Air Conditioning - compressor.....frigidaire

i have a frigidaire split system, mod. # FS3BA, 2.5 ton unit, that has been acting strange. the unit comes on (blower and fan outside) but the compressor doesnt kick on for about 5 to 10 mins. or it will come on ok but after cooling for a while the compressor will shut off and the blower and fan still run, which makes the house humid, then after being off for about 15mins. to an hour the compressor will kick on again, and cool things off. i just changed the capacitor on the compressor and it is still doing the same. any ideas??

thanks in advance for any help. cajun

weird indeed...
This unit comes with a time-delay-relay that delays the initial start-up by 5 minutes. This should keep both, the compressor and outdoor fan from starting, not just the compressor.

Why the compressor won't start? Maybe it is trying but does not have enough torque (maybe the unit is quite a few years old by now) so attempts a few times (have you noticed a humming noise?) until it finally does so. Is this happening there? If so, a hard-start-kit would help with this particular problem. A hard-start-kit consists of a STARTING CAPACITOR and a POTENTIAL RELAY.

But a likely indicator of a more serious problem is your reporting of the compressor stopping after about a 15-minute running time and not re-starting until much later (up to 1-hr you say). This could mean the internal thermal overload of the compressor is cutting-off power to the motor windings...why? compressor overheating.

Make sure the coil is clean (pressure wash with an appropriate cleaning solution), and also see that the fan motor is spinning nice and strong...maybe that blower is not pulling enough air through the coil (loose set-screw between fan-blade and motor shaft? defective bearings? defective fan motor that itselef is overheating and shutting off at random?).
If your unit has been recently serviced, maybe the last tech added too much refrigerant and the pressures are going through the roof (that in turn will raise the compressor running amps, which will overheat the compressor)

well yesterday i kind of caught it in the act, i heard the blower come on and i was in the room beside the compressor, and didnt hear it come on so i sat there and listened and looked. after 4 min. there was a little thump and the fan made about a revolution. then nothing until 19 mins. later was a little thump and a light spin of the fan, then another and another and another, all a few seconds apart the all of a sudden the compressor and fan started right up. kind of sounded like it wanted to come on but couldnt. im wondering if it could be something like the tstat. or other control that sends a signal to start up.:wall:

I can't get a mental image of the repeated "thumps" you mention.

If the fan spins only once, then it is not doing what it is supposed to. Next time it does that, with a small twig try giving it a push (kind'a helping it spin)...if it starts spinning in full force, chances are either the capacitor of the fan or its bearings are bad. How old is this unit?

I doubt is the thermostat, but you can check it...remove it so that you only leave the subbase on the wall. The subbase is a plate where all the thermostat wires connect to terminal screws. Look for terminals "R" and "Y"...put a jumper between them both. If now the outside unit kicks ON in full force, then your thermostat needs to go to the retirement home.

the thumps i was talking about i think were the contactor i think. seems to me it was only making a small amount of contact enough for the fan blade to move slightly, about enough to make a full revolution, sort of making a slight contact but not completly. like if you were to turn it on then the same instant turn it off. the unit is only about 8 years old. now i did have the inside unit replaced this year, but i was not thinking it was an issue. i was not home this weekend so was not able to watch it.

Contactors do not behave that way (making a small amount of contact). They either pull in or they do not. And from what you are reporting, the thump is likely the contactor contacts doing their job.

My feeling is that your blower motor is not good. But to know for sure you'll have to be by the unit while someone else fiddles with the thermostat inside the house. Keep your eyes and ears way open, see first hand what's happening and post.

Have you ever used a multimeter?

When ever the unit is turned on the outside unit spins once and tripps the breaker.

any ideas on what is causing this everything inside runs normally but no cool air do to compressor not coming on

yes i can use a multi meter. well today i caught it again, this time when the blower inside came on the fan only came on outside until 16 mins. later the compressor came on. is there some control board or something in there that may be bad not turning on everything together.
thanks,, pflor,, cajun

There are not too many things that can go wrong with your outside unit. Let's test the controls before even giving some thought to the compressor being the bad component.

See the numbers "9", "10" and "12" on the picture below.
9- is the contactor...this controller turns ON the compressor and outdoor motor.
10- is the compressor's running capacitor. If defective, the compressor either won't turn ON or a circuit breaker out there will trip.
12- is the anti-recycling timer. It prevents the compressor from turning ON too often by adding a "5-minute delay" after any call for cooling by the t-stat.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii64/pflor_bucket/th_FS3BA.jpg (http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii64/pflor_bucket/FS3BA.jpg)

There should not be "16" minutes from the time the indoor blower kicks ON until the outdoor blower/compressor also come on-line. There should only be "5" minutes. This may point at the timer as the culprit, but it could be the furnace indoors too (it may have a time-delay function too)...what's the M/N and MFR of your indoor furnace?

And the fact mentioned by you that the outdoor blower kicks ON but not the compressor, points at a defective capacitor (assuming the compressor is not dead...something we'd have to check as well). When the contacts of the contactor snap closed, BOTH, the outdoor fan and the compressor should kick ON at the same time.

sorry for the late response. well i broke down and got the tec over here to fix the problem. when the installed the inside unit a while back they put some valve inside for future. well upon doing that they needed to install a kickstart kit in the compressor unit, which they forgot to do. so now i have it and its working. thanks for all the help.