Bartlett Heating and Air Explains How a Bad Capacitor Affects Your AC

The electrical components of the air conditioner make up a large part of it. There are so many electrical parts inside that work together to make the air conditioner do its job from circuits to various boards. Electrical repairs make up a large part of the common repairs the air conditioner needs. A pretty important part of your air conditioners electrical system is the capacitor. Without the capacitor, your motors inside the air conditioner that power the fans and compressor will not be able to work. A capacitor stores energy in an electrostatic field. They are small and cylinder shaped, they almost look like a battery. You have a start capacitor to give the motor it is attached to a jolt of energy to start up. You also have a run capacitor that gives a series of jolts of energy to the motor to keep it running. There are a few things that can go wrong with capacitors. You will notice your capacitor is failing because you will hear a clicking noise (sometimes buzzing) coming from the air conditioner. It is important that you call a company like Bartlett Heating and Air as soon as you can if you hear a clicking so you can fix the issue before it causes a motor to go bad. A capacitor can be damaged by excess electricity that runs through it. Capacitors can also fail to hold a charge after awhile. If your capacitors fail, the motors that are supposed to run will still try and come on. This can cause the motor to burn out and cost more in repairs in the end. Another issue that can be caused by a capacitor that is going out is what we call a hard start. This is when the air conditioner struggles to turn on and then will shut off soon after it came on. It is not recommended that you change the capacitors yourself because there are oils and other things that cause capacitors to be dangerous to handle. If you are having any issues with the air conditioner, call Bartlett Heating and Air. We will replace your capacitors and have your system running before other parts fail.