A/C contactor going bad?


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Old 08-24-16, 08:17 AM
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A/C contactor going bad?

The AC is not blowing cool air intermittently. AC runs fine during the night and morning, at around afternoon and evening cool air stops coming from the vents. When it first happened I turned the thermostat to off and turn off the breaker inside the air handler and the one labeled AC for the main circuit breaker panel. After around 30 mins I switched it back on and it operated normally. It started to happen in the night and not only the day anymore. At first I thought it was capacitor however after doing some searching online I started to look at the contactor. I opened the panel on the outside unit and watched the contactor during normal operation. The contactor was shut and everything was ok, after sometime it stopped cooling again so I went to the contactor and it is was open. It was not pushed in like how it was when it is working correctly. The air handler inside runs and the fan on the outside unit is running. However, I don't hear the compressor running. What could cause the contactor to open in the middle of operation like that? Is the contactor bad or is there something preventing damage that opens up the contactor?
 
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Old 08-24-16, 08:39 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

That's not an indication of a bad contactor.

There is a low pressure switch inside the condensor that shuts the contactor off if the refrigerant charge is low.
 
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Old 08-24-16, 09:08 AM
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Thank you that is why I wanted to ask first before I replaced it to get the same problem. It was low last year and some guy came and charged it up and put something in to stop the leak. I am assuming it didn't work or there must be a leak somewhere else. I am looking for replacement because the system is kind of old. Any recommendations for good units?
 
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Old 08-24-16, 09:27 AM
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Any of the name brands are good.
It's more about the installation then the brand.

I'd call and get two to three replacement quotes.
Ask friends who they use.
 
 

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