Try $250 for a capacitor here in Texas - they know you can’t afford to take a few days to shop around due to the heat. What I’ve found works over the years: get the phone number of a few HVAC guys as you encounter them and offer them $50 to come when you need them. They’ll never pull the “you should cal l my employer” because most are contractors who need to buy their own equipment.
I had a bad capacitor this past summer and ended up having to drive over an hour because the only place in town that would sell me a capacitor was Grainger on the opposite end of [moderately large town]. Everywhere else I called declined to sell me one for "safety reasons". Several did offer to send a tech out to do it for me...
If they have techs they don't want to sell you parts, they want to sell you service. Granger sells parts. Would you call up restaurants trying to buy a raw potato?
I actually mostly called up HVAC supply places but they wouldn't sell me a cap and offered to refer me to one of their "preferred" service providers. Maybe it's some backdoor colluding in my area, who knows, but yeah I was really surprised they wouldn't. I think I called 3-4 before someone told me Grainger sells 'em.
Going to Ferguson.com and ordering a replacement capacitor to have on hand for $30 works even better.
It’s literally just turning off the power to the compressor, using a screwdriver to open the panel, unplugging the old capacitor, and plugging a new one in.
You forgot to discharge the capacitor, the most important step. This is why people who don’t understand what they're doing should not touch an A/C start or run capacitor (or any electrical equipment, really) for any reason.
Please don’t give out dangerous advice, if you want to risk electrocution, that’s your choice. Don’t encourage others to perform work unsafely.
DIY is a worthy approach, but people have to gauge their own limits.
If you really don't want to run the risk of being electrocuted, it might just be worth the 250 dollars to have someone who does this sort of thing all day to come and do the repair.
Clear the chamber, even if you removed the magazine and checked it yesterday.
etc.
The general principles of health and safety are intended to be largely overkill and mostly not strictly required, they're in place for that one time that kills or injures.
