Here's the first question: Does it really matter if the speed taps on a motor are run or common? Well, yes… sort of. In some cases, it helps to identify if you're dealing with an open winding or an open thermal overload. The thermal overload breaks common, but you will still read a path between […]

I have spent the last few days checking run capacitors on various systems with several different meters, and this is what I found: #1 – Comparing Start wire amps against Run + Common under the clamp together is meaningless as a practical test. I used this test on 3 different systems with 3 different meters […]

The photo above is of a real condenser coil we cleaned. The outer fins looked OK, but dirt and lint were packed deep inside. We also had sky-high head pressure and condensing temperature; those are telltale signs of an impacted condenser. That situation illustrates that a coil can sometimes look OK at first glance but […]