Improper Capacitor Install Can Be Costly Mistake HVAC Tech Kills Compressor on Routine Maintenance

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[@realSamAndrew]

I believe what happened here is the herm wire was sandwiched between the frame of the condenser and the edge of the capacitor, which is all grounded, which means the start wire had a direct short to ground. Turn on the power and BOOM 💥💥.

[@illiniwood]

Without this video and since you were the last to touch this unit, they would have blamed you for this, as they always do. Good thing you shoot video for this channel. It just saved your rear.

[@syncedsatoshi]

Seen this before on a service call, quite amazing how the harness comes off. I'd like to witness this happen!

[@andrewveres8914]

No you don’t it’s very scary and very dangerous to

[@edgarguerrero8242]

I’ve seen this before after a maintenance guy left capacitor wire loose touching metal too and grounded compressor

[@HVACTechKnowledgy]

crazy!

[@seangriffon6502]

I have a feeling that the compressor had been running hot for sometime due to the darkening of the label on the compressor. I was told by a emerson copeland rep that if the label is discolored, and looks crinkled and coming off compressor then that is a sign of compressor overheating or running hot. Label should be white in color and completely adheared to the compressor housing. This looks like a heat pump, and looks to be in good shape and not too old plus its a lennox. Heat pumps are way more expensive than a straight cool unit so most definitely worth putting in a new compressor. I would check everything over before hand. I feel the run cap had nothing to do with it. If wired wtong compresdor wont start, if you get fan and herm backwards fan will take off like a rocket and overheat and either go off on thermal overload or burn up. If the mfd is too big for compressor it will overheat and trip the thermal. You need to check the mfd rating on the capacitor and verify it with the copeland app or contact lennox directly. My thought is maybe someone tried to savatage this unit by installing a cap that had a much bigger mfd rating than it calls for. I have seen this a few times. Compressor going off on thermal because the last tech installed one of a bigger value.

[@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259]

It's not very clear to me how a tech caused this failure, was an incorrect capacitor installed or not?

[@realSamAndrew]

It's not incorrect capacitor, it's incorrect INSTALLATION

[@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259]

@@realSamAndrew Oh, so the compressor damage occured as a result of failure to connect capacitor.

[@realSamAndrew]

@@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259 sort of, yes. See my recent comment above for the explanation.

[@eastcoast186]

So who eats the compressor the company or home owner????????

[@HAWKTUAIT2024]

Maintenance guy

[@DS-fb9te]

@@HAWKTUAIT2024❤I’m glad wasn’t the home owner