Rheem rpka-024ja Outside AC unit not starting...

[DraTz]

ok, quick summary.  I had a much better, and more detailed summary, but when my picture was too big, what I typed out got lost.   I am a AC newbie, just bought this house about 2 months ago, and my rheem outside unit will not kick on.  The inside blower works fine (in the garage), just the outside unit doesn't kick on. I live in florida, and it's around 90 degrees in my house right now. 

I found a relay ( I believe, see picture) that when pushed, the AC unit would start, for as long as I was holding the relay down.  My friend, an electrician, came out and tested the voltages and such, and said all the voltages are there, at both the unit, and the thermostat.  I can freely move the fan with my hands. 

I noticed people mentioning that if they give their fan a slight push, sometimes it will start.  Is this a  moot test for me?  Any suggestions on where to go from here, as I cannot really afford to have someone come out and fix it for me, or is it fairly obvious what the problem already is?

[RegUS_PatOff]

is there voltage at the Relay Coil Terminals ?

[DraTz]

honestly, I myself am unsure. I know its ridiculous, but I am afraid of electricity. He claimed that he checked all of it, and there was power where it should be. Just curious though, which terminals are those? I might be able to muster up enough courage to test it.

[RegUS_PatOff]

should be Brown and Yellow

without looking at the Wiring Diagram, yet, I'm not sure what voltage should be there ...

 

[DraTz]

Alright, I will have to check that out tomorrow, just as soon as I make sure I am not checking it wrong lol. I've basically been researching all this, but to no avail really, and found that some people talk about if you test it wrong, you end up on your backside. As it is nearly midnight now, I will test that tomorrow.

As per the wiring diagram, I have been unsuccessful on finding it online, and the diagram inside the door is worn. So out of curiosity here, and for sake of future ideas, if there was voltage there, what would be the next step, and what about if there weren't?

[applianceman18007260692]

Between them 2 yellow wires and  that brown wire on the contactor should be around 24 volts ac ( do not bump the wires together to check for transformer power or you will damage the wall thermostat) Use a volt meter.

 If you have detimined you have 24 volts then next:

Remove one of them wires

(the brown one would be what I would remove).

Check for continuity between where them two yeller wires on the one side of that coil and where that brown wire attaches to the coil. ( you remove the brown wire so you won't by chance get a false reading). That is the 24 volt coil. Note: they use doorbell voltage (24 volts) to operate this coil so they can use tiny wires in the walls. If that coil is open then it won't pull down the contact and start the unit. It is remarkable how something so simple can be so complicated to explain.

[DraTz]

Well, I ended up giving in and having someone come out. Ended up costing me 105$, but was something I doubt I would ever expect it to be. Apparently the 5 minute timer mechanism was blown , and as such wasn't kicking on the outside unit.

[applianceman18007260692]

That's a good feature to have if you have old folk or small children fiddling with the thermostat all the time. Prevents short cycling during quicky power outages too. Too bad we didn't git a wider pic than posted.

[DraTz]

Yeah, I know. Oh well though, 100$ after labor isn't too bad. Especially since I didn't have to go try to hunt down the part, and figure out what I was doing and all. Though I will definitely keep trying to learn for next time.

[Shootist]

Rheem/Ruud stopped putting in these time delay relays a while back. They cause too many failures that aren't easy to diagnose for the do-it-yourselfer. If you want that feature you're better off buying a digital thermostat as they all have this feature built in.