Air Conditioning - central a/c unit has no power

I noticed about three weeks ago when I came home from work that the house was warm. I went to turn on the a/c and noticed that the temp of the house was 90 degrees and that thermostat was on auto/cool 78 degrees. I heard the inside fan blowing as I stood near the vent where you put the filter in. I then went outside to see if the unit outside was on. To my suprise, it wasn't. So I came back in to see if I still heard that fan sound blowing. It was. So I went to check the main house breaker and I just flipped it off/on . I then heard that outside unit turn on. I looked to see if the blades were turning and they were in the outside unit. They were and the house cooled off just as normal. Well, last Wednesday, Sepr. 22, 2004, I came home from work and I noticed again that my house was unbelievably hot. I went upstairs to see what the setting was on because I know that I did not turn my unit off and to my surprise once more, the thermostat was set to cool/auto at 78 degrees but the unit was dead as a doorknob. This time the fan inside was not blowing nor was the unit outside working. I turned the tstat to on/fan to see if this would turn on the fan .No such luck. I went out to my main breaker box and flipped it and came back to see if I would hear the outside unit turn on...Nope!!!!!!!!...I called over a family friend who just so happen to be a real A?C Tech. He did all the troubleshooting and seemed very knowledgeable. He also brought to our attention that the copper tubing that carries the freon that goes to the inside cooling unit was bent he could see green residue on the outside of the tubing. He said this was done when the company installed it because he saw where they had cut the black foam insulation to view it . That's how he saw it. After checking everything, he saw where a purple fuse(looked just like a car fuse) was blown in the unit, not the unit with the bent copper tubing carrying the freon but the one next to it. He replaced it and turned back on all the power to the house. VOILA!!!!!The unit inside and outside turned on. Today, Sept. 29, 2004, at 2:45 A.M. this morning, we woke up because once again, the house was very warm. It was warm enough to wake us up from our sleep. No power. Flipped the breaker and nothing happens. The unit is 3 years old and we use it sparingly.
Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :confused: :confused:

After checking everything, he saw where a purple fuse(looked just like a car fuse) was blown in the unit, not the unit with the bent copper tubing carrying the freon but the one next to it.

Can you tell what this goes to?

he told me the circuit board in the fournace(24 volt transformer). well, he was just here again as I speak and he put in another # 3 purple fuse and VOILA!!!!!. It turned on. I forgot to add that about 3 weeks ago when the first episode of the a/c unit did not come on, the day before that I plugged in a blow dryer and Iit smelled like it was burning. I unplugged it and then re-plugged it and it popped and blew out everything in the batroom and two more sockets in my master bedroom. I went outside and flipped the circuit breaker and came back inside. Everything in the room was back on but the plug where I originally plugged the blow dryer in did not and neither did the other socket in the restroom and two more in the rest of the master bedroom. The next day is when I noticed that the house was warm and that is when I saw that the a/c was not working. I flipped the circuit breaker and you know the rest of the story that I posted in the original thread. Well, today...Just a while ago(9-29-04, 8:15 P.M.). The a/c man came and replaced the fuse. It turned on. I showed him the socket in the restroom. He tested it with that gadget that has red and black endings by placing each one in the sockets in the restroom and instanly the a/c unit went off. He went back up in the attic and checked the circuit board in the furnace and once again the fuse was blown .He replaced it and the unit is still on. I will not use the plugs in the restroom again until I get the problem corrected. Once again he saud he did not know the connection between the sockets in the restroom and the furnace wires.......Please help!!!!!!

Has the purple fuse blown again since you've stopped touching the bathroom outlets?

There shouldn't be any connection between the 2 events, but stranger things have happened. I would turn the breaker off for the A/C unit and the bathroom plugs and start pulling outlets out to see what's going on. I'm sure there's a loose or broken connection that caused the outlets to stop working, possibly at an outlet farther up the line that IS working, in a wall switch or in a junction box. Remove all wires that are poked into holes on the back of the outlets and place them on the screw terminals instead. Let's get the outlets working correctly again first and then worry about the A/C fuse. In the process of doing this, the problem causing the fuse to blow may become evident.

Doug M.