Your AC and heating units are important when it comes to keeping your Coachella Valley area home comfortable. But even the Read More. Book Now. Air Conditioning Heating Electrical Services. Previous Next. What is an air conditioner contactor? How does an air conditioner contactor work?
What can go wrong with an air conditioner contactor? If the contactor is working properly, the multimeter will show a reading between 5 and If you get a lower number or no reading at all, the contactor is not functional. Purchase a replacement and rewire, using the picture you took for reference. At Sansone, we have an entire team of skilled technicians. Whether you have issues with plumbing, air conditioning, heating, or ventilation, we can help.
From repairs to installations, contact us today for all of your AC needs in South Florida. Broward: Palm Beach: St. Lucie: Skip to content Serving South Florida Since Blog Raise your hand if you like living in Florida! This is a very popular question I get every year as summer rolls in. While there are a multitude of possibilities capacitor, motor, circuit boards, etc Let's take a look at the capacitor and what it does, how it works, and how to repair or replace one.
While there is always power at the unit assuming everything else is working properly , it sits at the contactor waiting to pass through to the functioning parts of the condenser like the motor and compressor. Like all switches, the contactor is like a drawbridge.
Nothing can pass until the bridge is closed. Of course, you don't have to go out and flip this switch to make the unit come on like you do a light, but nonetheless, it's a switch, just a fancier version of one.
Now that we know it's a switch, the question becomes, "How does it get turned on? While light switches need you to physically flip the switch and pressure switches use air to operate, your contactor is triggered by a solenoid pulling on a small plunger the button. If you look in the picture I've provided above, you'll see the coil windings in the part that is simply referred to as the "coil. When pulled down, that button is the "drawbridge" closing and allowing electricity to pass through and run the condenser fan and compressor.
To give you a more complete description, here is the step-by-step of an air conditioning cycle up to this point. When talking about contactors in HVAC equipment, there are usually three different kinds. Single pole, double pole, and 3 pole. I've already mentioned that most residential systems use a 24v coil to trigger the contact, however, those coils can sometimes need v to operate some of the larger contactors. Most of these higher rated contactors are only found in commercial environments, however, and not likely to be of concern to most homeowners.
Again, we will almost always use a double pole contactor. Honeywell makes a universal contactor that fits almost any residential unit that I keep on hand in case I need it, and so do many service techs to make the repair without another trip to the store. I'm a fan of keeping parts on hand that are inexpensive and easy to replace so that I'm never without heating or air conditioning for long over what is a simple fix.
A single pole contactor only has to connect one wire for power. On this part, the plunger is under the cover you see here. There are three common causes of failure a contactor can experience. And while repairs are possible, it's typically not worth the effort. Replacements can be bought rather inexpensively, there are no special tools needed, and it takes little time to do, just care.
See safety disclaimer below. Coils can be replaced but are not repairable. While the coil in a contactor can be replaced, it is usually not worth the effort. They can often be hard to find to fit the contactor you have. It takes more effort to take the contactor off the unit then dismantle the coil than it does to simply replace the contactor. Contactors for residential units are typically rather cheap These are cleanable with some contact cleaner.
You really don't need to soak it down too heavily, as the contact points are rather small and do not require much to clean.
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