house A/C question - no where else to turn. - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Diseasel300 · #31 09-19-2017, 05:41 PM

The dent will do no harm. The can is just a handy container for the capacitors inside. Have you run the thing yet?

HuskyMan · #32 09-19-2017, 07:58 PM

I'm going to throw a party and invite Shania Twain!!! The flippin' thing is RUNNING! The A/C man is coming tomorrow to check the freon; I figure even if I have to purchase a compressor, I'm $$$$$ ahead.

Thank you Diesel300 for the help, the fan and compressor kicked on....it is a good time for a start-up because the sun is going down right now so things are cooling off. Haven't slept well for a week due to the high outside temps so this will really help.

Diseasel300 · #33 09-19-2017, 08:04 PM

If it's running and it doesn't sound like a blender full of rocks, it's probably fine. The capacitors and contactors are common failure items.

We have 3 AC units at work, ranging from 2 to 24 years old. The 2 year old one just got a new contactor last week when it started buzzing LOUDLY. The other two have been through 3 or 4 each in their lives. The older ones have both been through 2 or 3 capacitors as well. They only seem to last ~5 years on average in our climate.

I keep spare caps and contactors on hand because they always seem to fail at the most inopportune times (usually a weekend or a holiday!).

Don't overlook the fan motor on the indoor unit either. If you have a unit with a fixed-speed motor they also have a capacitor that can fail. Typically you notice because the fan hums or seems slow to start.

HuskyMan · #34 09-20-2017, 03:59 PM

The system is holding at 78 degrees which is where we feel comfortable. Second, the A/C tech just left; very informative. He said households with dogs tend to acquire a build-up of dog hair on the evaporator coil.

He said he's had to take them to the car wash to wash off the crud. He said he could feel some pressure pushing out from the evap coil housing which made him think perhaps dog hair on the evap coil was starting to build up. He said houses with dogs should change their filters regularly.

Next, he said R22 will not be sold in the year 2020. I just checked Ebay and found several "drop in" replacements for R22. Are any of these drop in replacements worth using?

He wanted to sell me a new central heat and air unit (starting price around $10,000). I told him I'd have to think it over.

Diseasel300 · #35 09-20-2017, 06:39 PM

How old is the system in question? That determines whether or not it is worth repairing if/when the refrigerant leaks. If it's 10+ years old, it's time for a new system when it leaks. By the time you had it converted to a "drop-in" refrigerant, you're close to a new system.

$10K sounds AWFULLY high. I had a 16 SEER 3 1/2 ton Carrier heatpump installed in this house 2 years ago for ~$5500 by a reputable company.

Assuming you have a gas furnace and the cooling coil sits on top, there should be an access door in the plenum and a removable plate in the face of the coil that you can see inside the "A". It will be obvious if there is fur buildup in there. If you keep your filter changed, the chances of that being an issue are slim.

If it's never been done before, take a water hose with a "jet spray" sprayer on it and go to town washing out the outdoor coil. If it's impacted with dirt and dust, it will make a HUGE difference in how well the system performs in hot weather.

If the system is holding the house where the thermostat is set, it is working properly and I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it! I would find a better A/C service guy though. The one you had out sounds a bit crooked!

winmutt · #36 09-20-2017, 08:57 PM

They will still sell R22, just not make it. You can still buy r12 even. Out door coil cleaning is a yearly maintenance task.

Dubyagee · #37 09-20-2017, 09:31 PM

The best cleaner for the coils is dishwasher detergent. Leaves no residue and cleans pretty good

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

vstech · #38 09-21-2017, 08:40 AM

My business is ac repair, I'm glad you got it sorted out.

The drop in R22 replacements 407c, 422B etc... are NOT DROP IN TOP OFF REFRIGERANTS!!

Every drop of remaining R22 needs to be reclaimed from the system before any alternative refrigerant is used.

I use them often on customer's systems. There. Is a capacity and efficiency hit with all of them. But they are a much better repair value than 22...

HuskyMan · #39 09-21-2017, 10:16 AM

The house was built around 1965 so I suspect the central heat and air is original. If I stay here I'm going to have to consider upgrading. Since moving in, I've had quite a round of A/C techs, some who knew their trade very well, some who need to get into another line of work.

I'll never forget the first one; the house had a home warranty so the warranty company sent out one of their "approved" technicians. The system had developed a leak somewhere and had run out of freon and wasn't cooling. The tech topped off the system with freon then left.

Two days later, the system stopped cooling. I call him back. He fools around in the garage and finally tells me he can't find any freon leaks. As he packs up his tool bag to leave, I ask him, "Do you have a freon leak detector/sniffer"?? Why yes, he tells his young son to go out to the truck and retrieve it. Son came back with the detector. He began to use the detector to sniff around the evap coil; the detector GOES OFF LIKE A FIRE ALARM. WOW! I could have had a V8!!!

So,,decided after that to try out another company. The head fred orders a new evap coil and replaced it; he did a great job and it has worked well. For four years he provided GREAT service!!! Then, one day the system stopped blowing air through the vents. I called them out to take a look. When he arrived he mentioned he had been working late the night before and was fatigued. He looked at the outside unit, then came into the garage. "Your system sure is QUIET" he remarks. He told me that I needed a new outside unit and to call his secretary for pricing. On a whim, I decided to call yet another A/C tech company. They send out their guy, within thirty minutes he determines the BLOWER MOTOR has gone out!!!! No wonder the system was quiet.

He then told me I should thank my lucky stars that he was the one who responded to my calls for help because according to him, no other A/C techs could have made an accurate diagnosis. Really? A blower motor? It was obvious the unit was DEAD SILENT.

Well....all I can say is I have received quite an education in the world of central heating and cooling repair.

Life is an adventure.

Diseasel300 · #40 09-21-2017, 10:58 AM

I'd be surprised if the unit was original from 1965. If it was, it would look every bit of 52 years old! Not to mention you'd feel it in your pocketbook every month for your electric bills. If you have gas heat, you COULD easily have the original furnace, but the A/C has likely been replaced. This house was built in 1959 and is on it's 3rd A/C unit (Impressive for an area where the average life expectancy of an A/C unit is only 10-15 years!)

Some of the HVAC folks are truly dishonest. If you don't have a clue what they're doing, they'll take you for a ride. When I moved to this house 8 years ago, the A/C didn't work for squat. Ran all the time, was loud, and didn't cool. I was busy at the time, so just called a service company to work on it. They added 2 pounds of R22 and left. Was even worse after they left, so I decided to check into it myself. The return line was sweating like crazy, but the air coming out of the vents simply wasn't cold and wasn't blowing very hard either. Crawled up under the unit and found the evaporator coil PACKED with filth. We're talking a 1/2" thick layer rammed up in there. I spent the weekend cleaning the coil and fired it back up and was greeted with a hurricane of air coming out of the vents, so much so that it blew a bunch of collected debris and lint all over the house! Clearly hadn't worked in years. New tech called out and he took one look at the unit and without even laying a gauge on it said it was overcharged. I told him what had happened to it and he sighed and hooked up the recovery bottle. Wound up pulling out 5 POUNDS of R22! After that the system ran fine for 6 years, but was noisy - he said due to bearing wear in the compressor from years of flooding back from the overcharge situation. A couple years ago the compressor finally gave up the ghost, was so loud the neighbors 3 doors down heard it running! Was a 1993 Ruud unit and ran until 2015, so it had a pretty long life.

HuskyMan · #41 09-21-2017, 12:28 PM

The more we learn about A/C systems, the less likely we are to get taken advantage of by unscrupulous A/C techs. Diesel300 really stepped up and helped me get my system going; forum members like him are what makes this forum a great place!!

Today, my dogs and I are much happier having a nice cool house to hang out in!! Now, time to get to the brakes on the 560SEL.....work work and more work.

No rest for the weary.

Diseasel300 · #42 09-21-2017, 01:19 PM

I just hate seeing people getting ripped off by some of these "servicemen".

I got sick of paying $200 for a $15 capacitor or $300 for a $20 contactor long ago and learned how to service the system myself. There's not much to it, just a couple motors, some relays, and wires. I'll stand behind a tech doing a refrigerant charge and ask to see the superheat and subcool calculations nowadays after having the last system destroyed by overcharging. It's my money, if I'm paying someone to do a job, they damn well better do it right!

Contactors, relays, capacitors, and heat sequencers are all "DIY" jobs. Not really much to them and they're pretty easy to troubleshoot and replace.