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Q2 for HVAC guys - service on neglected unit

Falcon67

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Merkel, TX
The house we own was built in 2001. The last folks that lived in it did not take care of much of anything. I'm quite sure the AC/heat, air handler, etc hasn't been looked at in 4-5 years. When we moved in, I had to use brushes and a lot of coil cleaner on the underside of the A coil to get the matted dirt, dog hair, etc off the coil. I don't know if they knew the system even used a filter. I did a decent job IMHO, took a lot of time - removed the side panel and worked the coil top and bottom with cleaner, rinsed, vacuumed, etc. Other than that and filter changes, nothing has been done.

System works good as far as I can tell The SE bedroom farthest from the unit runs a little warmer than the other rooms but I can't find any duct leaks so it might just be a circulation/distance issue. Other than that, it's fine.

And I'd like to keep it fine, so I plan to call for an inspection. It's a Goodman unit, 3 1/2 ton I think (forget exactly but my note in the phone says the air handler is a CKJ-36-1AB) with electric heat. There is no sticker on the unit from an installer.

None of the locals list Goodman in their advertising. I'll be paying for a service trip of 20~25 miles because we live in a smaller city and I haven't located anyone local that does service. So I'd expect to pay a couple hundred for the time and travel at least.

What should I expect from a tech that would be looking the unit over? And, what might I expect to hear in response from cold calling a few service companies? It's busy time for them and I'm not in a hurry, so I can accommodate anyone's schedule. I'd appreciate hearing what our local pros here would offer and what they'd be checking out. Thanks.
 
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Falcon67

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Not to worry now - unit died today. They'll be out tomorrow to see what. Looks like the condenser motor quit.
 

pseudorealityx

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Not to worry now - unit died today. They'll be out tomorrow to see what. Looks like the condenser motor quit.

Just an FYI... *** 36 *** would typically mean a 3 ton unit.

12000 BTU = 1 ton.
36000 BTU = 3 ton.

etc.

Condenser fan motor? Or compressor?
 
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Falcon67

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Yep, I mis-spoke. It's a 3 ton. Acts like it's the condenser fan motor or cap. Fan motor does not even try to start and spins free. so I'm betting on the motor. Compressor starts fine. Hope no damage to compressor, it was off when we got home so it hit it's thermal overload or a pressure trip or something. I shut the breakers down for 15 minutes and turned it all back on. Compressor started and sounded OK, fan did not start. Pulled disconnect to protect compressor and shut it all down again at the breakers, made the call.
 

Milton Shaw

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My neighbor had one doing that. I went over and turned the fan the right direction and it started running. Bad cap on unit. Got her cooled off that night and went and got the right cap the next morning for her. (She is 85, lost second husband 5 years ago.) Probably just a cap on yours, about a $10-15 part if you do the work yourself.
 
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Falcon67

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Thought of that - I could do motor and cap for probably under $200. However, since we have no real idea of the condition of the system, I'll just let the pro look at it and fix it. It'll add at least $100 to the cost, but likely better than me just throwing parts at it. If I'd had them come last night, the after hours charge is $112/hr plus trip charge.
 
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Falcon67

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Up and running. It was the cap, so if I had a cookie I'd send it right over. Plus 2 lbs of R-22, system check, 2 3/4 hrs - $342.
 

lzenglish

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Glad you are up and running! Sounds like the safteys saved the heart of your system, The Compressor! I hope the tech took the time to oil the evap, and cond. fan motors, if they are indeed oilable. Also, I hope he or she cleaned the condensor, as I know you have already taken care of the evaporator coil. If so, you should be good to go for the summer season!

Wayne
 
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Falcon67

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I didn't see any oil ports on either motor - pretty much everything is factory sealed bearing stuff now anyway. Yes, he cleaned the condenser after everything was back together. Checked amp draw on the compressor and all motors, went into the air handler and took a good look around. I liked the way he put in the gas - wathing the gages and monitoring the feed line temp. Went slow, adding a little bit and letting the system stabilize. The condenser runs a lot quieter now so I should not have put off the service so long. The compressor feed line wrap was all crudded up and flaking off, so I stopped by Lowes and got some pipe insulation and re-wrapped the line. The company I used is a good local place. Family oriented too, there were two babies and a couple of toddlers in the office when I stopped by yesterday. Wife kinda choked on the labor, but I explained that $75/hr is pretty dang reasonable these days and we saved $100 by not having them out on an after hours call. They have a yearly service plan that runs $180, brings them out summer and fall, so we'll try to get on that plan next year. Should be good to go for summer - just in time, according to the weather people 100F+ starts on Saturday and runs into all next week. It was 95F yesterday and we had 58F air coming out the vents.
 
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Falcon67

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May well be. We'll check it next cooling season and see. The old house had one for a while, took about 18 months before it needed some freon. Put up with that for about 6 years. No detector found a leak, had all connections re-soldered - still lost freon over time so we eventually just replaced the line set. This unit probably hasn't been touched in 7 years.
 
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