window a/c ran then stopped cooling


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Old 07-22-16, 10:33 AM
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window a/c ran then stopped cooling

Hi,

I have a Carrier Visionaire LC series LCA061P window unit a/c. Bought it 20 years ago and it's been fine every summer.

Today after starting it for the first time this summer, it ran for a few minutes and then stopped cooling. I have it set to the coolest temp. It usually runs continuously which I like so that there isn't a lot of starting and stopping.

I let it blow non-cooled air for awhile and when it didn't start cooling again, turned it off. I waited a few minutes as they instruct you to do. Every time I have turned it on since then it hasn't cooled. It blows air fine. The outside fan hasn't turned since it stopped cooling.

I notice that the fan outside, easily visible since the protecting plastic struts broke off a few years ago, tries to rotate but it doesn't get far. Just a slight movement every time I set it in a cooling mode.

I tried to rotate the fan by hand while it is in cooling mode and it doesn't go. It moves so it isn't stuck. It just doesn't kick in and start blowing.

Has my a/c finally died?

I will give it more chances before I go out and buy a new one. If nothing works, then it's time. I think it has done this a few times in the past when it is first used.

What do you think?

Thanks.

Cheers,

John
 
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Old 07-22-16, 11:15 AM
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It's alive! I waited for a half hour or so and tried it again. Turned it on and heard the compressor running but saw that the outside fan wasn't running. I gave that a few spins and it caught on and is now running. It made some bad noises but that has stopped and all seems well.

Fingers are crossed...

Maybe looking up new units helped.
 
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Old 07-22-16, 02:14 PM
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The real test will be when it cycles off and then tries to restart. My guess is it won't start with out help. Most likely the capacitor is bad.
 
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Old 07-22-16, 02:22 PM
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Either the capacitor or the motor is worn out.

What I'm confused on is that window A/C's usually use one motor to run the inside and outside fan.
They use a double shaft type motor.
 
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Old 07-22-16, 02:31 PM
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As far as I can tell, there are two. One for the circulation inside and the compressor outside. Interesting to me was that the compressor ran without that fan moving. I could hear that it was running. Once I got the outside fan to work it made some bad noises so maybe there's a belt or some other way for that fan outside to connect to things. I'd think it is a direct connection to the compressor but I know nothing about that.
 
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Old 07-22-16, 02:34 PM
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Thanks. That's probably something I can't fix without the help of a professional, right? Getting to it will be hard from the outside and I don't want to take it out of the window. The top cover has broken into lots of fragments which I've connected with package sealing tape. That held up over the winter. I might be able to remove all that but I have no idea where the capacitor will be once I do that.
 
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Old 07-22-16, 03:20 PM
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The motor will be a direct drive (not belt) and sounds like it has bad bearings. I doubt changing the cap is going to make any improvement.

The condensor fan is independent of the compressor but when it's not working the compressor overheats and shuts down on overload.
 
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Old 07-22-16, 03:34 PM
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Thanks. (Longer text put in cuz I can't post too short messages.)
 
 

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