this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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An extra capacitor for your air conditioner (if you have one). They're like $20-$30.
Our AC stopped working today and we were very lucky there was a store relatively near us that had them in stock and would sell to homeowners (I guess some places only sell AC parts to contractors). Anyways, it was easy to replace, our AC is back, and we got an extra one for the next time we have to replace it.
Samw happened to me on Thursday. I was (figuratively) shocked when I bought the capacitor, though. I bought the same one for another unit back in 2021 and it was $11. This one was $32. Same brand. Same supplier. It felt criminal but it was better than hiring it out and being put on a two-week waiting list!
$23 for a single headlight bulb for my 20 year old car the other day. 6 years ago it was $15 for a 2-pack.
Oof that is a big increase in price. But you saved a lot more doing it yourself than you would have calling someone to fix it.
Are those not risky to mess with? Do you need to discharge the old one?
I've replaced a couple dozen. When I started out, all I had to do was buy a cheap (but reliable) multimeter and spend a half hour or so watching YouTube vids on how to test those kinds of capacitors.
They can be deadly dangerous if you don't take precautions. It takes very little skill to replace, but the power to the compressor needs to be cut and the Fan and Herm terminals do need to be grounded/discharged to the common post before handling.
It's still a very basic repair, though, and even in the +100ยฐ temps we've had here, it was worth the effort and only takes about ten minutes to remove, five to test, and five to replace and close it all up.
Thank you for this reminder.