My AC went out last evening (fortunately, the house fans were cool enough to sleep) and I resetted all the circuit breakers.....still nothing. Being hurricane season, there's a lot of lighening/thunder storms on a daily basis and last evening we had a minor one.
Although the AC unit and thermostat seem to be working fine, the fan outside wasn't turning. So, this AM I turned the fan outside with a stick and it started.....YAY!! (but, I'm thinking the capacitors are dead and need replacing). 
 
How difficult is it (for a non-handyman as myself) to replace the capacitor on my Trane HVAC? (too dangerous???.....lol I don't want to get zapped, but don't mind learning how to do it). Of note, I'm also going to call a licensed AC guy to do some maintennance before summer arrives (should I have him replace the capacitor?). Sorry, I'm a complete noob in this....
 

Hey Mesh - Isn't it more likely it was just a twig or whatever causing the trip that you cleared out of the fan by rotating it? If it is indeed the capacitors, they need to be properly discharged before replacing them, which could pose quite a hazard if you are unfamiliar with how to do this.
On edit - someone with a lot more skill than me might be able to fill in the holes.

Brando
Hey Mesh - Isn't it more likely it was just a twig or whatever causing the trip that you cleared out of the fan by rotating it? If it is indeed the capacitors, they need to be properly discharged before replacing them, which could pose quite a hazard if you are unfamiliar with how to do this.
On edit - someone with a lot more skill than me might be able to fill in the holes.

The twig/leaves are a very likely possibility Brando (unrelated to the fan, there was a dead squirrel that was stuck on top of the grill just hanging, but not touching the fan blades)......I'll see if the fan wil restart once the desired temp. is reached. The whole unit is only 5 years old (I bought the house less than a year ago, but never had the AC serviced).
From the little I've read, it seems that capacitors are universal parts and the main number to exactly match is the micro-farad......(even if I don't replace it myself, I thought it might be good to have an extra one for the future.....then it's only the labor that I have to pay). 
I'm more inclined to have someone who knows what they're doing than take a stab at it, but just wanted to see how complicated the process might be.........not at the cost of getting electricuted though.
 
 

My gut feel is with Brando... much more likely that you dislodged a physical obstruction.
 
However, I am assuming that it is a straight-up AC inductive motor (no capacitors except for the control board), so it is possible that it is a 4-pole motor and one of the windings is shorted (is unlikely, but possible due to water exposure). This is easy to check though, as simply shutting it off and turning it back on several times would let you know (sometimes it would energize and hum, but not move). I have only seen this once in my lifetime (on a garbage disposal where water had damaged the windings), but I actually "kick started" it for a couple months before I got sick of it.
 
To be honest, the safest (and best learning for you) method is to have a qualified tech look at it and be there and talk to him as he assesses it. People truly love to talk about what they do, and you can learn a lot from something so simple (just keep asking things ).
 
 

Thanks Mettelus and Brando!!!! I'm glad I asked before doing something......bad.
 
I'm with Dirty Harry on this.......man must know his limitations.  
 

Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track, myself.

If you're dealing with electricity and you don't know exactly what you're doing, it's helpful to keep in mind how many volts you don't know what you're doing it with.

I've been knocked on my arse by 100V. One too many times.

Well that explains some things ........ electricity = GAS!!!!

UPDATE: Although the fan is working, my wife just informed me that it's still 83 in the house.
 
Calling the AC guy to come over..........gonna step on the GAS to get home......