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Starting capicitor failures indicative of something else?

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btimms

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I have a 15 year old Carrier tech2000ss which first required service a year ago to replace the starting capacitor - the replacement failed in a couple of days and the tech said it was a poor quality capacitor and replaced it with a better one. Well, its a year later and the starting cap failed again. The tech said this was indicative of the compressor going bad and that the next stop was a "hard start" - which might make the compressor go faster. I've got some guys coming to give estimates next week and was looking for some confirmation here that it is indeed a problem with the compressor.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
Just replaced one yesterday that was only 13 months old....felt bad that it was just out of it's one year warranty, so I cut the homeowner a break on the repair cost....he was happy.... :D

Here's the capacitor.....had blown a pinhole in the side of the can.....**** all over the unit.....nasty....

Image
 
#4 ·
I had a customer with the same problem acouple of years ago. He was burning one up every six to eight weeks. Finialy we changed the contactor even though it looked great and no voltage drop and we have had no problems yet.
 
#5 ·
btimms said:
I have a 15 year old Carrier tech2000ss which first required service a year ago to replace the starting capacitor - the replacement failed in a couple of days and the tech said it was a poor quality capacitor and replaced it with a better one. Well, its a year later and the starting cap failed again. The tech said this was indicative of the compressor going bad and that the next stop was a "hard start" - which might make the compressor go faster. I've got some guys coming to give estimates next week and was looking for some confirmation here that it is indeed a problem with the compressor.

Thanks
Click to expand...
The biggest killer of start capacitors is faulty potential relays.
Not replacing the potential relay when a start capacitor is a pretty sure way to generate a call back.

I_bend_metal said:
Just replaced one yesterday that was only 13 months old....felt bad that it was just out of it's one year warranty, so I cut the homeowner a break on the repair cost....he was happy.... :D

Here's the capacitor.....had blown a pinhole in the side of the can.....**** all over the unit.....nasty....
Click to expand...
Your picture is of a run capacitor, not a start capacitor.

I've had a lot of issues with aftermarket run capacitors that are made in China.
The Mars brand that are made in Mexico seem to hold up very well, and are the most common brand in the supply houses in my area.
The Mars2 brand are made in China and are TOTAL junk.
I wish I had a local supply for Made in USA AmRad capacitors, other than the Turbo caps they make.
 
#6 ·
And a dual one at that. Start caps have way higher mfd rating and usually have a bleed resister.
 
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#7 ·
mark beiser said:
The biggest killer of start capacitors is faulty potential relays.
Not replacing the potential relay when a start capacitor is a pretty sure way to generate a call back.



Your picture is of a run capacitor, not a start capacitor.
Click to expand...
I think we assumed it was a run cap, because in the original post, it said , the next stop would be a hard start . Didn't it?
 
#10 ·
btimms said:
I have a 15 year old Carrier tech2000ss which first required service a year ago to replace the starting capacitor - the replacement failed in a couple of days and the tech said it was a poor quality capacitor and replaced it with a better one. Well, its a year later and the starting cap failed again. The tech said this was indicative of the compressor going bad and that the next stop was a "hard start" - which might make the compressor go faster. I've got some guys coming to give estimates next week and was looking for some confirmation here that it is indeed a problem with the compressor.

Thanks
Click to expand...
If the compressor has no winding faults, such as short in an individual winding or a short in a winding to ground, and if the compressor can indeed compress the vapor properly, I'd be thinking of a hard start kit that has a potential relay, rather than the solid state PTCR so often a part of such kits.

Of course, at this age, many residential units are ready for an upgrade to a more efficient design. Only you and your contractor can determine if your system is ready for a transplant.
 
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