OUTRAGED AT COST OF 2 LBS OF R22 FREON!

chief38

chief38

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Yesterday I called around after vacuuming, changing the filters and testing two my Central A/C units. My 3.5 ton unit was perfect, however the 5 ton unit was not delivering the 16-22 degree temperature differential between intake & output. After finally getting someone to call me back, I got reamed for $409.00 for 2 pounds of R22 freon and a service call. The only reason I agreed to the outrageous price is no one else even called me back and to me the only thing worse than getting ripped off is sweating in my own home. I have a sneaking suspicion that when Summer finally arrives it's gonna be a hot and humid one.

Went on ebay afterwards and I can get a 10 pound canister of Virgin R22 delievered for $229. Add a set of gauges and I can have ten pounds available for less than I paid for one recharge. This is the first time I ever needed any Freon in my 16 years old 5 ton unit, but now that it is aging, I'm sure the seals will allow some small mount to leak over the Winters. Man........ what a rip-off! :mad: Next time I'll do it myself!
 
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Last year I purchased a 30# cylinder of R22 for around $750. Purchased another canister about a month ago for around $500. The supplier said they had bought several thousand pounds of the stuff and consumers were switching out their units to the newer freon instead of having them charged with the 22. I usually have to charge up my old vintage 22 system in the Spring. Yes, I'd be outraged also. As long as you stay COOL.:cool:
 
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This may ease your pain. I been fixing cars, small engines with my dad since I was under 10yo. I repaired my cars, built my own 4x4 trucks, build hp engines for the trucks, now I’m 67yo my lower back is as tight as cables on a bridge besides other problems. I usually go to the dealer for oil changes, the misses tells them there’s a noise in the front end. Check the brakes. They say it’s ok. A few days later she takes it to a local garage it needs front pads. $25 pads my cost. Well $500 later it’s fixed.

Do you know how many brake jobs I did for the family for decades?

A hundred dollars an hour. The local bike shop quoted a lady $250 to change a front tire on her sons dirtbike.

I took a front 4x4 drive shaft to a shop to have the unjointed pressed. They couldn’t get it apart. I laid it on its side and one shot with a 48 oz ball pain hammer knocked it loose. They said the splines were shot. I changed the unjointed and ten years later after 100,000 miles I sold the truck. It was part time four wheel drive.
 
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Most around my area won’t sell you any type of Freon without a license. Had to get a new one at my shop because of the new car stuff which is really expensive.
 
I deleted that last post, would not want to get the tech in trouble. You can try and find a buddy that has a license to purchase freon and they might spare a couple a pounds the next time.
 
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Look on the bright side. $409 is a lot less than the $7k I just paid to replace my 3.5 ton R-22 unit. A valve had corroded through and let all the Freon out, along with the oil. The 26 year-old compressor took exception to this situation and it was game over.
 
R22 Freon will be illegal to sell/possess after Jan 01, 2020.

Per the EPA web sight...
As per the US Environmental Protection Agency, R22 will become illegal to possess or sell in the United States on January 1, 2020. After that R22 refrigerant phase out date, R22 can no longer be manufactured or imported into the US.

As per The Montreal Protocal Act it is illegal to knowingly charge/recharge a known leaking R22 refrigeration system punishable by fine and imprisonment.
 
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chief38 said:
Went on ebay afterwards and I can get a 10 pound canister of Virgin R22 delievered for $229. Add a set of gauges and I can have ten pounds available for less than I paid for one recharge. This is the first time I ever needed any Freon in my 16 years old 5 ton unit, but now that it is aging, I'm sure the seals will allow some small mount to leak over the Winters. Man........ what a rip-off! :mad: Next time I'll do it myself!
Click to expand...

You need to be EPA certified to buy refrigerant. There are also inherent dangers to hooking up a set of gauges to a system under 225 pounds of pressure. You risk injury if you are not sure of what you are doing. YouTube is not a good idea in this case, they don't show you the risk you are taking. If you don't want to be "ripped off", shop around for a qualified HVAC tech that takes pride in his work. And finally, there are no seals to leak, your system has a leak caused by age or friction of two components rubbing together. Please don't make HVAC guys out to be bad guys, most are just trying to provide for their families.
 
My heating & air conditioning contractor advised me several years ago about the R22 Freon issues (availability, costs). He also advised me that our 19 year old forced air gas furnace was one for which parts were increasingly difficult to find. So, rather than waiting for problems during a spell of very hot or very cold weather, we decided to replace the furnace and a/c with new units. Work was completed last week. Got a pretty good price. Two less things to worry about now.
 
If/when my 27 year old Trane heat pump central unit goes out then I will buy a couple window units.
One way to force people to buy new ac systems is to make the Freon of old obsolete, to expensive or impossible to find. Remember R-12? When patents expire so does the product in many cases. That's what happened to R-12. I imagine R-22 could be in the same bucket as R-12.
 
Zipdog said:
Don't you know you can get a window unit cheaper than what you paid?
Click to expand...

Yea, but I got a lot of windows! :p

Seriously, I have a large home and 2 units of central A/C is the way to go. Can't stand the noise, rattling and looks of window units. I had them in my first home and so I am quite familiar with them.
 
I feel your pain-last year I replaced the A/C on one side on my building with a new unit. My office-conference rom side of the building still has the original Freon 22 unit in it which now has developed a leak. :mad: another unit to replace this summer.................:(
When I used to HVAC back during the summers of college I remember the mechanic using 22 to blow out a drain because he didn't want to go back down to the truck for the compressed air......... I lugged a TON of those light green 20 pound canisters back in my day....
 
bricker said:
And finally, there are no seals to leak, your system has a leak caused by age or friction of two components rubbing together. Please don't make HVAC guys out to be bad guys, most are just trying to provide for their families.
Click to expand...

Bricker is absolutely right. There are only two scenarios where a refrigerant leak can’t be repaired. Corrosion on a steel part like the compressor, receiver, or accumulator or at the fusite seal where the compressor terminals penetrate the can. Either of these usually cause a very vigorous leak. The real rip off is if he didn’t properly repair the leak and pull a deep vacuum on the system and hold it. If he just topped it off and called it fixed, I’d have issues with that. I’ve repaired leaks on every part of a system that is copper or brass and had them hold up for years.

But what do I know, I’m just a chiller technician. The only repairs I do like that are for family and friends and on my own a/c, and sometimes if I want extra cash to buy a S&W:D
 
bricker said:
You need to be EPA certified to buy refrigerant. There are also inherent dangers to hooking up a set of gauges to a system under 225 pounds of pressure. You risk injury if you are not sure of what you are doing. YouTube is not a good idea in this case, they don't show you the risk you are taking. If you don't want to be "ripped off", shop around for a qualified HVAC tech that takes pride in his work. And finally, there are no seals to leak, your system has a leak caused by age or friction of two components rubbing together. Please don't make HVAC guys out to be bad guys, most are just trying to provide for their families.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are some tech's and guys in the HVAC game that are descent guys (just haven't found them yet) and I would NEVER begrudge anyone from making a living. In my area of the Country they want to make a years salary in 3 months and that is probably the impetus for charging outrageous prices. I don't mind paying for something I just resent being "held up" (without a gun) because they all seem to play the same game! When I was calling around, most of the Company's I spoke with would not even give me prices - except they stated it would cost me between $139 - $175 for the service man just to ring the door bell and the cost of the Freon was un-quoted until they got here - NO THANKS!

Now that I can properly cool my home this season, I can look around for other options without pressure. I do not the heat & humidity - although I do actually know some who enjoy it. :eek: :confused:
 
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- "although I do actually know some who enjoy it". Yep me to... Snubby runs his furnace in the summer!
 
Air conditioning?? What's that?? Oh that's right the stuff we have in cars. We do not use A/C. really don't need it here, thankfully. Even when it gets into the hundreds. At night it gets back down to the 60s. Low humidity esp in the summer. Raining here right now and I just lit a fire in the woodstove...
 
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Yeah my woodstove is going too. I have a 30# jug of 22 I'll let got for $300, have to pick up tho
 
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