Had to choose between fixing a $3,500 HVAC quote myself or calling a pro - I went with YouTube and a borrowed multimeter

My AC died in the middle of a July heatwave in Nashville. First quote came back at $3,500 for a new compressor and labor. Second guy said it might just be a bad capacitor for $40. So I watched three videos, borrowed my neighbor's multimeter, and tested the capacitor myself. Sure enough it was dead. Replaced it for $18 at the supply house and the AC kicked back on in 10 minutes. Has anyone else rolled the dice on a DIY fix like this and had it actually work out?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly.emma18d ago

Oh man, I've been there! My fridge started acting up last summer and the repair guy wanted $600 just to look at it. I dug around online and found a bunch of folks saying it could be the start relay. For $15 and a half hour of YouTube, I had that thing running again. It felt like such a gamble at the time but honestly, the hardest part was just getting the courage to open up the back panel. I will say, your mileage might vary depending on what you're fixing and how comfortable you are with basic electrical stuff. A multimeter is a solid investment for these kinds of things though, I use mine for all sorts of little checks now.

ross.sean18d ago

Haha YES, totally been there. My dryer was making this awful screeching noise, looked up a YouTube video, found it was just a worn out belt for like $12 at the hardware store. Felt like a wizard after I fixed it myself.