HVAC guys?

[nnnnnate]

Swapped capacitors and nothing changed. The bigger pipe coming out of the outside unit on the upstairs unit felt the same temp as the little one. On the basement unit the big pipe was a lot colder.

 

[The_Lobbster]

Swapped capacitors and nothing changed. The bigger pipe coming out of the outside unit on the upstairs unit felt the same temp as the little one. On the basement unit the big pipe was a lot colder.

Potentially low on charge, or compressor may not be running at all still. If you want I can come take a look and throw my gauges on it.

Have a pic of the electrical in the AC panel?

 

[nnnnnate]

 

[jeeper]

I see the problem. If the AC is not centered on the stand the fluid doesn't flow right, allowing excess heat into the condenser..
Slide it over a few inches, you'll be fine.



Probably worth moving the other one too, just for preventative reasons.

 

[nnnnnate]

The amount of crap I've given you makes me think you're messing with me Brian. But also as a testament to how much magic there is to this crap it might could be the actual reason for my problem.

 

[nnnnnate]

The system is under warranty (parts) until December so they came out and say it low on freon. I guess that means there is a leak somewhere so hes going to put dye in it and then come back either when it's stops cooling again or a few weeks to see where the leak is. Of course the freon and dye isn't a warranty item so we'll see what that costs.

Super fun.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I see the problem. If the AC is not centered on the stand the fluid doesn't flow right, allowing excess heat into the condenser..
Slide it over a few inches, you'll be fine.

View attachment 162726

Probably worth moving the other one too, just for preventative reasons.

You truly do want it to be level, the compressors have an oil charge, and being too far off kilter will not provide adequate lubrication. But you just about have to turn them completely sideways before they’ll die. Saw this one in Orem recently.

 

[The_Lobbster]

The system is under warranty (parts) until December so they came out and say it low on freon. I guess that means there is a leak somewhere so hes going to put dye in it and then come back either when it's stops cooling again or a few weeks to see where the leak is. Of course the freon and dye isn't a warranty item so we'll see what that costs.

Super fun.

No disrespect to you, but those AC’s are very poorly installed. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there is leaks in the joints.

Grab yourself a UV light if you have one, and check all the braze joints. The die is fluorescent, green or purple, depending which brand they used. If it is indeed from a joint, I would fight the warranty thing and try to get them to pay for it, if it was caused by faulty installation.

 

[jeeper]

You truly do want it to be level, the compressors have an oil charge, and being too far off kilter will not provide adequate lubrication. But you just about have to turn them completely sideways before they’ll die. Saw this one in Orem recently.

View attachment 162745

If you wouldn't have said Orem, I would have bet you $1,000 that was my neighbor. Thiers looks EXACTLY that. I see it all the time.

 

[nnnnnate]

I don't have a UV light but I'll either buy or borrow one.

 

[The_Lobbster]

Doesn’t need to be anything fancy, the one that comes with the dye kits is just a cheapo unit, but it works alright. Can probably find a cheap one on Amazon

 

[nnnnnate]

Man I don't even know what to do right now. So the guy came out Friday said it was low on freon and added 3#'s for $300. He put dye in it and said he'd come back in a month or when I called to say it wasn't working again.

Service call and diagnostic $120
add freon $300
dye and return visit $343

I called this morning because the unit wasn't cooling last night. The "cold" air was 4 degrees cooler than room temp. The guy just left and said, yup its the coil. We can come tomorrow morning, the coil will be under warranty and the labor for it will be $650.

The dude has been here less than an hour between today and last Friday. He saw the dye in the drain pipe and knew the coil was toast but because I was standing there I feel like he pulled the unit apart to verify. I'm not convinced he would have done that if I hadn't have gotten home to talk to him.

I started to push back a little on the price and asked him to walk me through what I paid for Friday and what the $650 would cover if he came back tomorrow. It does sound like tomorrow is a fair amount of work but I still balk at $1500 for what I'd guess is less than half a days work even when you pull out the price of freon and whatever the dye would cost. He did say that I wouldn't have to spend another $300 on freon (which I figured I might have to, in my mind all the freon escaped through the coils so thats why its not cooling...) The new work would have a one year labor warranty and a five year parts warranty.

He seemed to understand where I was coming from and said I could call the office and maybe they would remove the cost of the dye.

Can you give me some advice here? I told him I needed to make some calls before I would have them come back out to fix it.

I did get that UV light but didn't find anything alarming outside or in the closet. Its kind of wild and everything lights up, drywall, seam compound, pvc glue, etc...

 

[jeeper]

I’ve had entire new units installed for less than $1500.

It’s very difficult to find an honest HVAC company.

I always spend multiple days trying to find the one I think I want… But have yet to be able to find someone to give me a repeat business. I thought the last guy was awesome… but when I called for another unit, he wouldn’t respond.
Maybe it’s me 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[moab_cj5]

If you want a 2nd Opinion, call my buddy Zak. He is as honest as the day is long. He's super busy right now as he is a 1 man show, but he is a great dude that will tell it like it is. He was a member or Wasatch Cruisers for a short time too @nnnnnate , so you may have met him before. He owns and runs 5 Star HVAC.

801.497.1288

 

[cruiseroutfit]

If you want a 2nd Opinion, call my buddy Zak. He is as honest as the day is long. He's super busy right now as he is a 1 man show, but he is a great dude that will tell it like it is. He was a member or Wasatch Cruisers for a short time too @nnnnnate , so you may have met him before. He owns and runs 5 Star HVAC.

801.497.1288

Zak did a great job on some HVAC work here at Cruiser Outfitters. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him as well. He's '6 Star HVAC' to me.

 

[nnnnnate]

I've met zac and was going to have you remind me his name and get me his info.

 

[nnnnnate]

I called and was able to get them to credit me the "dye and return visit" charge so when they did the coil replacement yesterday it only cost me $307 rather than the $650. I'm glad its done and fixed and I hope I don't have a reason to have them come back out while its under warranty.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I called and was able to get them to credit me the "dye and return visit" charge so when they did the coil replacement yesterday it only cost me $307 rather than the $650. I'm glad its done and fixed and I hope I don't have a reason to have them come back out while its under warranty.

Hopefully that’s for sure the leak zone.

Unfortunately, indoor coils are frequently blamed when the tech is lazy/incompetent and can’t do a proper leak search. And quite frequently, leaks do occur there, it sees drastic temp swings from AC to heat cycles, so micro cracks can develop.

I have seen leaks on the condenser, and linesets in my time though, nailplate gets missed, or the lineset rubs against something wearing a hole in it. If it happens again down the road, I’d suggest doing a nitrogen pressure test, isolating the lineset from the condenser.

 

[str8axleguy]

So having some issues with my ac in Willard. Had the tech who built the system and installed it out. He recommended changing the filter to a less restrictive one, added a little Freon, says the outside unit is running right where it should. Changed out the fan motor as he says it was on its way out, it was running but getting hot. Problem is ac runs constantly and the temp in the house slowly climbs. It’s gone up 2 degrees since the new fan motor about 4 hours ago. Any suggestions?

 

[The_Lobbster]

So having some issues with my ac in Willard. Had the tech who built the system and installed it out. He recommended changing the filter to a less restrictive one, added a little Freon, says the outside unit is running right where it should. Changed out the fan motor as he says it was on its way out, it was running but getting hot. Problem is ac runs constantly and the temp in the house slowly climbs. It’s gone up 2 degrees since the new fan motor about 4 hours ago. Any suggestions?

What filter type?

Return and supply temps? Clean coil on the condenser?

How’s the insulation of your home?

And lastly, indoor or outdoor fan motor replaced?