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How to Find & Reset the Thermal Overload Switch on Electric motors InspectAPedia TM Enter your search terms Submit search form   Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com

• How to find and reset the thermal overload switch found on many electric motors
• How to reset the motor switch on a furnace or air conditioner blower fan unit
• How to reset the motor switch on water pumps and well pumps

The page top photo was taken of of an oil burner electric motor not an air conditioning blower fan motor or pump motor, but you'll see that all of these electric motors look a lot alike. Sometimes the reset button on an electric motor is hard to find, and sometimes there is no reset button!. But this photo shows the red reset button most clearly.

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How to Find and Reset a Heating System or Air Conditioning Electric Motor

Electric motor overload reset buttons: An electric motor used in lots of equipment may include overload reset button on the motor body. If the motor is overloaded or if it overheats, this button will pop "out" indicating that an internal electric safety device has tripped,shutting the motor off.

Once the motor has cooled sufficiently it can be re-started, usually by pushing the popped-out reset switch back down.

If the motor turns off again on re-set you should not keep running it as it may be damaged and the system may be unsafe.

Tips for Finding the Motor Reset Button

Find the electric motor that operates the device that has been shut down. For example on a warm air heating system or central air conditioning system look in the air handler/blower compartment.

On the blower motor itself, look for a red or yellow button which is normally flat with the motor surface but which will pop up to show that the motor has been shut off by its internal overload protection circuit.

If the installer rotated the motor so that the button is facing away from you and impossible to see, feel around on the bottom and back side of the motor for the button's presence. Especially if the motor's internal protection has tripped, it should be easy to feel the button since it'll be sticking up about 1/2".

When and How to Reset the Electric Motor on a Heating Blower, Air Conditioner Blower, or Water Pump

When the air conditioner fan or blower motor has cooled sufficiently this button can usually be simply pressed back down to "reset" the switch. If the motor overload switch won't reset (stay depressed) either the motor is still too hot (wait) or there is another failure that needs diagnosis. Sometimes the reset button is present but hard to find, depending on the position in which the motor was bolted in place.

What the Reset Button Looks Like When it has Not Tripped

You can see that in this picture the button is flush with the motor surface. Sometimes these buttons are hard to find but they are usually present on heating and air conditioning system electric motors for fans and blowers.

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AIR CONDITIONING CONTROLS & SWITCHES
BOILER CONTROLS & SWITCHES
ELECTRIC MOTOR OVERLOAD RESET SWITCH
FURNACE CONTROLS & SWITCHES
OIL BURNERS
WATER PUMP CONTROLS & SWITCHES

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• Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia ^TM Website
• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
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