Air Conditioning - Fan Problem

I have 2 -Weather King central a/c units - one for upstairs and one for downstairs. It is old house but contractor bought and turned it over 2 years ago. The a/c units have a manufacture date of 7/2003 and were installed 11/2004 - so they have only been used for 1.5 years. (Location: NJ)

I came home from store - gone 15 minutes - and 1 unit was humming loudly and VERY hot. The fan was not spinning. I turned it off immediately.

Is it the fan? Is this DIY? What can I expect if i have to call HVAC service?

Thanks.

It could be just a capacitor. A quick and dirty check is to turn the unit back on and give the fan a push start with a stick. If it starts it is the capacitor. If it does not then it does not mean anything...

Does the fan turn freely when the unit is off?


You can replace the capacitor (~$10) yourself if you are halfway electrical minded, just remember that capacitors store electricity in extreemly high amounts. Be careful.

And, with an ohm meter you can check the windings for shorts. That will tell you for sure if it is the motor. Any 0 ohm reading between any two wires indicates a motor burnout.

...or between any motor wire and the motors case (except for the green wire).