Rant: That one week in June when my swamp cooler decided to quit during the heatwave

It was 98 degrees on a Tuesday, the motor seized up, and I ended up on the roof three times with a multimeter before finding out the capacitor was just dead, has anyone else had their swamp cooler fail at the worst possible moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseym4821d ago

Oh man, that’s rough. I gotta say though, a dead capacitor isn’t usually the motor seizing up, so your diagnosis might be a little off. A seized motor would be locked up tight, not just a bad capacitor that won’t let it start. In my experience, the capacitor is the cheap fix, maybe 15 bucks and a screwdriver, while a seized motor means you’re looking at a whole new unit. Still, you did good checking it yourself, a lot of folks would have just called a repair guy and paid way more. Take it from someone who’s been there, your mileage may vary but those capacitors always seem to blow on the hottest days.

jessicaflores21d ago

Buddy of mine had the same thing happen last summer. Swore his AC motor was shot, spent a whole weekend looking at new units online before his neighbor came over with a multimeter and a $12 part. Saved him like eight hundred bucks just like that, felt real dumb but happy about it.