Grunt, Grunt.....

Regardless of who we are as men, there is a little bit of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor in all of us guys.  Yes, this includes the intellectuals, the geeks, nerds and dweebs too.  I learned a long time ago that men like to fix things.  Some of us are better at it than others, but there is a strange sense of pride and accomplishment that goes with stretching the edges of your personal envelope and fixing something you have never worked on before. Now, I am not talking about changing the oil in our cars or some other mundane mechanical maintenance.  I am talking about really getting in there and fixing something that is broke, busted and otherwise, not working.

Previously, I figured out that changing disk brakes on a modern, post 2000, car or SUV is not, contrary to what repair shops would have you believe, rocket science.  There are no engineering degrees required and contrary to the aforementioned repair shops, once you have the problem figured out, it ain't that hard.  When you hear the brakes making noise, you are down to a chatter strip that is designed to tell you that you have 10% or less of brake pad left.  Time to replace the brake pads...duh!!  And...again contrary to popular belief, you do not have to have the disks turned, or ground down smooth every time.  Trust me, the brake pads will wear in just fine after in a few hundred miles.  So, it is a matter of taking the old parts out, reversing the procedure and putting the new parts in.  How much does it cost to put in new brake pads?  I did it for less than $100.00 for my front wheels and used really good, top of the line, pads.  I probably could have done it for less than $60.00 if I used the cheap stuff.

My most recent endeavor was at home repair and was a much more risky venture.  My air conditioning crapped out and left me with 85 degree temperatures inside.  This is wholly unacceptable!  I checked out the system and quickly determined that the motor that turns the outside (condenser) fan was not turning.  This, in turn, does not allow the coolant to be cooled in the coils and thus, you are just recycling heated coolant, which accomplishes very little, obviously. I found the fan motor to be very hot to the touch, not something good for an electric motor. So, being a fairly bright guy, I shut the power off to the unit.  I hear they can be  very pretty when they burn, but my house being very close and being made of wood, made it inadviseable to test this observation.

Now the first thing you do is take pictures of everything with your trusty color, digital camera.  I took pictures of the label on the outside of the fan unit and found the serial number and model number of the unit.  It is so much easier to look at the picture than try to write it all down and read your handwriting later.  I then went online and started Googling numbers and parts, like the model and serial number of the unit and term "motor".  Poof...I came up with all sorts of motors, sources and prices.  Please note that I was rudely awakened to find my air conditioner was installed in 1991, but knowing that I could get the parts, I went back outside and started taking out screws and things to get the bad motor out.  Once I got that done, I took pictures of the motor label, brown burn marks and all (I told you they get really hot), and had a serial number, model number and some specifications for the motor.  Oh, and to get the motor out, I had to take a panel off the side of the condensing unit and found a capacitor that looked kinda ugly.

[Caution: Some Geek Speak Follows] Okay, I did not know exactly what it (a capacitor) was when I took the panel off, but it was rusted, corroded and leaking some sort of sticky fluid.  It also looked like it had been blown up too big, as indicated by the bulging top, bottom and sides.  I astutely figured it probably needed to be replaced, and I was right I later found out.   A capacitor looks like a small can with wires attached to tab-like terminals sticking out of the top of the can.  It is a little smaller than a beer or soda can.  They come in round and oval shapes.  I managed to figure this out looking at a multitude of pictures on the Internet.  Just FYI, a capacitor kinda stores electrical energy so when the motor and compressor need to start, there is stored "juice" to allow them both to start up quickly without overloading the circuit breaker.  It's kind of a high-pressure, "jolt" battery that gives a quick surge of electricity.  Without a capacitor, the motor and compressor would "pop" the breaker every time.  They come in different capacities, some esoteric measurement called a "micro farad" is used to measure this capacity, but I digress. Needless to say, I learned far more about capacitors than I wanted to know, but asking questions does get you information.

Again, make sure you take pictures of everything, this allows you to put all the right colored wires back where they need to be when you get new parts.  Take pictures of the labels and markings on everything so you have the makes and models and all sorts of good information.  Then you can start looking online for the parts.  Do not be satisfied with your first go-round on parts; shop and compare.  You will save money!!  I called an A/C repair place that referred me to a wholesale distributor and got $200.00 worth of parts for $104.00.  The Internet was not cheaper this time.

I took my new parts home, compared them to the old parts, and they looked pretty close.  The motor was identical, the capacitor was a newer type, but it had all the same numbers, so I was fairly sure it would work.  Then, using my pictures, I put all the right-colored wires on the correct terminals on all the electrical stuff.   Then I checked it again to make sure I had not screwed up.  There is nothing worse than throwing a switch, hearing a pffffzzzt and seeing smoke from your new motor and capacitor....an expensive mistake.  Just to make sure, I checked it a third time, this time in reverse order, to make triple certain it was wired right.  Then the moment of truth

I set the thermostat inside to make sure the A/C would start and threw the breaker.  I heard the inside A/C come on, but could not hear the outside unit.  I went outside and was delighted to find it humming away, more quietly than before, I might add.  Nothing rattling, nor rockin' and rollin'.  My house began to cool almost immediately and within two hours, it was a lovely 78 degrees.

So, for three hours of my time and $100.00 in parts, I learned something about how to fix an air conditioner and saved myself the service call and mark-up which would have been about $450.00.  I also got to experience that feeling of accomplishment that allows me to grunt like a caveman, a la Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor...PRICELESS!!!!