Keeping your A/C operating and not getting ripped off

[EugeneNine]

House I'm in now after I first moved in I called a place to check the AC as it wasn't blowing very cold, Trane XE 1000. $150 to have them take the top off and spray all the **** out with a hose. I see what you mean about the Christmas tree like fins and the AC guy said they make the space between the fins and the outer covering too close so they catch dirt easy. So now I know to remove the top and clean it out.
They quoted $400 parts and labor for a new motor as it wasn't spinning very long after the power is cut meaning its dragging. I looked up a new motor on the internet for $50 but still need to replace it.

 

[Tex1001]

I married my wife in '74 and at that time she had asthma and HAD to have A/C in summer. I was a robotics/computer engineer at that time and had a friend that was an A/C tech. I apprenticed myself for 2 years because I didn't like paying $30.00/hr for service. When folks down here find that you're honest and work fast, they beat a path. Some summers I do a lot of welfare calls for my church.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[rwsmith]

I've had several.....

I've had several scammers come out and 'check' my system, which one time meant leaving a valve cracked so the freon would leak out in a few weeks time.

I found a good outfit, and they've taken great care of me for 30 years and I'm not about to use anybody else.

 

[Tex1001]

House I'm in now after I first moved in I called a place to check the AC as it wasn't blowing very cold, Trane XE 1000. $150 to have them take the top off and spray all the **** out with a hose. I see what you mean about the Christmas tree like fins and the AC guy said they make the space between the fins and the outer covering too close so they catch dirt easy. So now I know to remove the top and clean it out.
They quoted $400 parts and labor for a new motor as it wasn't spinning very long after the power is cut meaning its dragging. I looked up a new motor on the internet for $50 but still need to replace it.

Replace the run capacitor, too. Cheap insurance. Oil the motor once a year.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[tyusclan]

I do A/C service work as well, and a lot of good info from the OP and others.

I also don't like Trane, not only for the reasons given, but also because they are way over engineered. They make them far more complicated than they need to be, and you darn near can't make them run without their proprietary parts, which, of course, they charge exorbitant prices for.

In my opinion, Rheem is the way to go.

 

[Maddog 521]

P M sent...

 

[USAF385]

R-410a CAN be topped off.

 

[Tex1001]

R-410a CAN be topped off.

Any refrigerant system CAN be topped off, but if the refrigerant is a binary or tertiary blend, like R410a, its proper temp/pressure characteristics will be permanently altered.
See item 5 in my original post.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[TucsonMTB]

. . .
7) CLEANING YOUR CONDENSER (OUTSIDE) COIL IS VITAL.
Your condenser can't operate if it is clogged with grass cuttings, dust, or dog hair. A condenser can be cleaned with a garden hose with a sprayer head. Spray parallel with the cooling fins. The condenser must be powered down. Never spray water on an operating condenser. Bent fins should be carefully straightened. A small flat screwdriver and needle nose pliers will work.
. . .
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

We built this house about 12 years ago. The Rheem furnace and air conditioner have ratings that were impressive when they were installed and have worked well, to date.

We recently installed a fair amount of LED lighting in place of incandescents in the bathrooms. The reduced heat loading and greater efficiency did not make as much difference in our electric bill as I expected and the AC has been running a little more than usual, partly due to a record string of high temperatures. Ok, this is Arizona . . .

In any event your tip number 7 resonated with me because I have never done anything to clean the outside coils, which are easily accessible in our unit.

The level of debris, especially Oleander fluff was impressive.

Thank you for helping head off what could have been at least a minor disaster if not worse. The nearby volunteer Oleander is now history and the newly cleaned coils look like they should work much better than before.

 

[Tex1001]

Tucson- Typical incandescent lighting (60w-100w/bulb) is a VERY small part of a home's wattage usage. That means that its heat factor is also small. LED lighting's advantage is very long bulb longevity. Motors and heating coils are what put heat into a house.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[TucsonMTB]

Tucson- Typical incandescent lighting (60w-100w/bulb) is a VERY small part of a home's wattage usage. That means that its heat factor is also small. LED lighting's advantage is very long bulb longevity. Motors and heating coils are what put heat into a house.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

Probably so. Still, these were those cheap horizontally mounted, 25 watt, globe lights that put out a tremendous amount of heat. There were twelve of them in the master bath where 300 watts have been reduced to 36 watts total for the 6 bulbs that replaced them in much more attractive fixtures.

Subjectively, the amount of heat produced by the old lamps was very noticeable. However, I have to agree that the LED's have other positives, not the least of which being the quality of the light. Besides, our bathroom lights are not usually on for extended periods of time.

On another note, my wife reports that today the AC has been running for much shorter periods of time each time it has come on. It is just as "warm" here today as during previous days. Your cleaning suggestion seems to have made a noticeable improvement.

Thanks again for your timely suggestion, sir!

 

[BrianE]

Please elaborate on low suction pressure means low charge.. tell me you mean if all else is fine. Low back pressure could be caused by many things. People could easily be misled/confused.

 

[EugeneNine]

Replace the run capacitor, too. Cheap insurance. Oil the motor once a year.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

I don't see any way to oil this motor. Sure I could pull it out and dribble a little around the bearing on the shaft side but I don't see any way to get to the other side.

 

[Cyrano]

Well, reading this, I went and changed the filter today. I's been too long since it was change last. Thanks for the kick in the pants.

 

[Tex1001]

Tuscan- Interesting that you have the bathroom heat problem, too. I had to set my thermostat down an extra degree for an hour in the morning. I have to keep my wife cool for her hair dryer and makeup. We're running fluorescent in there and I was thinking of going to LEDs for the heat factor.
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I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[SmokeStack Lightning]

Ceiling fans make summertime much more comfy, even with a/c.

 

[Tex1001]

Please elaborate on low suction pressure means low charge.. tell me you mean if all else is fine. Low back pressure could be caused by many things. People could easily be misled/confused.

I didn't say low suction pressure, I said low head (or liquid line or high side) pressure could indicate a low charge. Low suction pressure could be a clogged metering device. If your head pressure and suction pressure are low, you probably have a low refrigerant charge. If head pressure is high/normal and suction pressure is low, metering device is clogged.
My purpose in the original post wasn't necessarily to enable readers to check/repair their systems. I'm trying to save money for a group of people that aren't technically inclined in this direction. See #1 in the original post.
Many, many people out there consider refrigeration repair to be a form of witchcraft. That's why good A/C techs are highly paid and scoundrels prey on uninformed people.
_______________________
I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[Tex1001]

I don't see any way to oil this motor. Sure I could pull it out and dribble a little around the bearing on the shaft side but I don't see any way to get to the other side.

I tried to find a proper picture online to arrow up for you, but I couldn't. Give me a day or two to pull one of my motors out of stock and make pictures. I'm in the middle of a lumbar disc flareup. Please be patient with me.
BTW: A lot of factory motors don't have oiling ports. Most replacement motors do.
_______________________
I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[Brian41]

Good stuff here folks from a retired HVAC and refrigeration tech, thanks Tex for educating folks here.
Cooling of any sort is simply the transfer of heat and keeping coils and filters clean is the simplest and most important thing a person can do. I can only recount the thousands of repair jobs I've done when they could have been avoided if only people would have kept things clean.

 

[VictorLouis]

Okay, what about all those capacitors up there, from teh size of a roll of coins, on up? I guess they help boost the juice needed to cycle the unit back on?Had an honest tech replace one of mine and get me running for $ 25