# central air outside fan quits



## ronaldwadewright (Jun 13, 2011)

i have an air conditioner that works as it is supposed to, except that the outside fan motor stops after the air has been on 4-5 minutes.  after turning it off and waiting a couple of hours, it will again run for a few minutes, then stop.  while the fan is running, so is the compressor and inside fan.  when the outside fan stops, the air starts coming out in ambient temperature.  could this be a bad fan motor, or something in that circuit?


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## kok328 (Jun 14, 2011)

Does the compressor shut off when the fan shuts off?


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## ronaldwadewright (Jun 16, 2011)

no it does not.  just the fan.  the compressor only turns off if i turn off the a/c


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## Paul79UF (Jun 16, 2011)

That is an odd scenario.

The cheapest thing to replace first in the troubleshooting process would be the run capacitor. 

You'll find it inside the condenser unit and it looks like a large battery with wires attached to terminals on the top. 

If it is bulging or leaking, then it is about to die.

The capacitor sometimes called a "run", "start" or even "run/start" capacitor helps the fan start up and/or helps keep the voltage constant. (Depending on your particular a/c unit.)


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