Condenser fan problem, PLEASE HELP

Ethel

I have a Lennox heat pump. My condenser fan kept going out on overload. I assumed it was the fan and replaced it. The new fan is doing the same thing. When the  fan is running it smells like something is very hot inside condenser unit. The unit is properly charged and has been running fine. I disconnected the crankcase heater just in case the board was calling for it to come on for some reason. Still doing the same thing. What could be heating up and how do i make it stop?

alotlikeearl

Capacitor?

Did you replace the capacitor when you replaced the motor?

Ethel

capacitor

yes, i replaced the capacitor. twice actually. i first installed a new dual capacitor, then a friend told me to try to seperate it and i put the fan on its own capacitor.

Techman

Fan

What are the specs of the old fan motor and the specs of the new motor? Is the new motor a "trip saver"  or "rescue " type  motor as compared to an OEM motor? How did you check motor rotation?

Ethel

Fan Specs

It is a OEM motor. 1/4 HP, 1750 RPM, 208/230 Volt, Reverse rotation. It is the same fan motor i removed. That one was working fine. I just moved into the home, but i have ran it for about the past two weeks with no problems. Since I was last on I tried several things. I thought it was maybe the board, I removed the fan from the defrost board and connected it directly to the contactor and same problem. I disconnected the compressor, thinking that was the problem by getting too hot, but the fan still cut off on overload. I have worked on a many A/C units and this has really got me baffled. Could my contactor be drawing not enough voltage? But then would the fan or compressor even run? Could it be too much?

Ethel

Fan Specs

It is a OEM motor. 1/4 HP, 1750 RPM, 208/230 Volt, Reverse rotation. It is the same fan motor i removed. That one was working fine. I just moved into the home, but i have ran it for about the past two weeks with no problems. Since I was last on I tried several things. I thought it was maybe the board, I removed the fan from the defrost board and connected it directly to the contactor and same problem. I disconnected the compressor, thinking that was the problem by getting too hot, but the fan still cut off on overload. I have worked on a many A/C units and this has really got me baffled. Could my contactor be drawing not enough voltage? But then would the fan or compressor even run? Could it be too much?

Techman

Motor

What brand motor? What is name plate amps? What amps is the motor running at? What tonnage is the unit? I haven't run across to many OEM cond fan  motors that are reverseable or 1750 rpm for that matter.Thats a rare motor!Does the motor use a different cap on 208vac and another cap for 230vac? Does the motor spin freely by hand and slowly slow down?Didn't the 1st motor overheat also?

don_9

3 or 4

Sound like he had a three wire motor and now has gone to a four wired motor.The only thing it can be is wired wrong.Just so you know you can change a four wired motor to a three.

Techman

Other stuff

That C.C.heater protect's the comp so plug it back in. Does the  cond unit have a manual/auto reset hi press safety switch?

Empire_2

a couple things

Depending on the age of the condenser, I will up the motor from 1/4 to 1/3 always.  Is the condenser plugged?  Use your meter, check voltage and amp draw on this thing.  Amp out just the motor if you can.  Something does not nsound right here.  Explain how you wired in your motor, just so we can rule out error.



Mike T.