Whips come as liquidtight flexible conduit with conductors pre-installed and fittings on each end, letting the unit move and vibrate without stressing rigid conduit. Installers size them for the unit's circuit and route them so they don't sit in water or rub on sheet metal. Chewed, cracked or sun-rotted whips are a common find on older condensers.
Whip's cracked open and the wires are sitting in a puddle, replace it before you touch anything else.
Also heard as
- disconnect whip
- AC whip
- flex whip
Related terms
Contactor
A heavy-duty relay that uses a 24 volt control signal to switch line voltage to a compressor and condenser fan.
Pigtail
A short jumper wire spliced into a group of conductors so they can share a single terminal.
Cap
Short for capacitor, the part that gives compressor and fan motors the phase shift they need to start and run.