O.T. Window air conditioner

Since it was getting warmer,my Son put the small(6,000 btu) Maytag air conditioner back in his bedroom window for him and Chino to keep cool at night. Two days ago the motor froze up (double shafted). We took it apart, cleaned the shafts in a drill with really light sandpaper ( 600 grit) polished it with soft scotch brite pad,cleaned the bronze bearings in the motor end caps.
Re-lubed with a mixture of wheel bearing grease and STP back in the bearing sockets and packing.Put it back together and it ran fine for about 1 whole day. The motor will run fine all day on Fan setting,but when it is switched to cool( ac pump kicks on) it will slow down and stick. Took it back apart today to get the capacitor number and recheck the motor. Recleaned,relubed everything.
Saving it for only night time cooling.

It's a Maytag,bought in 06,locally.Son called today to see about a replacement capacitor from Maytag. No deal, they had them made for Maytag and the Company that built them filed bankruptcy in 07, No parts available anymore from them.

So we called around locally,no one local handles anything close to the size we need.Just out of sheer luck, Victor picked up our Surplus Center magazine, and low and behold, they have one close enough to fit. The original is a 240V 40+4 uF, size is 2 in diam,X 3in long. The new one is 370 Volt 40+5 MFD size 2 1/2 dia X 3in long. In the mail tomorrow so should be quick getting it.

So in case this one calls it quits, been looking at Frigidaire 8k btu with manual control, and one from Ace hardware called Perfect Aire 5k btu.

According to our locals repairman here any make or model you buy, you are taking a chance on parts availability, or as he put it "as soon as you walk out the door, they quit making parts avail. and you take your chances on name brands as well as off brand name models.

Just thought maybe some of you guys here handle air conditioning service and parts could be of great help in suggesting window air conditioners that should hold up longer than out of the box to the window warranty. I understand most are all made in China, so it's a toss up. Frigidaire used to make a good one. We had a Frigidaire years ago, and it seemed like it was indestructible, moved it from three different houses, than gave it to my Sister, still working great, when we left Indiana.

What brands do you guys suggest, in a small 6-8 k btu 115 Volt unit? Suggestions would be appreciated and considered. The A/C is taken out in the late fall,cleaned and stored in basement until Spring. Looking for Manual control units,not digital with remote control, reason is so our power Co. will pop off and on making us reset everything, and digital ones don't like the surges of off and on, that we experience.Thus manual control is best.

Thanks for your input,
regards,
LOU

I suggest using a meter to check voltage at outlet with it running on fan and with the compressor on. You may have a bad connection somewhere, even a bad cord on air conditioner.

Hi Lou, while not an expert, I had the same problem with my '02 Kenmore, 8000 or 8500 btu I forget. It has a digital control, and remote. 2 years ago, I determined the dual capacitor was defective, I went to a local supply house, which was close by, a rare thing around here now, we had everything here years back. The specifications were almost identical something was slightly different on one side of it, but the size and dimensions fit in the unit, its running and cooling just fine, right now. I went and looked up the capacitor on the sears website, and it was available, $40 or so, the local one was a whole $12.00. I like sears for the sole reason that even at 9 years old, they show parts for it.

The attached tech sheet was inside the unit in paper that does not break down, like a tyvek envelope.

I also do the same cleaning, cover comes off annually and its cleaned thoroughly.

Billy,
Thanks for the reply, I figured we would try the capacitor first,but I was looking at Sears website at the Frigidaire model. item #0429819. It is manual control no remote or digital features. Son is still young enough to walk over and turn it on.lol. I used to work for Sears as a repair parts manager in Anderson, Ind. way back when dinosaurs ruled the earth.lol. Alot has changed since then,so figured to get some newer current owners and repairmen advice before leaping off the cliff,with an empty bilfold.lol.
Thanks for the reply,
LOU

Well the price went up, capacitor is shown to be in stock, $72.00, yep they want you to buy a new unit, lots of parts, but if the compressor goes, $250, and its in stock too. I think its funny that off the shelf, almost identical capacitor is $12.

I never considered the electronic controls and surges from power outages, I get a lot of those here and this window unit is the only circuit not on battery back up, you know the remote still has the original batteries ! The one thing with the remote is that if you set the temperature with it, it will change while you are not looking, set it with the button, no problem. I'm in the same boat, no A/C technician by any means, when mine went out back then and it was hot/humid, I put the smaller back up unit in, then asked a few questions and determined with ease it was the dual capacitor, as suspected, fan would not run if I recall, or the compressor would not kick on. The side that was slightly different was the fan side of the capacitor, boy was I glad that supply house had the capacitor, I can take a fair amount of heat but this darned 80%-90% humidity is no joke, I honestly hate it and I am not sure if its just age or what, just perspire so darned much I plan around it, shower at night, clean up in the am, cause I'm just going to be covered in sweat in no time, then at night its tend to the garden, hit the shower, a cold beer with dinner, then to a cool room, even with a ceiling fan, box fan it'd be hard to sleep and it makes a miserable person the next day, maybe not even that, feels like you've been out all night drinking or something, a man needs his rest that is for sure and this A/C unit sure makes it nice, so I like to learn about these and maintain them as best I can.

PS, your garden looked awesome, my tomatoes are taking right off now, everything else should be good, onions and potatoes were late getting in but it should be fine, my 2nd planting of corn just came up and already the deer have made hoof marks in my patch, got to find some darned fence quick or its a loss, though they won't go after it just yet, it will get 2 feet high then they mow it down. I'll be darned if I can't grow a crop of sweet corn here, been trying for years now LOL !

The best small AC I own is a Samsung (8000 BTU). I also have 2 Frigidaire 8000 BTU units. It seems like the big box stores have a different brand every year.

What the *&$$ is so hard about finding a 40 mfd @ 240 VAC or more oil-filled run cap? (For less than $20, even??????)

And, WHY would anyone gum up the bearings in a AC fan motor with "a mixture of wheel bearing grease and STP"?

SHOULD have simply used some "electric motor lube" (turbine oil).

Lou,
I worked my way through college repairing furnaces and A/C at Bethleham steel 45 years ago.

My sister and her husband are still in the business, so when I need a special part, I can call her and get parts drop shipped. As for caps, I have buckets full of the old oil filled PCB caps. What you have can be replaced with 2 caps a 40 and a 4 mic. So, it's possible in a pinch, you could have just replaced just the bad one and still use the other.

First, never use grease on a bearing. Either use a turbine oil or I use full synthetic 10w30. Grease will dry out. You could use white lub, it won't, but I would still use oil. I put my finger over the shaft hole and fill bearing with oil and let soak for a few seconds. Look to see if the moving part of the motor is rubbing agains the stator. If you see scratches on the moving part, you have a bad bushing.

I wouldn't have sanded bearing part of the shaft. Perhaps polished the bearing surface with lathe 1000 grit and sand the rust off the rest of the shaft with anything.

I have two places to buy small A/C's, Menards and lowes. Usually the 5k's are manual controls, larger are electronic. The electronic controls usually have a 2-3 minute time delay built in, which is worth it in my opinion.

As for brands, I look for the ones that I know. However, like your maytag and everything else, Very few are still made in USA. Years ago I liked working on the whirlpools.

Little window A/C's are so cheap, I wouldn't even buy a part to fix one, I would go to town and buy a new one. Save the old one for parts. So, I try to buy many of the same brand for future parts.

BYW, I have a 6k maytag. Tenant said it wasn't working, so I put her a different on in. When it 50-60 outside, the maytag will freeze up. On a 75 degree day, in the shop, it worked just fine. So I cleaned it up and put it on the bench for another day.

George

I don't fix. I buy older used ones on auction's and etc. for not much money . If one fails I toss it and put in another. I did buy a new small one a few year's ago for bedroom. Can't use it as it is too noisy to sleep by. All the newer one's seem to be that way. Can't run on high fan for all the vibration. Very cheaply made.

George, I started at the steel Jan 1967. Seems like yesterday.

I worked at bethleham burns harbor in 69. Worked there a few years, then went part time, weekends only, to finish up my college. I was single and they needed single men to do the weekends. I was the only person there plus my helper. Back then minimun wage was $1/hr. I made $4.44/hr, top wage, as a repairman, not a helper. Got a bonus for working weekends. I could make more on a weekend turn than I could make in Terre Haute working 40 hours at $1/hr. Gas was cheap and you could drive 75 without getting a ticket.

It didn't take me long to decide to finish up my college. We worked out butts off on the hottest and coldest days of the year. And it was cold when the wind came off the lake. Had to keep my electrical tape next to by body just so it would be soft enough to work.

My dad, 2 brothers, my brother-in-law, his dad and myself all were in the heating and air business at one time. Brother-in-law is running a sucessful business in northern indiana. All the rest, except for me is dead.
George

Bob, Why shoot your mouth off and don't research information or at least have the Courtesy to give the poster some help and information. I've noticed the majority of your answers you post seems to berate the posters problem. Your not much help other then trying to be big cheese and a knowit all. As for finding the capacitor locally, Electrical suppliers dont show it,it is available at Surplus Center. Now as for lubing the shaft, we did use Bearing grease and a touch of S.T.P and for your information , It is still running ,waiting for the mail Surplus center shipped Priority MAIL.
My suggestion to you is STFU. which you should have done in the first place. Continue showing ignorance on subjects you know nothing about shows all who post here, you don't know JACK S*IT.

All the other posters are very helpful,except for you.Get a life!

LOU

tractor300,
Good suggestion,however standing around in a sweat seeing if they have junk air conditioners or some that run,I can't do it. It still a good suggestion, and I appreciate the reply.
Regards, LOU

George,
Sound like a knowledgable man, who has worked on air conditioners. We finally located a capacitor that will work for us thru Surplus Center, they are shipping it,should be here by end of week. In the mean time,getting a 8k unit and using this one as a spare when it's fixed.It was a Menards brand that lasted from 2006-2013.Not to bad,but not like from years ago. When I was at Sears parts, we kept heaters for A/C that froze up, little square units that fit on the back of the coil and was wired in to the circuit,kept frost off of them.Some of the heaters kept the units running all the time. Olden days,gone forever.Now it's plastic, cheap china,offshore junk.lol.
Thanks again for the reply, I appreciate it,as I have all the replies,with the exception of a Jerk named BOB.
Regards, LOU

old bc
Known people who had those,and was well pleased,basically. Menards sells here one brand (Soliel) sp? now and that is it.No options there, only closest ones deal in Sears,Ace, Walmart,and a few independent owners who wish to have their weekly paycheck paid in full from us.lol. Spent 5 hrs trying to locate a capacitor,locally,no deal, so Surplus Center had em and we ordered one. $10.00 includes Shipping. Fan motor is avail also for 60 some dollars,locals can't find them.
Thanks for the reply,
Regards,
LOU

Thanks Lou!! I second that. DH

Lou, I may have gotten my maytags from Menards. Purchased a 6 & 10K maytag. You can't blame who made the a/c for a part going bad. Good chance the capacitor is made by a different company and most companies will get theirs from where they get them the cheapest.

Here is a pic of a 10k maytag wrapped with aluminum window screen. I used a damp rag and rolled the lint off it. This lint was collected in about 3 weeks. I'm a believer that window screen and drilling holes to drain the water is doing more good than harm. Yes the condensate, in theory only, will help cool. However, add bugs, lint and water and you have a mess real soon, not to mention the cheap a/c in 5 years will be a bucket of rust.

The major problem with window units is they pull the air through the evaporator and push the air through the condensor. Old centrals pushed the air through both the condensor and evaporator. It didn't take long for the condensors to get choked with bugs and lint.

Today's centrals, the ones I've seen, push the air through the evaporator and pull the air through the condensor, eliminating bug splatter. They have less of a chance to choke up.

My 10k maytag has a design flaw, there may be a class action, not sure not sure why they went out of business. The design flaw is the fan design is so good it can pull condensate off the evaporator. This condensate is sprayed all over the inside of the A/C. In 2 years the inside looks dirty, but it's black mold. Time for a good cleaning with strong bleach or mold/mildew cleaner.

So, I tell my tenants to run the a/c on low. The A/C does a better job of removing the humidity on low and less of a chance of pulling condensate off coils. Next, don't open windows at night and let buckets full of humidity in and expect to save money.

If I recall about 6-7 years ago the 10k maytag sold for around $200. That 10k unit will cool a 26x36 well insulated house. Tenants put a small fan on the floor next to a/c to move the air to the other rooms. If I had a centeral, I would pay $200 in propery taxes real fast. Window units are cheap and the newer one are cheap to operate, some having over a 10 seer. Not to mention, there is no cooling loss in duct. No blower fan in air handler, which is never factored in to the seer. The last upside to window shakers is if a tenants smokes, the coils, fan and inside will be covered with tar. Take a/c apart, use grease lightning, then bleach. and it's smells like new. Can't do that very easily with duct work. I had throw away all the duct work and electric furnace because it smelled like cats and smoke.

So next time you need a part, you don't have to get the part from the company who sold the unit. Parts are parts, just get the right size and right electrical ratings.
George

I was at the Bethlehem plant, started in the Yard making the steel beams. I retired as a foreman when they shut the doors for good. Also had friends that went to the lakes for work so they could get enough time in to retire. Always hated working weekends but the pay kept us going.

George,
Good suggestion on the screen wire for covering the A/C. I used to do that, but recently haven't,don't know why I quit. Time for me to reconsider it.

We thought about a central A/C,but as you pointed out,lots of loss from ducting,plus if it breaks down were S.O luck. I was telling my son about the poor mans A/C, had a metal pan with a drain tube that held a 50# block of ice, behind it was a fan pushing air around the ice for cold air.I also remember the A/C in the desert that was nothing more than a water pump spraying water over a grid type membrane and a fan pulling in the air, works great in the desert, also had a tank type that fit in the auto window cooling it down as you were driving across the desert.

You are a very helpful and knowledgeable individual, true pleasure reading your post. I thank you for the help.
Warmest regards,
LOU

DH, appreciate the reply.
Regards, LOU

Billy,
Thanks for the help, it is also appreciated. I can't take too much of the heat in the summer also, way to much humidity, like today. Had a torrential down pour and right now outside at 12:54 am the temp is still 78 deg and close to 75-80% humidity. Inside its around 70 and 50-60% humidity, all the A/C's are going and pumping out water.One is a 24K btu ,one is a 6k, and the new one is 8k unit.Pumping out water,enough to irrigate the Sahara,lol. It's good for the garden,so I'm not complaining------much, until the electric bill shows up.lol

Used to sleep in the winter with the outside window open,now as age creeps up,just the A/C going with a electric blanket.lol( it's the truth)

Glad you enjoyed the photo's of the garden, at our old place we had deer problems,but mostly coons loved the sweet corn. At the place were at now,with the electric fence,no more problems,so far, until they learn how to unplug it from the outlet.
Thanks again for the reply,
Regards.
LOU

George, Lou: I'm looking at a current parts pamphlet sent monthly from Washer Specialties Co in Wichita Ks 67201. I have bought many parts over the years from these guys with a business account. Pg 12 shows the capacitor listings and a 40/5 @ 440 is $9.10. It doesn't show a 40/4 at any voltage but the entire listing is either Packard or Titan brand and proudly displaying the made in USA signature.

You may copy this number for future use and if you set up an account with them, will also begin receiving the monthly (or be-monthly) pamphlet. 1-800-835-1010....by the way I just saw a 5 mfd 370 vac run capacitor at .99 listed. lolololol

Motors,water filters, window a/c's,(rotary or electronic control), contactors, fuses, even replacement compressors (scroll or reciprocating) are listed. Good luck with future repairs !!!

missouri massey man Thank you !! Will keep this in our supply of company's we use. Thanks again Regards LOU.

missouri massey man, just to let you know we asked for their flier.and they are sending it. Thanks for the heads up.
Regards,LOU

(quoted from post at 13:41:48 06/27/13) missouri massey man, just to let you know we asked for their flier.and they are sending it. Thanks for the heads up.
Regards,LOU

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You're quite welcome, sir....glad to be a little help to someone. I have had great luck with them for years, and you'll love their prices.