a coil brush/rake about $8 at supply house it just some stiff wires laid out like a paint brush with a handle you run up and down the fins to straighten them out youll have to disassemble whatever type of material the unit has protecting the coil to do it its not hard just a few dozen screws usually

this could also be the problem a weak capacitor will cause the fan to run slower and reject less heat causing the high pressure switch to throw id probably clean the coil and replace the capacitor all at the same time if i was servicing it just for insurance against a call back. assuming those are the 2 most likely causes is just an educated guess without actually putting gauges on it but are also extremely cheap DIY repairs id attempt if I was the OP before I pissed away a few hundred dollars to a service company. should be able to get coil cleaner and a capacitor for around $20-$25 make sure capacitor is the same microfarad as the old one and remember to put the common/fan/herm wires back on the right terminals. voltage rating on capacitors doesnt matter as long as its higher than the 240 service you have at the unit

Possibly fan getting hot kicking thermal overload then the compressor kicks itself out

Thank you for this. How do I find what capacitor I need without removing the one on there? I looked at it but everything is so old it's hard to make heads or tails. Thanks for the replies!

A lesson from Mayberry... CALL THE MAN

its printed on the old capacitor an is also usually printed on the compressor and the fan you will need the microfarad rating off each one because its more that likely a dual capacitor meaning it has a common terminal then one terminal for the fan and another for the compressor. the most common will be a 5/35 or 7.5/35 the lower number is the fan the higher number is the compressor marked Herm on the capacitor. the symbol you are looking for that tells you microfarad rating is μF dont worry about voltage rating as long as its rated over 240 the only thing that matters is the μF rating

when you pull the main cover off the unit there's probably a wiring diagram inside it. mine was faded but those boys had magnifying glasses from planet Zirfuse add read the wiring scheme...but he said he already knew by looking at it...my suggestion is call a service guy. there are some things I have to admit I am just not good at...LOL

diagram wont tell you μF ratings or resistance or much on anything except where the wires go i havent had to look at a diagram in years and you usually cant read them anyway on an old unit

Nevermind. I read through the posts.

Thank you for this. How do I find what capacitor I need without removing the one on there? I looked at it but everything is so old it's hard to make heads or tails. Thanks for the replies![/quote]


when you pull the main cover off the unit there's probably a wiring diagram inside it. mine was faded but those boys had magnifying glasses from planet Zirfuse add read the wiring scheme...but he said he already knew by looking at it...my suggestion is call a service guy. there are some things I have to admit I am just not good at...LOL[/quote]
diagram wont tell you μF ratings or resistance or much on anything except where the wires go i havent had to look at a diagram in years and you usually cant read them anyway on an old unit[/quote]


ok, so umm...another reason to just call a guy...:)

I personally don't think it's a cap if it was it wouldn't start up but give me model number and serial number and I will look up what cap u need

How old is the unit and what kind of unit

Sound like what happened to me, ended up fan motor itself would get to hot and stop. Run water on it to cool it down then would start working again. Nothing else would be wrong except blow hot air.

this is actually a really really common problem but is not the OPs problem or nothing outside would run I recomend people put ant killer around their units regularly i keep a bag with me to put out if i ever have to replace a contactor due to ants.

It's an old York unit from a long time ago. Attached is the sticker if you can read it...

And can you help me find a replacement cap by the picture attached? If not Ill start a searching. Thanks everyone!

Sounds like contacts to me .

I had one that acted like that though , ended up being the fan going bad . I changed the capacitor it ran bout four hours and died .

Amazon for the capacitor. Supply houses have got where they won't sell to a guy unless he is an AC tech.





This is what I found for the capacitor and that model #. 45/5

assuming no one has ever replaced the fan motor with a different rating best thing to do is replace the capacitor with exactly what you took out