A/C repair crying... (violins playing here...)

[BoxMN]

So I have a 10 yo unit, a Trane a/c, that I purchased and had installed, that wasn't getting cold. Have a guy out today (from I hope reputable place). He found issues right from the start.

The outdoor cutoff has copper pipe stuffed in place of the fuses, and a broken pull-out. I never touched it, that was the original installer (who is now out of business, imagine that...).

Then the freon is low. So there is a leak somewhere, not sure how big. The new guy says recharge, check it again in fall, and see if big leak or small leak, since we don't know if this happened over 10 years, or just in last few months.

Sigh, I thought it was just going to have to be recharged.

And a capacitor blew, but luckily only "popped" , maybe from nearby lightning in last storm, it didn't blow up other things. Not uncommon I guess. But you can see it has "expanded"...

going to be fairly expensive, but I did get about $250 off due to warranty, which is up in September of this year so I got a bit of break.

Anyway, just venting a bit. But for now on I will have it serviced more regular, just to know how it is working, and if leaking, etc. I didn't touch it once in 10 years, except cleaning in spring and fall. Don't take your A/C's for granted, and get someone who knows them to check them. My two cents, though I have no cents (or sense) left! ha!

[Tom7227]

Box,

I have a pull out jobberdo at the AC compressor outside and it doesn't have fuses in it. There are two pieces of copper there and it looks to me as if that's the way it was made. The rig goes to breakers inside the house and that's where the protection is. No clue if that's code or not but it must have been back when the wiring was first done for AC.

As for a recharge of the juice - cmon, that's not a big deal.

The real question is why you had someone come a service the rig today. It's nice and cool out. No chance your going to use the AC today, probably for the rest of the week.

Tom

[BoxMN]

Haha, yeah, no biggie on the juice, just that it wasn't installed to code originally. The copper pipe isn't code, and the inside breaker is rated proper and would do the job, but the copper is for the service guy's protection more than anything (mine was actually broken in the plastic holder area with copper exposed as soon as you open the door). Anyway, that is fixed, freon is recharged, the capacitor is fixed, and all is working as it should. I also got a couple "free" service calls/tune-ups, and I know a bunch more about the unit than I did. Came in at $650, plus the $230 for the "plan", but the plan saved me $200, so the plan for a year will cost me $30 but give me two tune ups and any savings on needed repairs.

All in all, about $900 (including an extra new Aprillaire filter). He was nice and knowledgeable guy, and with the same company since '88, so I got a "go to" furnace and air guy now. He didn't tell me I "needed" to fix the copper pipes, I wanted to do it right. And I am ready for the next HOT day now! haha!

[CAMAN]

The real question is why you had someone come a service the rig today. It's nice and cool out. No chance your going to use the AC today, probably for the rest of the week.

Probably because it wasn't working well over the weekend and this is the earliest he could get someone to come and take a look at it. This is the time to have the AC looked at and repaired, not when it's scorching hot out and you have to pay "emergency" prices to get it looked at.

[Tom7227]

Caman, I was pulling his leg.

[CAMAN]

I guess I'm more tired than I thought. It also doesn't help I've got my mind on my Namakan trip I leave for tomorrow. Carry on...