My outside AC unit stopped functioning. What was happening is it would hum but the fan would spin. The fan motor would get very hot and then the unit would just shut off. At one point to diagnose it, when it went to go on and it was humming I took a stick and pushed the fan blades to see if they were stuck. It started spinning fine then. After doing some research it lead to the capacitor being bad. It holds an electrical charge and when the machine is turned on, it gives the motor that boost it needs to start up. Kind of like kickstarting a manual car with a bad starter.Not wanting to spend an fortune on a service call, I opened the side panel up with 3 screws and read the values on the current capacitor. I ordered the same value AC capacitor here for real cheap. So cheap it wouldn't be a bad idea to get another one as a spare.To install it, I just took a picture of the current one to see which color wires go where. There was also a wiring diagram on the inside panel. The terminals fit perfectly and it's just a metal strap with a screw to hold the capacitor in place. Once hooked up, in the disconnect box I flipped the jumper and then went back inside and turned back on the circuit breaker to the unit. I called for AC and it started right up!Problem solved. This was in a Goodman 2.5 ton outdoor AC unit that was installed in the fall of 2011. So the original part lasted 11 years.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]