20 Most Recent Carrier 38CKC060 Air Conditioner - Page 3 Questions & Answers

You need to access the evaporator coil on the inside of your air handler and unplug the drain for the condensate. It should be the 3/4 inch line, if the 1/2 inch line is capped then it is not doing anything and has probably been abandoned.Open up the unit and clean the drip pan and drain hole where the 3/4 line starts. This should clear up your water leak problem.
Also Water leak due to dust block in air filter,cooling coil,drain pan and blower wheel.

The internal catch pan is very time consuming to replace, especially since it is located in the attic. But before you try that, have you checked to see if the drain line is clogged with algae and that it has the one inch to one foot drop you need for proper drainage? Has you house settled throwing the slope off?

If you live in the South algae growth can clog you drain line. I would disconnect the drain line (have a bucket handy) and see if it is clogged. If you have algai growth then you need to treat with bleach to kill it off. You might also want to run a drain snake through the rest of the line to make sure that it is clear.

Good luck!

In most cases, the fan has a capacitor to assist in the starting. Check if the capacitor has a bulge or is leaking. If so, it is bad. Although, even if the power is dissconnected, THE CAPACITOR HAS A HIGH VOLTAGE CHARGE STILL IN IT! Discharge the capacitor by shorting the two leads together with an insulated screwdriver. Remember, if not comfortable, call a certified hvac technition. In some cases, if no bulge or leaking is obvious a tech will have a microfare tester to further test the capacitor.

Hi, the tech should have been able to figure the stat out with out a manual to see why the condenser is shutting off at 1:00 P.M. This is unusual for this to happen, unless it was winter and this is a heat-pump going into defrost, but just the fan would shut down. Does this unit have a box on it that was installed by your electric company that shuts the unit off during high peak conditions in the summer? This would cause it to shut down at the same time everyday. If not, it would have to be something in the thermostat that is set for it to shut off at that time. It still does not make since, as it would shut both the indoor and outdoor unit off, not just the condenser. Are you saying that just the condenser fan motor is shutting off, but the compressor continues to run until it shuts off on high head pressure when the fan stops, or does the complete outdoor unit shut down fan, compressor and all at that time??. It sounds to me like this outdoor unit has a time delay relay that has a fault in it may be shutting it off at this time daily? Please let me know if its just the condenser fan motor that shuts off, or if the complete unit is shutting off all together, this will help .
Sincerely,
Shastalaker7
A/C, Heating,

Hi, I have never in my 33 years heard of a a/c unit shutting down because of a plugged condensation line? This had to shut off for some other reason?? Anyway, you will have a main breaker where your electric meter is and all of your other breakers are to your home. It is either a 20 or 30 amp double pole breaker. Look to see if it has tripped. Also, at the outdoor unit, there will be a disconnect box that should have 2- fuses inside. If when you pull the plug out, and you don't see them, remove the plastic cover as they will be behind it if this is your set-up. Most have them, a few do not. And least but not last, start with the indoor unit,by removing the cover to expose the circuit control board. You will have a small 3 to 5 amp plug in fuse, the auto type to see if it may have blown. If no fuse there, you can remove the electrical panel to the outdoor unit last and look for a circuit board there for a 3 to 5 amp control fuse. They rarely put them there, but it is possible. If your indoor unit is in the basement, they will some times install a condensate pump to pump the water to the out side of the home. This is maybe your situation and blew the fuse in the air handler, this 3 to 5 amp fuse I am talking about.You will find it just look for a circuit board as the fuse is there to protect the transformer and main control board if there is a low voltage short some place in the system. Keep me posted on the outcome and check all of these places. Please don't forget to rate me as I know you will be kind. I have all of your information for future use in case you need any help, or for this problem. You can use my user name below to comment to me. I know you will find and get this unit going.
Sincerely,
Shastalaker7
A/C, Heating,

Look at the old capacitor. The mircofarad rating should be printed on the side. If you can't read it then take the capacitor or the model # with you to a heating and air dealer the sells Carrier products. The repairman should have put one it for you.

Check with your contractor to see if their repair is warrantied. If it is not call someone who carries a warranty and satisfaction guarantee on repairs. It is likely that you got a bad capacitor, however, this typically will not trip a breaker. It's possible that other issue(s) caused the capacitor failure.
How old is this unit?

Hi,

Ok --- what it sounds like is happening here is that your AC compressor is shot. One way to trouble shoot this to verify for sure is to go outside to you AC disconnect, pull the handle out of the disconnect, this will isolate the unit from the breaker, or if this is a breakered disconnect, shut the disconnect down, then turn the breaker back on. If the breaker holds (meaning doesn't trip) then you will have to call out an AC guy to verify 100% its the compressor motor and have it replaced.

Let me know,if needed further assistance.

Hope i helped you.

Thanks for using ' Fixya ' and have a nice day!!

It sounds like your fan motor is burnt up. If the noise you are hearing is coming from the motor itself, then it's going to have to be replaced. One way to check this also is to turn the unit off and try to turn the fan blades by hand, if you cant get to it, then use something skinny and long enough to drop through the opening on top. If there is any resistance, than its difinitly a bad motor. If the noise you are hearing is coming from the compressor, then your fan motor still might have a chance and only needs a capacitor which is a round or oval part inside the units electrical compartment. Depending on how mechanically inclined you are, it is possible to fix these yourself. Just a warning though, if your fan hasn't been running and the compressor has, it can or could burn up the compressor also. This is another reason why it can be hot inside the cage. Your compressor will go into internal lockout if it gets to hot and will not come back on until it cools, but it can only handle so much. Hope this points you in the right direction and good luck!

It sounds like bearings on the motor shaft are bad. They will need to be replaced. The bearings should be inside the fan cage pulley, around the motor shaft. You will have to get inside, and with the unit's power disconnected, try to find the frozen pulley- that will be your problem.

Hi, to tell if your unit is a heat-pump or not, if the indoor unit is not gas fired, it is a split system heat pump. If it uses gas or propane gas, its a split system gas/elect unit. Look at your thermostat also. It should have aux heat, emergency heat on it also. Maybe not both, but you will know if you have a heat pump. Please don't forget to rate me. Please be kind, as I know you will. Just remember, no gas, its a heat pump, gas fired furnace indoors, its not a heat pump.
Sincerely,
Shastalaker7
A/C, Heating, & Refrigeration Contractor.

you have a short to ground could be the compressor shorting to ground you turn the power off and unplug the compressor terminals but flage how they came off, You can ohm from one post to the other and you should have a reading not infinity. If it not that check for loose wires or a bad capacitor.

If the unit is not shutting down, then there is a chance the contactor has gotten stuck. This is not a good thing. If the contactor were to weld itself shut and the outdoor unit were to continue to run without the indoor fan running for an extended period of time, the compressor could be damaged from the floodback of refrigerant to itself.


Feel the air coming out of the top of the outdoor unit, it should feel warm to hot. The copper lines- the smaller of the two should be warm and the larger of the two (should be insulated) should be the cool one...not necessarily really cold....


If the copper lines are both the same temperature, its an indication the compressor is not running. This may be a bad contactor, a failed capacitor, or the compressor itself may have a problem with it.

If you can get the system running, it would still be best to have it checked out and looked over. There may be underlying problems that are creating the problems you are currently experiencing and its always best to find the root cause or problem rather than the smaller issues that just cover up the real problem.

Hi, this is a 5 ton unit you have. Is this L6 code coming from the indoor units circuit board? If so, remove the panel where you see this if there is a red led light that is blinking. It may kill power if you remove the blower panel as most have a kill switch for safety to shut all down when removed. To have the power on to check things you will need to tape this switch down good. I am not sure on your unit where you see this L-6 code, but on the panel there should be a trouble shooting chart telling you what this code is telling you. I know on gas furnaces they will tell you the problem. If this code is at the thermostat, you will need to go through the manual for programming it and it will say. Is the system cooling good, no problems that you have found? You might do what I have asked and if its on the stat check the manual. If you don't have one, get the name, Model, Serial numbers from the stat and call a appliance parts house not a sales show room, but a place that sell parts and they can look it up on there computer and tell you what the code is for that stat. Unless the unit has stopped cooling completely, I wouldn't worry to much, but would do your best to find out. If you can, let me know where you are seeing this code and how the system is working. This would be helpful for me. Please be kind when you go to rate me as that would be very kind of you. Please keep me posted on this unit. I will be around here if you need more help.
Sincerely,
Shastalaker7
A/C, & Heating Contractor.

Hi,
There can be a couple of things that could be happening...
The first and easiest thing is to check the air filter. Make sure that it is clean... clean it or replace it. Next check the air vents to make sure that they are open and giving you good air flow...
Also check to make sure that you are not icing up on the indoor coil... ice will tell you that you are low on refrigerant. You also could be low and not be icing over, but you would need to have gauges on the unit to check that.
Finally check and clean the outdoor coil...this also can give you problems if the heat is not being removed from the outdoor unit efficiently...
You may also have a unit that is sized in such a way that it hits the balance point at about 85...that means that your heat gain is equal to the capacity of the unit...I often try to size them for about that here in Northern PA. because wqhen seldom get hotter then that and the unit then is much more effective at removeing humidity at lower temperatures...

You can also check out the tips that I have wrote about Air conditioning trouble shooting and maintenance...

Here is one about cleaning the condenser coil and at the bottom of that one are links to others..

Condenser Coil Cleaning Condenser Coil Cleaner

http://www.fixya.com/support/r3850183-condenser_coil_cleaning_condenser_coil

heatman101

Hi,since the air is cooling well,i think the problem is probably from an internal power fluctuation problem as a result of a weak thermostat,so the solution to the problem is to replace the thermostat and get a power stabilizer or power surge for your unit.

Thanks and take care

Check the capacitor. You can use a multimeter to do that. Also if it looks swollen then it probably needs to be replaced. Some units have just 1 that controls the fan and compressor and just 1 side can go bad.

It is quite possible the indoor coil is frozen up. This can be caused by dirty filter, dirty coil or low on freon. Turn ac to "off" and fan switch to "on" for 45 minutes. Then try again and see if air flow improves.

Make sure circuit breaker for the outside unit is on or the fuses are good whichever you have. If they are on you can check the capacitor in the outside unit. The capacitor will be a round or oval can and can be metal or plastic. You can also look at the contactor to see what shape it's in.