My AC/Heating Unit Bit the Dust

[desflood]

I know somebody here knows a guy.

The good news is that with the roughly $80 we'll be saving monthly on the energy bill it'll be easy to save up enough to pay to fix it by late October or so, when we don't need AC any more :lmao

[boutons_deux]

Stay away from Admiral Services, they make car repair shops look honest, without even getting into their prices.

[BacktoBasics]

If I remember correctly its pretty tough to get a supplier to sell A/C parts to a guy off the street. They want you to be licensed.

[boutons_deux]

Admiral quoted me $350 to replace the fan (not the motor) on my compressor.

Using an account at Grainger, I took my bad fan in, the desk guy matched it right away, replacement for $33.

I screwed the set screw down real good, never looked back.

[TDMVPDPOY]

if you want, we could ask the governer of ur state to put a wind turbine on top of your house.....A/C yeh man....

[phyzik]

Does the outside unit kick on? It may just be the transformer inside your central A/C unit, they have a tendency to go out. Cheap part.

[desflood]

Update - turns out one of the compressor coils is leaking big-time. The part itself is under warranty. The labor, of course, is not. The cheapest quote we could get was still over $300. But our energy bill was pretty low this month. :lol

[BacktoBasics]

Update - turns out one of the compressor coils is leaking big-time. The part itself is under warranty. The labor, of course, is not. The cheapest quote we could get was still over $300. But our energy bill was pretty low this month. :lolSeems like every service oriented company tries to hit the 300 dollar mark. Its gotten to the point that the service industry isn't profitable unless they get a per ticket total exceeding the 300 mark.

Its sad to see the days of affordable service come to an end.

[mrsmaalox]

$300??? I wish! I haven't heard a quote under 1k for loooong time.

[phyzik]

is it the compressor coil for the outside unit? If so, your getting fucked hard. I literally just replaced that part yesterday in mine. It takes 5 minutes. The problem is you have to know an electrician that can get you the part.

Its only like 20 bucks at Grainger off of 410 but again, someone with connections needs to get the part for you. Its not a store you can just walk in and purchase a part unfortunately. :depressed

Had to replace mine because it kept blowing out the transformer underneath the blower on the inside unit. Really easy to do if your not scared of wires.

If its under warranty ask them to ship you the part and you will get your own electrician to install it then do it yourself.

If its the part that Im thinking of, then when they say compressor coil they are talking about the relay switch that turns the actual compressor on. depending on the age/model of your A/C unit it will look something like this...

http://images.grainger.com/B284_21/images/products/2E682.JPG

[desflood]

Oh! Thanks for the advice. Maybe we can do something with that...

[phyzik]

Oh! Thanks for the advice. Maybe we can do something with that...

NP. I don't want to scare you out of trying to do it yourself but just keep in mind that both of us are not certified electricians, and while I'm definitely not lying about replacing the part myself I'm still just some guy on the internet. If they send you the part and it looks a little more daunting than you thought, definitely call someone who knows what they are doing.

Its better to get raped for $300.00 than it is to void your warranty and have to buy a whole new A/C unit. I did mine on my own because mine is already out of warranty anyway. Just something to keep in mind.

Easy 5 minute replacement with a chance, if done wrong, to void your warranty.

or

get screwed out of $300 for a part that cost about $15 and 5 minutes of your time, but keep your warranty intact.

[Wild Cobra]

If I remember correctly its pretty tough to get a supplier to sell A/C parts to a guy off the street. They want you to be licensed.
That depends. Mine is from Sears. I just went to the Sears Service center and ordered the parts I deeded.

[xtremesteven33]

I know a guy who fixes our unit for ridiculously cheap prices.....and hes good :tu

[BacktoBasics]

I know a guy who fixes our unit for ridiculously cheap prices.....and hes good :tuBut can he make a half way decent cheesecake?

[xtremesteven33]

But can he make a half way decent cheesecake?


:bking

[timvp]

That sucks. AC repairmen and companies are the worst. I just had to deal with it on Monday. We have the same issue that happens about once a year with our unit but it's always a hassle to get anyone to fix it.

They constantly try to sell a new unit or diagnose the problem as bigger than it is. I had the part, told them what to do and it took all of 30 minutes and got charged $200. All the while the repairman was saying it wasn't going to fix the problem :rolleyes

My only advice is that when calling around pretend that you are going to be purchasing a new unit in two months but need this quick fix in the meantime. You may get someone who will believe that and do the repair cheaply because of the future payday.

[xtremesteven33]

That sucks. AC repairmen and companies are the worst. I just had to deal with it on Monday. We have the same issue that happens about once a year with our unit but it's always a hassle to get anyone to fix it.

They constantly try to sell a new unit or diagnose the problem as bigger than it is. I had the part, told them what to do and it took all of 30 minutes and got charged $200. All the while the repairman was saying it wasn't going to fix the problem :rolleyes

My only advice is that when calling around pretend that you are going to be purchasing a new unit in two months but need this quick fix in the meantime. You may get someone who will believe that and do the repair cheaply because of the future payday.


If you live in S.A. I can refer a guy who fixed our Unit AND bought our parts for an incredibly cheap price. He works for a company but does side work for himself.....