Help! My central air unit isn't working properly.

[shannon_1217]

Hello! We were hit with pretty bad storms last Friday and didn't have power until this morning. I turned on our central air unit about 10 minutes after and it everything ran; however, the outside unit was making a squeeling noise. The fan was turning and cold air was coming from the vents so I ignored it thinking maybe it was water from the storm or something. About 5 minutes later, the outside unit starting really screeching and the fan had stopped moving. I panicked and ran to the thermostat to turn it off. I went to the basement to make sure nothing was tripped but I flipped everything on and off just to be sure. I waited a few minutes and turned it back on. It ran fine but with a squealy noise and then about 5 minutes into it, the fan outside stopped moving again and really started screeching. I turned it off but not sure what to do now. Any suggestions? The temps are really creeping up. Thank you!

[tommytech]

sounds like you need a new condenser fan motor w/ capacitor

[jumptrout]

Tommytech nailed this one on the head.

[Bullstok]

i've seen people in dire need put a lawn sprinkler aimed onto the condenser to get by for a short term whilst waiting for a motor. the condenser fan would need unhooked to avoid burning/screeching obviously. its a hillbilly geothermal heat pump conversion