Random loose wire
#13
Yep, It does look as though the previous owner was trying to use that wire to bypass your low pressure cutout switch. When the refrigerant charge is lower than the minimum operating pressure, then the "low pressure cutout switch" will cut off the power to the compressor clutch. This is done to protect the compressor from damage due to a lack of proper lubrication that would normally migrate compressor-oil through a properly charged system with the refrigerant.
What probably occurred was the system had a leak at some point and lost all the freon. So the person who worked on it would have done this temporarily to force the compressor clutch to engage, this would allow the compressor to pull in the freon from the cylinder (freon can) until the refrigerant charge was brought back up to a high enough point to engage on it's own, without the jumper wire. If your AC is working fine, then you could just clip off the copper stranded wire that is exposed and then twist on a wire nut and then wrap it with some electrical tape and forget about it.
What probably occurred was the system had a leak at some point and lost all the freon. So the person who worked on it would have done this temporarily to force the compressor clutch to engage, this would allow the compressor to pull in the freon from the cylinder (freon can) until the refrigerant charge was brought back up to a high enough point to engage on it's own, without the jumper wire. If your AC is working fine, then you could just clip off the copper stranded wire that is exposed and then twist on a wire nut and then wrap it with some electrical tape and forget about it.
#17
Definitely not factory, remove it & tape the bare wire. The switch is called a "clutch cycling switch". When the refrigerant system is fully charged and you select AC, the switch activates the compressor clutch. When pressure reaches ~22psi the switch deactivates the clutch and the pressure rises. When it reaches ~42psi, the switch activates the clutch and the cycle repeats. If refrigerant charge is low, the clutch will cycle rapidly. When low side refrigerant pressure drops below ~22psi, the switch will not activate the clutch.
Last edited by Captain Hook; 02-01-2013 at 03:11 PM.
#20
thanks Captain, I figured I could just remove it and tape it up, just wanted to be sure first. Still gotta take it to a professional eventually, I have A/C problems and have no idea what's wrong. It'll blow cold, then the cold will quit, sometimes it gets cold again, sometimes it doesn't.