[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/diy/ - Do It Yourself


View post   

File: 59 KB, 600x600, ameristarcond_7_1_1.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048675 No.2048675 [Reply] [Original]

So my AC died the day after the great US ice storm of 2021. It was actually a pretty hot day and I came home to my apartment and it was 82 degrees. So I turned it to cool and took a nap. Woke up from nap and the AC was dead.

Its just as dead as can be. Nothing cycles. No heat. No cold. Just dead. Fan doesn't spin. Breaker didn't trip.

Things I know.
Thermostat module has power via batteries. Displays inside temp.
Probably not the can cap. I replaced that with a brand new one today with no change.
On the same breaker as the Fridge. Fridge is still running.
No fans. No heat. No Cool. Nothing. No noises. Just dead.

>> No.2048677

>>2048675
also, before anyone starts, I turned off the interior and exterior breaker before working on the can cap. I discharged the old cap. I can do basic home wiring.

>> No.2048679

Is it getting power and did you check with a voltmeter? We had a furnace that lost power. Breaker was on, but a switch went bad.

>> No.2048700

>>2048679
>Is it getting power and did you check with a voltmeter?

I just used a power wand. I can try a voltmeter next. Might check the contactor while im at it. I guess that could have gone bad.

This is the model btw

Rheem 13AJN30A01

https://www.gemaire.com/rheem-13ajn30a01-value-series-2-1-2-ton-13-seer-r410a-air-conditioner-condenser-13ajn30a01

I dont see anything special about the unit.

>> No.2048711

did you look at the contactor located in the controls side of the condensing unit OP? make sure the contacts aren't burnt to a crisp

>> No.2048724
File: 2.53 MB, 1960x4032, 20210306_152505.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048724

>>2048711
>make sure the contacts aren't burnt to a crisp

they did not look burnt. But I did not remove it.

>> No.2048725

>>2048724

you need to look at the movable contacts, that photo doesn't really tell me anything

>> No.2048726

also replace the batteries in the tstat just for good measure, is the disconnect to the condenser 'fused' or a mechanical one btw?

>> No.2048734

>>2048724
god i hate spiders

>> No.2048743

>>2048675

4/5 times it's the compactor. Listen hard for a light him, or test with a multimeter. You may get the fan spinning if you do so manually, but it'll need to be replaced for the compressor to start up.

1/5 times it's the thermostat/furnace board. Try jumping C and Y1.

>> No.2048744
File: 9 KB, 259x194, download (2).jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048744

>>2048675
>No fans. No heat. No Cool. Nothing. No noises. Just dead.
everything is dead? you have the inside blower fan, outside condenser fan, and compressor motor. none of that is working?

I'm no a/c tech, but I would open thermostat and twist red, green, and yellow together to bypass it to run the a/c and see what happens

>> No.2048745

when set to cool, does the contactor get pulled in?
if no, check for 24 volts on the control wires
if no volts there, see if you can set your Tstat to kick just the indoor/furnace fan on. if it does, you have 24volts from the transformer in the furnace and it's circuit board is working some what.

after all that you need a volt meter to see why things are not getting power. or see if they are getting power and motors are just fucked

>> No.2048749

>>2048744
>you have the inside blower fan, outside condenser fan, and compressor motor. none of that is working?

none of it

>> No.2048751

>>2048749
look at the schematics and then start checking resistances between leads on the compressor, anything near 0 ohms should indicate a short

>> No.2048752
File: 1.89 MB, 320x240, 1600907237705.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048752

its dark no, so no more fucking around outside.

I did take the thermostat off and check the wires going to it.

Not a fucking thing. Tested red to green, red to white, red to yellow. Nothing. Not a single volt.

I'll check again when I find my better meter, but it doesn't look like I'm getting 24 volts to the thermostat. I checked the batteries in the stat and they have a total voltage of 3.

>> No.2048754

>>2048749
>none of it
nothing on inside unit/furnace?
issue is there. outside unit is gay and just listend to tstat & furnace. check there, stop wasting time on outside unit.
power may not even be at furnace

>> No.2048758

>>2048675
My window unit doesn't have this problem. Did you try turning it on again and off again? Can you post the error log?

>> No.2048761

>>2048754
>nothing on inside unit/furnace?
>issue is there. outside unit is gay and just listend to tstat & furnace. check there, stop wasting time on outside unit.
>power may not even be at furnace

pretty much. The inside fan doesn't come on. Outside unit fan doesn't come on. Shifting from cool to heat doesn't do anything. I don't get the little AC noises a house makes as things shift from one to the next. Nothing.

I checked the wires going to the back fo the termostat with my cheap hand meter set to 200 AC, and got nothing on red to green, red to white, red to yellow. Zero volts. (The meter does power on, digital reading of zero)

I have a better simpsons meter around here somewhere and I can probably check again later, but it doesn't look like I'm getting 24 volts to the tstat.

>> No.2048764

>>2048761
>I have a better simpsons meter around here somewhere and I can probably check again later, but it doesn't look like I'm getting 24 volts to the tstat.
you are not. display is controlled by batteries.
there is (hopefully) no power at furnace and that's all your issue is. a flipped switch, or bad door switch, or something simple.
probably not a bad transformer in furnace, those things don't typically go bad but can if you have a lot of low voltage shit drawing from it (electric filters, UV lights in duct, you know dumb worthless shit wired into it)

so long as your volt meter can do 24 volt reading and 115-120 volt readings it will do just fine in checking power drop out at furnace.

>> No.2048780

>>2048764
opened up the top panel on the furnace. There is a slight hum if you turn the breaker on at the furnace. Goes away when you flip the breaker off. Not seeing a circuit board.

>> No.2048783

>>2048780
Also jumped out the yellow, white and green wires to the red at the thermostat and nothing.

>> No.2048789

>>2048780
>>2048783
test voltage at transformer. it will have one no matter what. most likely in bottom panel where fan is.
there will be a switch on that door that kills power when the door is off. either hold the door switch closed or tape it closed it's just a safety thing to not let the fan run for long with the door off (thus no filter to incoming air flow).
the transformer will have 115-120 on one side of it, and 24 volts on the other. if no 24 but you have 115/120, bad transformer. if you have the right volts on both sides, check circuit board. this can be a bit complicated. basically, take the 24 volt wires off transformer and wire them directly to the two control wires to outdoor unit. once you turn on power (do not do the rewiring with power on duh) the outdoor unit should instantly kick on with nothing indoor on. if that does the trick to kick it on and the it wouldn't do it before when all wired up to circuit board, the circuit board is bad as you have cut it out of the system.

>> No.2048805

>>2048780
>There is a slight hum if you turn the breaker on at the furnace

Are you getting any voltage off the breaker when it's turned on?

>> No.2048825
File: 358 KB, 908x1341, 20210306_202910.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048825

>>2048805
afraid to put 200+ ac to this little meter

>> No.2048828
File: 2.13 MB, 1960x4032, 20210306_200844.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048828

>>2048789
>there will be a switch on that door that kills power

don't know if this one has a switch on the door. Looked at the schematic on the panel and it looks like the power goes to a breaker switch, then right to the transformer to make 24 v.

>> No.2048830

>>2048825
is your "furnace" a furnace aka it's heat is made from gas or LP or is your "furnace" an airhandler because your heat is from a heat pump/electric heat strips?

if it's an actual furnace, it will not have 200+ volts at it unless it's wired wrong at breaker box. and even if it did, that meter will do fine. I used a shitty $15 harbor freight meter to check voltage on 3 phase rooftop units for a week while my fieldpiece was being repaired.

>> No.2048832
File: 1.85 MB, 1960x4032, 20210306_202903.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048832

>>2048828
found the pcb.

>> No.2048837

>>2048832
check fuse on board. if fuse good, go with taking 24v from transformer directly to the two control wires (the wires with the orange wirenuts on the top of your unit) that will turn on your outdoor AC unit.
if that works (and you can do this with some other control wires to directly hook up some other components such as fan only) then again, you have bypassed the control board thusly it is the issue. it is no longer sending the right voltage to were it needs to go.
if board bad you can probably order the exact same board online. installing it will just be matching wiring from current board to new board one at a time.

>> No.2048848

>>2048825
>afraid to put 200+ ac to this little meter

it's 500v max rated, you're fine and if anything you could just test each leg going to the breaker ie one probe to ground and the other to one terminal if you're a pussy

>> No.2048852

check the load side of the breaker too op

>> No.2048882

>>2048675
low voltage (control) board fuse?

>> No.2048891

>>2048780

It's the capacitor. Try spinning the fan by hand to start it up.

>> No.2048902
File: 79 KB, 1122x817, bubble gum burst.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048902

>>2048675
>>2048700
>>2048724
>>2048749
>>2048752
>>2048761
>>2048780
>>2048783
>>2048828
>>2048832
Transformer, control board, short/break in the wire/s leading to transformer or control board, control board fuse

>> No.2048904
File: 68 KB, 401x352, Grabs your attention.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048904

>>2048902
or or a short/break in the wire/s leading to the thermostat

>> No.2048978
File: 820 KB, 2161x1665, 20210307_015518.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048978

here is a picture of the circuit diagram.

>> No.2048979
File: 2.18 MB, 4032x1960, 20210307_015456.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048979

there is this stuff at the top, but I don't see on the circuit how it would keep power from leaving the PCB

>> No.2048980
File: 2.27 MB, 4032x1960, 20210307_015501.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2048980

>>2048979

>> No.2048982

>>2048978
>>2048902
>>2048837


so yeah, I checked the red and brown coming off the power transformer, I get 27 volts. I also checked the wires at the board, still getting 27 Volts. For fun I checked the power going into the transformer and its 200 something.

I checked the big plug coming out on the left. Put the probe on red and green, nothing. And Red and Brown nothing. Really I tried red and each other wire, nothing.

I guess the next step is to just pull the board and look for a bad fuse. Maybe order another board.

Guys, am I missing anything? Is there anything connected to this board that could tell it to not work? I'm not seeing anything. There is that internal fan and fan motor delay. If that went bad or died, could that tell the board to stop sending 24 volts on that red?

>> No.2048986

>>2048982

well fuck my dumb ass, the fuse is blown. And its 2 AM so I can't get a new one.

I wonder what caused the fuse to blow.

>> No.2048992

>>2048982
>I'm not seeing anything. There is that internal fan and fan motor delay. If that went bad or died

test the resistance between the fan leads, just look at the wiring diagram to see what color each lead is and where it goes and let me know if you get anything near 0 ohms which likely indicates there's a short between the windings and therefore you found one of your problems and will need to replace the fan motor

>> No.2049002
File: 838 KB, 2161x1665, 1615104767533.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2049002

>>2048986
nice. easy stuff.
>>
>>2048978
>theres a hum. Thermostat fails to hot wire

I was thinking it was the contacts in this relay failing to close the high voltage side off the 24v signal voltage form the thermostat. Blower motor on inside goes wahh. fan motor on outside goes wahh.

Both need the Run capacitors, from what I understand. CT stands for transformer so its got windings and stepping up and down. and not contact relays with a signal voltage. Just conversions of amps and volts. Where this theory shits the bed.

>> No.2049047
File: 2.00 MB, 4032x1960, 20210307_045839.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2049047

I noticed this while looking in there. The clips on the inside can cap connections are ionized black

However, the ends on the cap are not black. Seems really weird. If that can cap got hot wouldn't the legs and wire ends both turn black from heat?

>> No.2049048
File: 1.83 MB, 4032x1960, 20210307_050010.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2049048

>>2049047

>> No.2049061

>>2049047
that's the capacitor
get a new one
they're like $11

you could also snip off those cruddy blade contacts and crimp on some new ones

>> No.2049357

update

so I got a new fuse. I put in the new fuse, and the blower on the inside started right up.

I went outside and checked the condenser. The fan in the condenser did not spin. I came back in and set the thermostat to heat, went outside, no spin. Set it to cool, went outside, no spin.

Soooo I guess either the fan motor on the condenser is dead or the contactor.

Would it be possible for the fan blades to have frozen solid during the great 2021 icing and the unit just run without when the temp outside was below 30?

Also, I put the panel back on and in about 3 minutes the inside fan stopped working again. I bet the fuse burned out again.

>> No.2049360

>>2049357
>I came back in and set the thermostat to heat, went outside, no spin

What exactly did you expect?

>> No.2049440

>>2049360
>What exactly did you expect?

I'm just checking all the combinations.

>> No.2049559
File: 181 KB, 720x694, bobo.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2049559

>>2049360
This >>2049440 neck yourself faggot, OP is obviously looking for help because he doesn't know

>>2049357
Get a circuit breaker instead of a fuse next time, yes they make them that small just look for 5 amp circuit breaker or whatever. Some shit is shorting in the 24v circuit and I have an odd feeling it is somewhere around the contactor coil on the outside unit which would also explain why the fan is not turning on. Meanwhile while you get a new breaker you can ohm out the contactor coil to see if it works, if you get a number it is good, anything else it's fucked. Shit ohm out the fan and compressor while you are it. >>2049047 This capacitor looks decent, you could check its capacitance anyways but unfortunately your meter isn't capable. You know what, it probably even isn't a short, you said it took like 3 minutes for the fuse to pop again that would mean there is too much resistance somewhere in the 24v circuit causing that area to overheat thereby increasing the resistance even more which would increase the amperage enough to pop the fuse. Clean the insides of all the spade connectors in the 24v circuit (particularly along the red, green, yellow and common wires) with some sand paper and make sure those bitches fit tight if they don't use some pliers and squeeze them