Ok all you do-it-yourselfers...

[Bwana]

...let's see who can fix my a/c.

Wife came home tonight at 9:30 while I was out on the tractor. Shortly thereafter she comes out & asks how long the central air has been out? Darned if I know as I haven't been in the house.

Did a bit of snooping and what I found was that when the thermostat calls for juice the unit attempts to start, you can hear it lug down, but it just won't engage. Any thoughts on what can be done to give it the umph it needs to kick in?

As long as you are thinking, how come the tail lights on my wife's van decided to quit working? Brake lights work, blinker works, reverse lights work but no taillights.

Que the Hee Haw song.

[Thumper]

Assuming you're talking about the fan on the outside unit, replace the capacitor. EASY-PEASY job. (such a common problem, I keep a spare on hand) Shut it down until you do so you don't burn the unit up!

Worse case scenario ... the fan motor may have fried itself. (in which case you should replace the capacitor anydamnway with the new motor, so try the capacitor first ... 99.9% chance that'll get you going again)

[Thumper]

Ooops! Forgot the tail light question. Been a long time since I did any do-it-yourself stuff on automobiles (Toyotas never need repairing!).

In the "old days" the tail lights and dash lights were on the same fuse. Do you have dash lights? If not ... I'd say tail/dash light fuse. These days, there are circuit boards and crap so lots of stuff can happen. I'd check the obvious first ... like the tail light bulbs. They're double filament on most cars ... you may have burned the tail light filament but not the brake light filament. Doubtful they'd BOTH go out at the same time ... unless ONE has been out for a while and you simply didn't notice until the other went out and you had NO tail lights at all.

[Arty]

Yep. Capacitor. Happened to mine 2 years ago and I got on here, asked the same question, got the same answer from thump, then called the ac guy
When it happens again, I gots me one on hand.
5 minute job.

[Bwana]

Sounds good but what does it look like on Trane XE 1000?

[Thumper]

http://www.ehow.com/how_10018480_rep...capacitor.html

Ignore that picture ... that's a resistor. Step #12 is a bit of overkill ... just zap your cranky neighbor or sumpin' ... he'll love you for it!

I've never seen one a frigging foot long, but I've never had a Trane, so I suppose that's how yours is. I'll see if I can find an image since you seem to be a bit clueless here.

[Thumper]

Ok, sumpin' similar to this. Some are round cylinders, some are flat (oval), but this should help you identify it.

[Thumper]

Oh yeah, they're readily available. Best thing to do is pull it, take it to your local hvac joint and have 'em match it (it may not LOOK persactly the same, but as long as the specs match, you'll be ok). I'm not sure, Lowes or Home Depot may even have 'em but I kinda doubt it (due to variety) ... I always go to an a/c place to pick one up.

[Buckrub]

Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me
Deep dark depression
Excessive Misery
If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me

[Thumper]

Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me
Deep dark depression
Excessive Misery
If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me

Huh??? What's that all about? Is your a/c fubar also?

[Buckrub]

No.

The man had three subjects. I didn't know doodley squat about no a/c, or about his tail lights.

But third, he said "Cue the Hee Haw Song", so I sang it to y'all.

Geez.

[Bwana]

Thanks Thumper, I'm on it. Well, actually my buddy who does appliance repair work is. He has a job out my way so is going to swing by to see if the capacitor is the problem and then I will need to track down the part. It is great having friends like him but I try to only use their services in an emergency and since the weatherman is forecasting the high 80's for this weekend, that is WAY too hot for me.

Again THANK YOU and if for some reason he can't make it out there at least I have a place to start.

Oh, and thanks to Bucky for the song but pictures of the Hee Haw Honeys would have been better.

[BarryBobPosthole]

So......you CAN stop a Trane.

BKB

[Bwana]

Hopefully only momentarily.

[Buckrub]

High 80's are too hot for him.........

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha...........hahaha.........

hahahaha..

haha.

Whew.

[Thumper]

Got'cha Bucky. Guess I never knew the words to the Hee Haw song ... I wasn't a huge fan back in the day, but did watch it from time to time. 'Bout all I remember is "HEEEEEE HAAAAAWWWWWW!! I always liked Minnie Pearl also.

Bwana ... no reason to burn a favor or wait half a day. Just go take a look at it and it should be obvious ... it's as easy as changing a light bulb.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Uh.....if you do it yourself don't touch the terminals on the capacitor. At least not with your body. Otherwise you'll find out why its call a 'run capacitor', after you see what'll run down your leg.

BKB

[Thumper]

That's why I told him to just zap his neighbor to discharge it. My favorite trick back in the days of distributors with points and condenser was to charge up an old condenser and slide it across the shop floor waiting for some dufe to bend over and pick it up.