Is Your Air Conditioning Capacitor About to Go Bad?

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It takes a decent amount of energy to run your air conditioning every day in Florida. Sure, you can plug a fan right into the wall and hope for the best, but it’s not the same. In order to run effective cooling in these hot summers, you need something with quite a bit more power. And in order for your air conditioning system to get it, it needs a capacitor in good working order.

A capacitor is a little canister-shaped part that sits just inside your exterior unit. When your thermostat turns on your AC system, the capacitor gives a big boost of energy to get the motor running. If it starts to break down, as many air conditioning components do over time or as a result of wear, you’ll notice a problem. Here are a few signs to look for and why you should trust Gulf Coast Air Systems to provide expert AC Repair in Tampa.

Symptoms of a Bad Capacitor

Since the air conditioning system needs the capacitor to operate, you’ll see right away if it is simply no longer functioning. There are lots of early symptoms to observe before it quits, such as:

  • The system turns on but takes a long time before you feel cool air
  • Burning smell as the unit runs
  • The system turns on but provides no cooling
  • Humming sounds coming from the exterior unit
  • Suddenly higher energy bills

In the worst case, the unit won’t do anything at all. If you get to the point where you notice any of these, you’ll want to call for emergency repair as quickly as possible. Most of these symptoms could be an indication of several possible problems, and it’s not always simple to figure it out. A professional has the ability to sort out the details and determine all the causes.

When to Call Gulf Coast for AC Repair in Tampa

If you Google to learn more about a bad AC capacitor, you’ll probably read about how easily and cheaply you can do it on your own. This could be a terrible mistake. Even if you do everything right, which is more difficult than you think, you’re probably not getting to the root cause of the problem. Like most AC parts, capacitors don’t just randomly burst into flames. If your capacitor has gone bad and it’s not decades old, you may have other issues with the system. Calling Gulf Coast Air Systems for professional air conditioning repair is the best way to determine what caused the damage to the capacitor, and ensure that you can get it all resolved at once.

For all things AC repair in Tampa, you can count on Gulf Coast Air Systems to fix the problem. Give us a call at 813-689-2082 today for quality AC repair, maintenance, and replacement services.