fan slows down

[erinj]

Thank you for taking the time to help me.

This is about the fan in the outside unit of my HVAC.

When we first turn the unit on, the fan operates normally. After about 5 minutes the fan slows considerably. We always turn it off at this point.

The fan isn't bound up, it turns freely by hand when unit is off.

What would be causing this?
How or where do we begin to troubleshoot and diagnose what the problem is?


(I searched thru the previous posts and found posts referring to fans stopping completely, but none about fans slowing down.)

I'd appreciate any direction and suggestion you have to offer.

Uh... I spoke too soon...my hubby just came in and told me that this time the fan came almost to a dead stop. So... I'll go back and read through the prev posts and answers about stopped fans!

I'd still apppreciate any help you can offer!

Thank you for your time and help, erinj

[LazyPup]

This type of problem is indicative of one of two common problems..

1. A dry bearing that is seiziing up from friction heat. You may have some success with oiling the motor bearings but in most instances once they reach this point it requires changing the motor.

2. A run capacitor that is breaking down under load. Not a common problem but it does happen. The solution here is to change the capacitor.

[erinj]

Thanks,Lazypup. It's great of you to respond so quickly. I'm sure we'll have more questions as we proceed. May I post them in this thread ?

Thanks again, erinj