How do you repair a home unit AC compressor?

Answer 1

Hi: Believe it or not, it used to be fairly common to do so. Especially when semi hermitic compressors where more common. When the sealed (hermetic) compressor came along it was also done but required some specialty tools to cut the compressor open with fine precission so the re-welding of it would be as good and leak free as possible. It has not been very common practice for a long time now. The main reason for its falling out is basically because compressor soon became higher speed, lighter, and cheaper. Old compressors had a lot of iorn in them and heavier windings so they were larger. Addittionally, most ran at much slower speeds than those produced commonly today. In many cases ( Half ) as fast and usually 3 or 4 times as heavy so of course there cost factor to replace was higher. Don't get me wrong,,,, ( They had some really strong points about them despite their weight and size ) All that extra iorn in them made them able to withstand the more fluctuating voltage conditions of yesteryear. The slower speeds speaks for itself as well. At the same time though, they mfg.s could not hold the tight machining tolerances as well as the can today and also you would have to factor in the stray flux magnetic emission losses from all that extra iorn core in the windings which made them inherintly less efficient. I still occassionally open up a semi-hermetic commercial or industrial compressor for repairs. Especially industrial. ( some of these babes run on hundreds of horsepower and weigh into the tons ) I hope this answer helps: Jimiwane