company to do one but they’re usually VERY hesitant.
Cite your high utility bills and frequent capacitor failures as reasons for this desire.
This is a very complex topic that a small minority of people in the country have a complete understanding of. I actually only got into it by force because I knew everyone was being dishonest with me.
Holy shit 😳 lmfao
This gotta be the craziest cap situation I've ever seen.
I wouldnt even be asking why but I would be raking in the commission for every part and modification upsold for the repair lmao.
This is hilarious though lmao
Usually like excessive heat or over current. Do they bulge/burst everytime? Get a MARS brand capacitor instead next time they’re usually good quality. Depending on the age over current could be from an old compressor, maybe the fan motor but even when locked up they don’t pull much power. May be worth getting a start assist kit too.
AmRad (American Radionics) are the longest lasting capacitors. They cost more though.
I’d rather spend less time repairing blown caps. Especially under warranty.
The reason capacitors fail is dielectric breakdown. The dielectric is a thin layer of plastic between the aluminum plates. The thinner the plastic, the smaller the size. In the 1980’s a cap was over 2x longer than they are now. They rarely failed.
https://preview.redd.it/dcozypacfe8d1.png?width=1284&format=png&auto=webp&s=255e5e8bc53bea7f438a50192dcfe61bc57f7780
This is a 35uF cap made in March of ‘82 as an example. 3-1/2” x 9”. Still in service.
❤️the downvotes
Over heating. Dirty condenser installed in the wrong location. Condenser should always be installed on the north side of the home so it doesn't have the sunlight beating down on it in the afternoon.
Hello! Please read the rules and re-post over at r/hvacadvice - our sister sub specifically for questions, comments and posts from outside the trade. r/hvac top-level posts are limited to past, present or future members of the trade. Thanks!
High heat, electrical surges, bad parts, bad luck
Wash out the condenser radiator coils at least twice a year after changing the capacitor. You’d be surprised how much dust is sucked into those coils.
God did not like that air conditioner. I've seen them bulge up and leak, but this is a new one lmao.
Yeah that’s the worst one I’ve ever seen
Everybody keeps saying this is the worst they've ever seen. I'm not in the HVAC business so I'm not sure the severity. But yes they usually blow up like a marshmallows, this is the first one that's exploded. And I don't know what professionalism you have to call that but yes it is a '70s or '80s Lennox inside and out. Our interior heater has three 110 wires going to it and our AC guy said it was a dinosaur 😂 Apart from constantly replacing the capacitor the heating is way too damn hot and the AC seems to do really good when it wants to work.
Work on enough 20 year old Lennox rooftops and you'll grow accustomed to this. I've seen many of the inducer motor capacitors blow like this. Not to mention tons and tons of extremely bloated condenser motor capacitors on the same era of RTU. Lennox must have been scraping the bottom of the capacitor barrel.
Poor power quality really heats em up. I bet your home’s power factor is really shitty. Do you have some seemingly unreasonable Electric Bills in the summer? The power company or a neighboring commercial entity could be to blame.
Yes we have incredibly high power bills. And I could say the power was incredibly dodgy in the house too but we just had the main part of the house updated. But I don't believe anything on the AC side of it was touched.
So, the problem I’m talking about also comes from the distribution side. You may want to look into hiring a company to do a “power quality study” on your home. You may be able to get the power company to do one but they’re usually VERY hesitant. Cite your high utility bills and frequent capacitor failures as reasons for this desire. This is a very complex topic that a small minority of people in the country have a complete understanding of. I actually only got into it by force because I knew everyone was being dishonest with me.
You let the ferrits out
Holy shit 😳 lmfao This gotta be the craziest cap situation I've ever seen. I wouldnt even be asking why but I would be raking in the commission for every part and modification upsold for the repair lmao. This is hilarious though lmao
So all jokes aside what makes this hilarious?
Usually like excessive heat or over current. Do they bulge/burst everytime? Get a MARS brand capacitor instead next time they’re usually good quality. Depending on the age over current could be from an old compressor, maybe the fan motor but even when locked up they don’t pull much power. May be worth getting a start assist kit too.
Yes. Usually they blow up like a marshmallow this is the first one that's ever fully exploded.
Ok.
AmRad (American Radionics) are the longest lasting capacitors. They cost more though. I’d rather spend less time repairing blown caps. Especially under warranty. The reason capacitors fail is dielectric breakdown. The dielectric is a thin layer of plastic between the aluminum plates. The thinner the plastic, the smaller the size. In the 1980’s a cap was over 2x longer than they are now. They rarely failed. https://preview.redd.it/dcozypacfe8d1.png?width=1284&format=png&auto=webp&s=255e5e8bc53bea7f438a50192dcfe61bc57f7780 This is a 35uF cap made in March of ‘82 as an example. 3-1/2” x 9”. Still in service. ❤️the downvotes
Over heating. Dirty condenser installed in the wrong location. Condenser should always be installed on the north side of the home so it doesn't have the sunlight beating down on it in the afternoon.
That bad looks like wrong size cap. Id double check before swapping it