How a Low Power Factor can lead you to other problems.
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I was out to charge up a system, and found dirty condenser, and low on charge. Checked power factor, and it was low, which led me to a weak capacitor. Also found what looks like ants in the contactor. So, I replaced contactor, and capacitor. After charging it was ready to go.
I’m posting a link to a great video, by a great channel, that explains power factor.
https://youtu.be/Tv_7XWf96gg
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#hvaclife
#powerfactor
AI GeneratedMay contain errors
i wanted to show y'all i don't know if you can see
that but that's a really low power factor
it's right there so i'm
gonna disconnect from
there a really low power
factor honestly that
should be above 0.9
but this is an old system i just got
finished charging it so we're gonna
check amperage on that compressor
and then we're
if it's high we're gonna i'm gonna check that
capacitor
anyway 10 not
terribly high
let's um check
that capacitor
to get it where
you can see
it that's reading 20 microfarads
top three all right boys are
ready to replace uh capacitor
let's pull it and see what
it's supposed to be rated
at we can go get another one
but um that's
an example
of a low power
factor can lead you
to other problems
if i have one
of these 30 and three
all right i do think i have one of those while
changing the capacitor i got a good look at that
y'all see those ants down in there i said i'm
not sure what that is but we're fixing to change
that contactor i'm going to show something whoever last replaced
this contactor they must have had a
single pole and all they had was a double pole
and they put a jumper from here to here you did
not need to do that because this is a system with a furnace
and they're not using it as a heat pump
as you can see right here just just cooling's hooked up
so um yeah they didn't have to do that
here's a little tip when using these types
of contactors they don't have a real lug it's hard
to get it in there right there
and get a good grip on it without curling it around as you see
on this other one i've put
it under that little piece
and that makes a solid
connection all right
after getting the right capacitor
and yes i'm checking the voltage on the wrong side but
it's so hot right now i can't really get to it got
a new capacitor new contactor i don't know
if you can see it but i've gone
from 0.75 power factor 0.88 closer to the one we get the better
amp draw on that compressor
was like 10.10 i get out
these leaves
and wash it up a little bit and
be doing here all right that one was a good example
of how checking power factor can lead you
to other problems you may not have seen
that was supposed to be a charge and go
but both that capacitor
and the um contactor could have led
to a callback so on to the next