How Does it Work The compressor on your air conditioner consumes more power on start up than other device in your home! The 5-2-1 Compressor Saver significan- tly reduces the amount of time it takes for your air conditioner to start - SAVING YOUR MONEY AND PROTECTING YOUR EQUIPMENT. Compressor Saver Technical Info 5-2-1 Compressor Saver - Technical Info The 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® (aka Hard Start Kit) is only to be installed by a licensed air conditioning technician or electrical technician. Each 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® package has a schematic to help technicians install the device properly. In addition to these instructions below, air conditioning companies and air conditioning technicians please consult our Technical Installation Video. Only trained and qualified personnel should install this kit. Most states require the installer to be licensed. Please check with your local government agency DANGER - Electrical Shock HazardPlease check with your local government agency.

Most require the installer to be licensed. CAUTION - Equipment Damage Failure to properly install this kit can and will cause permanent damage to the compressor and related components. 1) Disconnect all sources of power to the unit. Note that there may be more than one. 2) Locate and remove the electrical service access door or panel. 3) Mount the 5-2-1 Kit potential relay and start capacitor in a suitable location within the electrical box. The potential relay should be mounted with the mounting tab up. The capacitor should be mounted with the terminals up. Take care to mount the components so that all non-insulated live terminals are at least 1/2" away from all metal or electrical conducting parts or components. Mount in a location that will prevent water from coming in contact with the non-insulated live contacts. NOTE - The 5-2-1 Compressor Saver® has been pre-wired for your convenience. There are only 3 color coded wires which need to be connected. The Black wire will be connected to the Common side of the compressor.

The Striped wire will be connected to the Start winding of the compressor and the Red wire will be connected to the Run winding of the compressor. Remember - 5, 2, 1, = Common, Start, Run. "5" Common - Connect the loose end of the Black wire to T1 of the contactor. Check to see that the Common "C" terminal of the compressor also connects to T1. In most cases you will find a Black wire coming from the Common "C" terminal of the compressor. "2" Start - Connect the loose end of the Striped wire to the Start winding side of the run capacitor. The Start winding side of the run capacitor is always marked "HERM". The Start winding side of the run capacitor can also be verified by following the yellow or orange or blue wire (in most cases) from the compressor "S" terminal to the Start winding side of the run capacitor. "1" Run- Connect the loose end of the Red wire to the Run winding side of the compressor. The Run winding is connected to T2 of the contactor as well as the common side of the run capacitor which is usually marked with a "C" or "=".

The Run winding can be identified in most cases by a Red wire coming from the R terminal on the compressor. The Red wire from the 5-2-1 start kit is normally connected at the "C" or "=" terminal on the run capacitor, but can also be connected to T2 of the contactor. split unit ac heatSee the illustration below.wall unit air conditioner troubleshootingSfC Home > Physics > Electricity >seasons 4 air handling unit by Ron Kurtus (revised 13 February 2016) Homes in North America typically are powered with both 220-volt and 110-volt alternating current (AC) electricity. Modern outlets have three different shaped holes to assure plugs can only be inserted in one way. Two of the holes are considered grounds, for reasons of safety. Proper grounding and the use of fuses are important to maintain electrical safety in the home.

Questions you may have include: This lesson will answer those questions. Useful tool: Units Conversion Typically, homes in North America receive 220 volts of AC electricity. Certain high-power devices, such as an electric stove, use the full 220 volts. The rest of the outlets in the house use 110 volts. Usually, three copper wires come into the home. Two are covered in black insulation and one has white insulation. Sometimes one wire is red instead of black. Each black or red wire is called a "hot" wire and has 110-volt AC. The white wire is called the "common" and is grounded at the power station. Measuring across the two hot wires results in 220 volts. Measuring the voltage between a black (or red) and white wire, results in 110-volt AC. Copper wire is used because it is a good conductor of electricity. Materials that do not conduct electricity as good usually have a higher resistance. This results in wasted energy and the tendency to get hot, which could be a safety hazard.

In the 1960s many electrical contractors started to use aluminum wire instead of copper. Aluminum is almost as good of a conductor as copper, but it is much less expensive. After a number of years, it was found that this type of wiring caused a potential fire hazard. Problems due to expansion caused overheating at connections between the wire and switches, outlets, or splices. Many homes had to be re-wired, although there still are many that still have aluminum wiring but have never had problems. The wall outlets usually have a one wide slot, one narrow slot and one round-with-flat-bottom hole. This is to assure that each part of the plug will be used as it is supposed to and to increase safety. Older outlets have both slots the same size and no round hole. The narrow slot is considered "hot" and is where the alternating current power comes out. The wiring behind the outlet to this slot is usually black in the U.S. The wide slot is considered the "common" and is supposed to be grounded.

Using the white wire as a common grounded wire, means that everyone is working from the same zero voltage position. The hole that is round on the top and flat on the bottom is an extra ground. Usually the wire behind the wall outlet has green insulation. Sometimes it is a bare wire. This extra ground is to make sure your utensils are properly grounded in the situation that someone had improperly wired the house. It is an extra safety measure. Although the white wire is not supposed to be a "hot" wire, in some cases it is used that way, especially in older homes that have the old style outlets. In general, this is acceptable, but it can result in problems. If you touch a common wire that is properly grounded, you should not get a shock. But if that wiring has made it hot, you can get a shock. Also, by using the white wire where the black should be used, you may cause a short circuit. Proper grounding and the use of fuses are important for protection against shock, as well as to prevent electrical overheating and fire hazards

Correct grounding is very important. Often ground wires are connected to water pipes that normally go into the ground. Connecting to a hot water pipe means that the water heater is between the connection and the ground. The water heater may have plastic parts that would insulate the connection to ground. Thus, using a hot water pipe is not a good idea. Another consideration in using water pipes to ground the circuit is that plastic piping is often being used in plumbing. You must make sure there are no plastic pipes between your connection and the outside earth or ground. Fuses and circuit breakers are used as a safety measure in case of short circuits. A fuse or circuit breaker will break the connection if more current is passing through the wire than is considered safe. This will prevent the house wiring to overheat and start a fire. Most homes now use circuit breakers instead of fuses. One reason is because people with bad wiring in their homes that constantly blow out fuses, would then force pennies in the fuse receptacles, thus bypassing the requirement for a fuse.

This removed the aggravation, as well as the expense of buying new fuses, but it also often resulted in serious electrical fires in the house. Most homes use both 220- and 110-volt AC electricity. Wires have black, red, white or green insulation, depending on their use. The holes in modern outlets assure plugs can only be inserted in one way. Be curious about things you may take for granted Elements of AC Electricity - Basic electronics tutorial site DC and AC Electricity Resources Top-rated books on AC Home Wiring Basic Electricity by Bureau of Naval Personnel; (1970) $14.95 - Provides thorough coverage of the basic theory of electricity and its applications Do you have any questions, comments, or opinions on this subject? If so, send an email with your feedback. I will try to get back to you as soon as possible. Click on a button to bookmark or share this page through Twitter, Facebook, email, or other services: The Web address of this page is: