No Central AC/Heat

[Super_19]

Hello all.

My Central AC/Heat stopped working. We went to church yesterday morning and when we returned the unit was off. I checked the thermostat and it was set to Auto/Cool. I tried setting it to On so the fan would run but nothing. All I could hear is like a humming/buzzing sound coming from the closet where the big system is in. I noticed there was also a faint burning smell coming from the unit as well as the ceiling vents in some of the rooms. I could only notice the burning smell from the vents of the rooms on the second floor. I'm thinking it's an electrical problem.

The filter wasn't due to be replaced until Wednesday, I change it on the 21st of each month, but I went ahead and replaced it with a new one. There is some water collected on the pan. I would say something like 1/2" or so. For some reason this is normal in my case as the drain line that goes outside seems to occasionally get clogged and the tech has to come and clear it out. I've had more water than this accumulated in the drain pan but the unit has never stopped working. So I'm assuming the 1/2" of water that's there now is not the cause.

What could be the issue here?

 

[Stuff]

Humming and burning smell - sounds like motor is gone and needs replaced. Other could be water got on electronics and shorted something out there.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

Does the motor have a start capacitor? Can you get the fan started by rotating the blades with a stick (save your fingers)

 

[Super_19]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not very savvy when it comes to HVAC systems but figured it was something electrical/motor related too. The tech is scheduled to come out later today to check and hopefully fix. I wanted to have an idea of what the problem could be so I am able to relate when talking to the tech. If it's the motor, is this something that can be fixed easily or not? How expensive?

The unit is the original one installed when the house was built in 2007. Next door neighbor recently had his replaced so I am thinking this one is also in need or replacement. Most of the houses in the sub-division have the same setup and were all built in 2007-2008.

 

[Super_19]

Tech came out and replaced the air handler capacitor and that fixed the problem. Took him no more than 10 minutes.