Home Air Conditioning Repair/Replacement Question

[260madman]

That white cloud was a mix of oil and refrigerant.. Let the A/C tech. know about it when he comes to fix it. Prolly didn't lose enough oil to matter but, one never knows.

There’s some oil puddled by the condense. I had it refilled a couple years ago and I replaced the capacitor and condenser fan last year. I figured I would need a refill one more time to get by until fall and then a replacement unit hoping that Covid madness had passed and prices wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe I’ll get lucky. My wife was pretty pissed at me tonight when it happened. She told me tonight she wanted to replace it last year but, you know, didn’t tell me that. Guess my telepathy wasn’t working last summer.

 

[Aces11]

I would check with your insurance company. Many policies now offer equipment breakdown endorsement. You maybe able to have it fixed for a small fee.

 

[switchback7]

i just blew $3.5k on a new evap coil and drier filter...f'ing sucked.

 

[JoeDirt]

Yes

My vote would be to repair then. Even the cheapest 10 year old furnace/AC still should have 10 more years left on it. If its name brand you should get another 20.

Contractors really like to up sell new system....

 

[Stalker69]

What brand is it ? Some have 10 year warranty.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

LOL I never provided an update.

2nd opinion. The 2nd tech concluded NO identifiable leak. He filled the refrigerant no charge. He said it was essentially gone. He said a leak is not 100% excluded but states it doesn't hurt to do a trial and if the pressure drops off rapidly then I may need a replacement. He also states if there was a leak it may have taken years. No one really knows.

Well, I sold the house in January of this year. The a/c, after the 2nd opinion, held perfectly fine and never stopped cooling that summer and the following summer. Probably scammed by the 1st tech. I complained but the owner backed his tech. Not surprised.

 

[Iceman82]

I would replace the evaporator coil and call it good. Most systems will go 20 years. 38 years in the business, 23 in my own business.

 

[hunterjmj]

I worked for a large residential HVAC company years ago and we had to try to sell a unit if it was at least 10 years old. We were expected to have so many new unit sales per so many calls. I've worked on some really old units that never leaked but something else gave out. The copper used in the newer stuff is so freaking thin that a lot of times you'll get multiple pin hole leaks, usually the evaporator, that replacing the evap is the best choice. I'd always repair unless the unit was so old it would be advantageous to your electric bill. I went on to do commercial refrigeration because of the sales pitch/upsale mentality of a lot of residential HVAC.

 

[ODB]

LOL I never provided an update.

2nd opinion. The 2nd tech concluded NO identifiable leak. He filled the refrigerant no charge. He said it was essentially gone. He said a leak is not 100% excluded but states it doesn't hurt to do a trial and if the pressure drops off rapidly then I may need a replacement. He also states if there was a leak it may have taken years. No one really knows.

Well, I sold the house in January of this year. The a/c, after the 2nd opinion, held perfectly fine and never stopped cooling that summer and the following summer. Probably scammed by the 1st tech. I complained but the owner backed his tech. Not surprised.

Man I went round and round with techs when I had mine replaced last year. There are techs who just use the tools and there are techs who use their brains. I eventually got a decent tech. What annoyed me most is after plenty of issues, the sales guy NEVER followed up to see how things were going. Even my car dealer called me after a month to check in.