Air conditioners & Lightning strikes Spring in the Miami Valley always brings electrical storms. Lightning from these storms commonly causes damaging power surges in our homes. Power surges can harm nearly any electrical device in your home, and we frequently find air conditioners ruined during lightning storms. Damage from surges can range from blown fuses and burnt capacitors to fried compressors and burnt wires. Many customers want us to find conclusive proof that lightning caused the damage. Most insurance policies will cover the damage if a power surge can be proven. Sometimes the best evidence of a lightning strike is other damaged electronics. Stereos, TVs, and other electronics seem to be more sensitive to power surges than your air conditioner. So, if you find that the day after a thunder storm, both your air conditioner and your DVD player are out, your home has likely been hit with a power surge. A weak surge can damage an air conditioner's capacitor (inexpensive) which, if not replaced, will take out the compressor (very expensive) week or months later.

For this reason, it's important to have a tech check your HVAC system if you have any other damaged devices and suspect a power surge. What can you do to prevent a/c compressor damage? Turn off your air conditioner at the thermostat during a lightning storm. Your air conditioner is only susceptible to power surges when the unit is operating. Of course a direct lightning strike can still turn your a/c into a pile of smoking scrap metal, but direct strikes are very rare. In the Cincinnati area, Duke Energy offers Strike-Stop, a whole-house surge protector to protect your belongings from most power surges. They also offer inexpensive insurance if the surge is too much for Strike-Stop to handle. As always, feel free to contact us if you have more questions or need a service technician. Unfortunately, some capacitor checkers we use in the field are ineffective at testing for a bleeding capacitor because there is no load on the capacitor at the time that it’s being tested.

The good news is that there is a fairly reliable way to test a capacitor under loadwall mounted room air conditioning units While the compressor is running, measure the ac voltage across the run capacitor. portable air conditioning units for saleYou will be reading the voltage that the compressor is generating. the fan on my outside ac unit is not workingThe term for this is “back electromotive force.” Measure the amperage being drawn through the start wire between the capacitor and the compressor start terminal. Be sure to keep your amp meter away from the components in the control box — that could distort your reading. Use the voltage and amperage readings you’ve obtained in the following formula:

Formula: Amps X 2,650 ÷ Voltage = Actual microfarads. If the solution to your test gives you a microfarad rating that is 5% below the capacitor’s labeled rating, be suspicious. If the results of your test show the capacitor to be 10% or more below the labeled rating on the capacitor, replace it. Of course, if the run capacitor is swollen or is leaking oil there is no need to test it. To check the start-assist components just place your amp meter on the wire on either side of the capacitor or solid-state start-assist device and watch for an amperage spike for about ¼ sec as the compressor starts. If there is no amperage spike when the compressor starts, more investigation is necessary. 1-7/8 in. x 35 yds. 1.88 in. x 35 yds. Vertical 275 Gal. Oil Tank 1.89 in. x 50 yd. 322 Multi-Purpose HVAC Foil Tape 1.88 in. x 12 yds. 1-7/8 in. x 12 yds. 1.88 in. x 60 yds. Multi-Use Duct Tape (Case of 16) 1-7/8 in. x 120 yd. 300 Heavy-Duty Duct Tape (2-Pack) in Silver

1-7/8 in. x 55 yd. 394 General Purpose Duct Tape in Silver 4 in. x 8 ft. Dryer Vent Duct 6 in. x 25 ft. Insulated Flexible Duct R6 Silver JacketMIP Excess Flow Valve x 1/2 in. MIP x 36 in. Stainless Steel Gas Connector 1/2 in. 4 in. x 5 ft. Round Metal Duct Pipe 2.88 in. x 30 yds. Tough and Wide Tape (6-Pack) Scotch 1.88 in. x 60 yds. Stainless Steel PEX Clamp (10-Pack) 2-1/2 in. x 60 yd. 324 Amp Premium Foil UL Listed HVAC TapeMIP x 48 in. Radon Mitigation Fan Kit 4 in. Fan with 4 in. to 4 in. Couplers and Air Pressure Indicator 4 in. x 10 in. Tough and Wide Gorilla Tape 4 in. 90-Degree Round Adjustable ElbowHere are some basic split airconditioner control troubleshooting guide that may help you to understand more of the electronics control of your equipment. This is a non-inverter type of control.Take note that you need to have a good electrical knowledge to do this as the power supply to the printed circuit board is LIVE. It is always a good practice to disconnect and isolate the power supply when you are troubleshooting the control board.

If you are not sure, get a qualified technician to check your unit. A split air conditioner is also commonly known as ductless split or mini split where there is an outdoor unit and an indoor unit. The outdoor unit consists of a compressor, a fan and the condenser. This is the place where heat from the indoor is transferred from the indoor to the outdoor and is rejected to the surrounding. The indoor unit basically consists of an evaporator, an expansion valve and a fan. Copper pipes are used to connect the flow of refrigerant between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. The power input can come from the indoor unit to the outdoor unit. The non-inverter split air conditioner basically consists of a ON/OFF compressor where the compressor is either ON fully or OFF fully. The inverter based compressor can regulate the speed of the compressor depending on the load required.Here is the breakdown of the typical controller for better understanding.Main Control Printed Circuit BoardThe main control board can be divided into input power supply, a microcomputer controller integrated circuit, temperature sensor inputs and outputs to control the compressor, indoor fan speed, outdoor fan speed and air swing.

The AC input from the mains has to be converted to DC voltage where it can be used to power the integrated circuits and drivers in the electronics circuit. There are two ways to do this. One is by using a step down transformer where the AC voltage is stepped down to voltage such as 25V AC or 12V AC. This voltage is then converted to DC by the use of diode bridge as rectifier and electrolytic capacitor to smoothen the rectified voltage. A 3-pin voltage regulator is used to get a fixed 5V DC or 12V DC power supply. This low voltages are used to power the microcomputer, DC relays and other integrated circuits in the circuit. A simple linear power supply circuit. The other method is to use switched mode power supply or SMPS which makes the dimension of the printed circuit board smaller as the bulky transformer can now be replaced with a smaller transformer. This design is becoming more common as the quest for smaller space is becoming more critical.There is usually a surge absorber or a varistor connected across the input of the power supply.

This device acts to protect the internal circuit in the event of lightning or power surge. When the power input to the device exceeded its voltage rating, it will clamp the voltage by bypassing it to the input source. This is one device that can be easily damaged if the power surge or lightning occurred beyond its maximum rating.A fuse is placed in series with the input power supply to cutoff any overcurrent or short circuit that happened in the circuit. This is another protective device used in most electronics circuit. It has to be replaced once it is blown.In order for the handheld remote control to send the settings to the controller at the air conditioner unit, there is at least an infra-red receiver printed circuit board that receives the signals from the handset. This receiver is usually located in front of the indoor unit and can be identified by a specially made sticker that allow infra-red frequency to pass through.Also known as handset, this is where you can control the air conditioner settings remotely by pointing your handset towards the air conditioning unit.