Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - a/c won't work

Hi, I have a Janitrol Unit that is about 10 yrs old. It is an air to air w/ gas back-up unit. I know that when you run out of gas in the winter the air to air will not work until you fill back up with gas. Now my a/c will not work. The unit in the attic runs and you can hear it, but the outside unit/fan does not cut on, I took the cover off and pushed the contacts and it cut on fine as long as I held it. My question is will the a/c not cut on til the unit knows there is gas in it? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Not having gas has nothing to do with the unit not running. Since this sounds like a heat pump, I've moved this thread to the Heat Pump forum. What is the model number of the outdoor unit? I have manuals on some of the older Janitrol equipment.

Where do I find the model number? I have never had trouble with it as of now.
Thanks, Craig

You should test for 24 volts to the contactor coil in the condenser. The one you pushed in. For safety reasons, I don't recommend manually pushing in contactors.

If you have 24 volts then you probably have a bad coil. If you don't have 24 volts, then you need to check the t-stat or the wiring.

Goodman Manufacturing

Model number: CPKJ30-1AB

Serial: 9837525216

That coil is right behind the contacts, right? Is it all one unit?

The Model number is CPKJ30-1AB
Goodman

Ok, I traced 24volts from the thermostat in the house to the unit in the attic, the chip board has 2 sets of contacts, 1 set coming from the thermostat on the top, and the set on the bottom of the chip board goes out to the outside unit. Well, I am getting good 24 to theto from the thermostat, but only 7 volts out of the bottom of the chip board. What is this chipboard called. Where do you get one? Thanks for any help. Craig

furnace control board. Take a look here:

Furnace Control Boards (http://arnoldservice.com/control_boards.htm)

What is the model # of the furnace?