A Thank-You to Saint and these forums

[IG-88]

I just wanted give Saint and everyone else on these forums a big 

If it hadn't been for the stuff I've learned over the years on everything from diagnosis to multimeter use, to soldering, you name it, I would've ended up calling Capital Heating and Air to come out tomorrow on a weekend emergency call!!  (big bucks!!)

I got home from a movie date nite with the wife to notice the house was really hot and the AC was not working. After tracing the electrical and running the multimeter I narrowed it down to a bad quick disconnect on the safety micro-switch for the cover to the unit in the house. A bit of wire stripping and installing a new quick disconnect (which happened to be a .187, readily on hand  ) and we're back up and running!!

 Easily a $200 bill and something I would've never tried before this place. I think I will still get a new switch Monday but at least we will get some sleep tonite and tomorrow!!

Thanks again!! 

[DaOld Man]

+1 on the help from this site!!

I wouldnt replace the switch, unless the terminals are badly corroded or something like that.
Just make sure the quick connect terminals are tight and make sure there is no corrosion on either one of them.
Wouldnt hurt to cover the terminals with heat shrink or electrical tape. This will keep down corrosion in the future, which can lead to loose or bad connections.
Fells good saving some $$ by doing it yourself, dont it?

[saint]

Woot - BYOAC - Build Your Own Air Conditioner?

[Hoopz]

Woot - BYOAC - Build Your Own Air Conditioner?

Reminds me of this post from Harpal in B/S/T:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=47526.0

[ark_ader]

I just wanted give Saint and everyone else on these forums a big 

If it hadn't been for the stuff I've learned over the years on everything from diagnosis to multimeter use, to soldering, you name it, I would've ended up calling Capital Heating and Air to come out tomorrow on a weekend emergency call!!  (big bucks!!)

I got home from a movie date nite with the wife to notice the house was really hot and the AC was not working. After tracing the electrical and running the multimeter I narrowed it down to a bad quick disconnect on the safety micro-switch for the cover to the unit in the house. A bit of wire stripping and installing a new quick disconnect (which happened to be a .187, readily on hand  ) and we're back up and running!!

 Easily a $200 bill and something I would've never tried before this place. I think I will still get a new switch Monday but at least we will get some sleep tonite and tomorrow!!

Thanks again!! 

Gee great story mate, but I hope you got somebody to check your handy work.

It would be a shame if your AC caught fire while you were out and burnt your place down.

DIY is great if you are qualified.

[Kevin Mullins]

DIY is great if you are qualified.

Bah ... qualifications are often times over-rated. Met plenty of "qualified" dumbasses in my time.
Knowledge is knowledge regardless of who holds it. 
I DIY everything, and I mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

Great job on the troubleshooting and repair IG-88. 

[IG-88]

@ DaOldMan: Yes, it was a great feeling to get it fired up again. Surprised the hell out of the wifey too!

@ Saint: Good call. Maybe I should put one of the BYOAC stickers over the Capital sticker on the front of the unit eh?

@ ark_ader: Not too worried about it causing issues. Took DaOldMan's advice and cleaned it up and covered it. Should be good for a while... Nothing really for it to "burn" where it is anyway.

@ Kevin: Thank-you. I've been doing more and more of this type of stuff all the time. It's crazy how basic things can be if you just take the time to LOOK at them.

[SNAAKE]

good job

[menace]

Best thing I ever did was as an "unqualified" hacker--A friend of ours has a kid with CF and when they had insurance he got his boy "the vest" to the tune of $26,000.  So one day it breaks and they call the manufacturer--they tell him $5,000 to fix it 

So knowing that I tinker, they asked me to have a look at at.  $2.50 later it was fixed.  Old blown resistor.  All I asked for was a case of beer--that he helped me drink

[yotsuya]

We have a 37 inch Viewsonic LCD TV/Monitor that won't turn on. I'm inspired to crack it open to try and fix it. Any suggestions?

[CheffoJeffo]

Best thing I ever did was as an "unqualified" hacker--A friend of ours has a kid with CF and when they had insurance he got his boy "the vest" to the tune of $26,000.  So one day it breaks and they call the manufacturer--they tell him $5,000 to fix it 

So knowing that I tinker, they asked me to have a look at at.  $2.50 later it was fixed.  Old blown resistor.  All I asked for was a case of beer--that he helped me drink

Nice   

And nice to see you still kicking around ...  no, I haven't fixed the stupid Hantarex (that you had already fixed) in that stupid sub game that I bought from your brother!

We had a problem with our dishwasher some years ago and, when I cracked the door open, I found that the problem was a dead microswitch. Quick trip down to the workshop to visit the "pushbuttons parts box" and we were back in business.

[ChadTower]

I've fixed so many things with the skills I built up in this hobby.  Every appliance in my house except the fridge, a wiring issue on my truck, I added a 20v circuit in my basement (I did have the breaker box terminations done by a pro)...

[menace]

no, I haven't fixed the stupid Hantarex (that you had already fixed) in that stupid sub game that I bought from your brother!

  LOL--I had forgotten all about that sub game--wasn't it just a puse?

As far as the 37" tv goes its 90% likely the power supply board--I just had a 42" dynex die and it was the main pcb board--still cost $100 for the board but beats junking it or paying $500 for "service" (and all they would do is put in the board and charge me $400 labour...)

Check your caps, then your transistors, then your diodes.

[hypernova]

We had to do that ourselves (call the repairman) a few weeks ago, during the blistering 90+ degree heat wave on the weekend.  Turned out the little canister looking thing (forgot what it's called) inside the fan housing outside the house went bad.

[Howard_Casto]

We have a 37 inch Viewsonic LCD TV/Monitor that won't turn on. I'm inspired to crack it open to try and fix it. Any suggestions?

 I fixed ours.  It's not a big deal.  The power supplies they put in the new tvs are crap, and the caps go bad on them.  Crack the thing open, find the power supply board (should be obvious which one it is) and replace any bulging or otherwise suspicious caps.  I did ours for around 50-60 bucks (unfortunately caps that big usually require you to order a bag, not just one).  The boards are typically huge on these things and given the super long leads on your average cap, it is a very easy soldering job. 

[DaOld Man]

We had to do that ourselves (call the repairman) a few weeks ago, during the blistering 90+ degree heat wave on the weekend.  Turned out the little canister looking thing (forgot what it's called) inside the fan housing outside the house went bad.

That would be the start capacitor for the fan motor. Compressor has one too, as most likely the squirrel cage circulating fan.

[Kevin Mullins]

That would be the start capacitor for the fan motor. Compressor has one too, as most likely the squirrel cage circulating fan.

Yup. Probably a $10-$12 part at best.