" What should I be looking at for a repair? "

A telephone directory or an internet source to find a qualified HVAC tech to look at it.

There should be no burned insulation of any sort inside your air handler. If it isn't obvious why this is happening then you should probably request a service call from a local HVAC company.

I have to take the other panel off to diagnose it, but it would appear to be in the area of the solenoid coil. Thx.

I regularly change the filter (Merv 11) about every 6 mos. and there were/are no strange noises coming from either the condenser, nor the blower...just a burning smell last Saturday which is no longer present. I'd also pulled the blower motor out and removed the circuitry to visually check component integrity and the caps and thermistor looked fine, though the PCB is potted so I couldn't check individual components. I rewired and reset the (Honeywell RTH9585) thermostat. Out of curiosity, I also checked out the model numbers of the air handler/condenser and they're sized correctly for sq ft of my home.

One of the things I'd noticed the couple times I'd checked, was that the liquid line to the AH was almost hot to the touch one time, and just warm the next. This suggests to me that my next point of diagnosis is the solenoid coil. And if the coil's bad, the question becomes what caused it.

Since it's obvious to me -- and previous posters -- that I'm not an HVAC specialist, I'm still doggedly determined to wrap my head around the basics of a residential HVAC system and fix it. I appreciate the responses, even the sarcastic ones because they imply I have a ton of research and learning to do. In a worst case, I simply pick up the phone.

Which "solenoid coil" are you referring to?

The evaporator coil inside the AH housing.

Just a quick follow-up...turned out to be the blower motor module. I replaced the complete motor assembly even though the original motor tested good wrt resistance and open or shorted windings.. Checked all voltages entering and exiting the air handler circuitry -- to the blower motor -- and everything checked out. It was just an educated guess, but as luck would have it, it worked. Buttoned up. Thanks.

Edit: If I can successfully remove the potting from the original motor module, I can test the through-hole components and replace as needed and wind up with a spare functional motor. And if I cannot, it'll be recycled.