AboutJ Cook Expertise With 25+ years experience, I am familiar with residential, commercial, and industrial HVAC equipment including but not limited to boilers, chillers, reciprocating and screw compressors. I am trained in all manners of control wiring.
Experience I currently have three HVAC licenses and Refrigeration license by the State of North Carolina. I have been in this field for over twenty years. I have been a service technician for a contractor and also worked at a state college in the repair and maintenance of steam lines and equipment. I am currently the Building Maintenance Superintendent for a municipality.
Question My ac unit is about 8 years old in FLorida. The airhandler seems to be lounder than usual. I suspect a bearing is going bad. Can the motor be repaired or is it more cost effective to replace the blower motor. Could it be a piece of debris in the blower wheel or something other than a bearing. The louder sound is like almost a loud humm. Also I inspected the motor and it has a lot of side to side slop, when I grab the motor stem where it is attached to the blower wheel I can move the rod back and forth between 1/8 to 1/4 inch. I sounds like a bearing to be ?
Answer It does appear to be the motor bearings and a new motor would be the cheapest way out. Take the original motor to get an exact replacement and also get a new capacitor. You can power the motor with the panel removed and turn it off and watch it stop to ensure you have a motor problem. Thanks J
