Air Conditioning - inside fan 'stuck'

I am having trouble with an older machine. The intake fan is working but the smaller fan inside <the blower fan?> is locking up when I place the tstat on 'cool'. Other times it will work for a few minutes and then lock again. When this happens no air at all is coming out of the ducts inside the house. When I turn the unit off completely the fan inside will spin when I move it, but when I put the system on again, it locks up again and will not move. ANY ideas? Tim in Fort Lauderdale - thank god it hasn't been too hot :-)

It sounds like a break or some short in a motor winding. As soon as power tries to go through it, rather than spin, it may take a momentary shift of a fraction of an inch and literally stay glued to that spot. Sometimes by helping spin it, it will go. But then may slow down again and get in that stuck position. Then when the power is off, it can spin freely again.

I'm afraid you need a new motor.

could you give us a little bit more info on your system, it would help us to try to come up with a solution to solve your problem.
we need names of the manufacture, model, size, is it a heatpump or a/c unit, etc, no amount of info is to much, we are here to help.

it's toast. get a new one. Heres a test for a fan,... if it has a cap make sure its OK, if it has line voltage and doesn't run, replace it...If its getting power and not working does it really matter if its the bearings or the stator thats bad?...replace it. remove the set screw and hit it with penetrating oil especially if you don't have a hub puller...