Our technician responded to a commercial building in downtown Alba, TX where the HVAC unit had stopped working completely. During our diagnostic, we discovered multiple system failures that were all connected to the same root cause.
We found several critical issues with the unit. The contactor was burned and broken. The condenser coil was extremely dirty. The condenser fan motor had burned out completely. Most importantly, we measured improper voltage supply to the unit.
The building was only receiving 198 volts when the HVAC system required 240 volts to operate safely. We determined that the low voltage from the utility company likely caused all these component failures over time. When equipment doesn't receive proper power, it works harder and burns out faster.
We explained the situation to the customer and recommended they contact their utility company immediately. The voltage issue needed to be corrected first before any repairs could be made. Otherwise, new components would likely fail again due to the same power problems.
This case shows why proper electrical supply is crucial for HVAC systems. Low voltage can damage expensive components and lead to complete system failure. Our team was able to identify the root cause and help the customer understand the next steps to get their commercial HVAC system running properly again.