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Woooohaa.... fixed my crappy home A/C again............sort of.

L

Lemondrop

Member
Old A/C is very craptastic and I will replace it before the summer but it stopped working the other day.
Good thing I am not afraid of trying to fix anything. It was running fine and then we ran the heat pump because it got cold out for a couple days. When we went to use it again it would not fire up. I was afraid it sprang a leak and was crapped. I hooked my gauges up this afternoon and fired it up. The low side went from 70PSI to 0 and the accumulator started to ice up. I pulled the top off the outside unit and fired the heat pump up. The heat was blasting and my low side gauge pegged out, so I knew the r22 was still lurking inside. I had tried a cycle to heat a couple times a few days ago with no luck in getting A/C.

I tapped the reversing valve with a wrench a few times and then went and fired the A/C up and waaa-laaa we had cold air. Told the wife is she gets a cold front while I am in WI, to grab blankets and leave the heat pump off :)

What sucks is needing to run A/C in January. Does not need it much but with no breeze and 78-80 degrees outside, it gets sticky in the house fast. Florida sucks.
 
Good job, I don't have gauges for the house but fixed mine 3X in 5yrs saving >$700 so far as of course it went out every time on the weekend. First time was the blower motor, I could hear the bearing going, second time it was the fan motor on top, 3rd was the resistor ballast (looks a lot like a car coil). Total for all 3 parts was maybe $150 man it pays to be handy.
Jon
 
Nice catch. One note: on many heat pumps, the reversing valve is energized during cooling, and returns to heat mode everytime it turns off. So, it might do it again even w/o turning it to heat mode. Sorry if that rained on the parade, but BTDT.
 
Florida sucks? Wait until you get back from WI, and see if you want to change that tune. No Offense to anyone in WI, but i believe all of the snowy states suck.
 
"lethal289" said:
Florida sucks? Wait until you get back from WI, and see if you want to change that tune. No Offense to anyone in WI, but i believe all of the snowy states suck.
Click to expand...

May 1st through November 15th = suck in Florida. Almost 6 months of pure hell heat and humidity. I also wondered about the reversing valve but it has never stuck before so I don't know for certain the tapping got it but I also took the wiring off the coil and wiggled it back into place to be sure the contacts were happy. This unit is from 1992 so I dunno if the valve energizes for heat run or energize for cool run. Cold front coming through tomorrow that will knock the A/C back into a dormant state for a week.
 
"Lemondrop" said:
Cold front coming through tomorrow that will knock the A/C back into a dormant state for a week.
Click to expand...

Sorry Chris, but everytime time I hear that phrase, I laugh pretty hard :yah




You sure got your money out of that AC unit!
 
"silverblueBP" said:
Sorry Chris, but everytime time I hear that phrase, I laugh pretty hard :yah




You sure got your money out of that AC unit!
Click to expand...

No, this past summer the $450 power bills during July and August kinda took it all back.
 
If you want to check, unplug the solenoid. Then run the unit, calling for heat and cool mode on the thermostat. You'll only get one function, that's the one that is the unenergized state.
 
"apollard" said:
If you want to check, unplug the solenoid. Then run the unit, calling for heat and cool mode on the thermostat. You'll only get one function, that's the one that is the unenergized state.
Click to expand...

As long as cold air comes from the vents, I ain't touching anything :hide

My plan is to replace the entire turd before summer rolls around again. I was going to have someone do the job for me but 2 different guys suddenly came up with reasons why they could not do it and one contractor wanted 9K to do the replacement......... because his employee came out and told my wife the job was going to be a PITA. The PITA is my roof is a very low pitch with hard access to the attic. The copper lines need to be replaced and run up through the attic. Those are the PITA part, which I hardly consider a 7K ass pain. I can buy a 3 ton heat pump for $2,200 and install it myself, copper and all. I was looking at 4-4500 for replacing the unit, figuring a 2K profit for installing the unit was not too much to ask.

One guy I was going to get to do it was hired by an out of town contractor and did not have the time any longer to do the job, though he told me he could have the old one out, new one in and running in one day.

Hardly makes me want to pay the final contractor 9K :) I guess I should have tried pricing people in the winter months, instead of the summer.......

We spent the money instead paying off some credit cards so now I am back to saving. The upside is I get to buy myself a shiny new vacuum pump :)

I will likely have to get a HVAC person to come charge the unit if it does not come pre-charged but certainly that won't cost me 7K either.

I'm IMACA certified for automotive A/C and was ASE A/C certified till my cert expired so I am not completely ignorant on A/C systems. The only thing I wish I had was a way to nitrogen purge the lines while soldering them in, as I have read it is the preferred method to joining HVAC lines.

I know a contractor would likely do a better job at installing a new unit but with my attic restrictions, the ducting won't get any better. Sadly the unit was installed by a contractor who screwed up the system in the first place. They installed the "high side" line undersized from what the manufacturer specified. I guess it is the tube they had on the truck so they crimped the evaporator connection tube down and soldered the smaller diameter pipe in. My first A/C guy told me by them doing that, I lost likely 10% of the units efficiency right off the get-go. They also half-assed the ducting in the attic, running the 6 inch ducts through rafters in a way that had most of them smashed by 50% or more. I replaced most of the ducting with new because a rodent had made it in the attic and swiss-cheesed the ducting, so I routed it to take the kinks out.
None of the original ducts had mastic on them, just a single inner zip tie and massive joint leaks. Also because they could not venture from the center of the roof very far, all of the vents are installed within 3 feet of the bedroom doors, which makes the air stale in the bedrooms because the air coming from the vents shoots right out the door back to the return.

In my master BR, I have the MBR bathroom torn out right now for remodel. Since it gave me access farther towards the outer walls, I moved the vent in the room to the far side of the room. Made our room much more comfy but now I have two vents, with one not functioning and being capped off in the attic. Next drywall repair/repaint and I'll remove the vent.

So, for the experience I have seen with using a contractor..........I might as well do it myself.
 
"Lemondrop" said:
No, this past summer the $450 power bills during July and August kinda took it all back.
Click to expand...

I feel ya. I had a couple $600 here in Houston last summer. I lost both evaporator coils in the last 6 months. Just finished up the downstairs unit last weekend. I also was able to repair the zone dampers so at night we can isolate the master bedroom from the rest of the house to keep it comfy while sleeping and let the rest of the house run warmer when not in use. I expect the light bill will be a little less painful this summer.
 
"Lemondrop" said:
As long as cold air comes from the vents, I ain't touching anything :hide

My plan is to replace the entire turd before summer rolls around again. I was going to have someone do the job for me but 2 different guys suddenly came up with reasons why they could not do it and one contractor wanted 9K to do the replacement......... because his employee came out and told my wife the job was going to be a PITA. The PITA is my roof is a very low pitch with hard access to the attic. The copper lines need to be replaced and run up through the attic. Those are the PITA part, which I hardly consider a 7K ass pain. I can buy a 3 ton heat pump for $2,200 and install it myself, copper and all. I was looking at 4-4500 for replacing the unit, figuring a 2K profit for installing the unit was not too much to ask.

One guy I was going to get to do it was hired by an out of town contractor and did not have the time any longer to do the job, though he told me he could have the old one out, new one in and running in one day.

Hardly makes me want to pay the final contractor 9K :) I guess I should have tried pricing people in the winter months, instead of the summer.......

We spent the money instead paying off some credit cards so now I am back to saving. The upside is I get to buy myself a shiny new vacuum pump :)

I will likely have to get a HVAC person to come charge the unit if it does not come pre-charged but certainly that won't cost me 7K either.

I'm IMACA certified for automotive A/C and was ASE A/C certified till my cert expired so I am not completely ignorant on A/C systems. The only thing I wish I had was a way to nitrogen purge the lines while soldering them in, as I have read it is the preferred method to joining HVAC lines.

I know a contractor would likely do a better job at installing a new unit but with my attic restrictions, the ducting won't get any better. Sadly the unit was installed by a contractor who screwed up the system in the first place. They installed the "high side" line undersized from what the manufacturer specified. I guess it is the tube they had on the truck so they crimped the evaporator connection tube down and soldered the smaller diameter pipe in. My first A/C guy told me by them doing that, I lost likely 10% of the units efficiency right off the get-go. They also half-assed the ducting in the attic, running the 6 inch ducts through rafters in a way that had most of them smashed by 50% or more. I replaced most of the ducting with new because a rodent had made it in the attic and swiss-cheesed the ducting, so I routed it to take the kinks out.
None of the original ducts had mastic on them, just a single inner zip tie and massive joint leaks. Also because they could not venture from the center of the roof very far, all of the vents are installed within 3 feet of the bedroom doors, which makes the air stale in the bedrooms because the air coming from the vents shoots right out the door back to the return.

In my master BR, I have the MBR bathroom torn out right now for remodel. Since it gave me access farther towards the outer walls, I moved the vent in the room to the far side of the room. Made our room much more comfy but now I have two vents, with one not functioning and being capped off in the attic. Next drywall repair/repaint and I'll remove the vent.

So, for the experience I have seen with using a contractor..........I might as well do it myself.
Click to expand...

well, thats one thing thats consistent all over the country. it's like pulling teeth to get a HVAC guy scheduled in. back in july, i bought a used 2 ton heat pump package unit from a contractor here for the garage. did all my own ductwork & ran the wiring to the unit etc. but had to get him out to hook it up as his employee had disconnected a bunch of wiring when it was taken out. took 3 weeks to get that done. unit worked 3 hrs, then ran out of freon (leaky core) took 3 more weeks to get him out for that. ended up giving me a new heil unit for cost minus what i paid for the used unit & was gonna be out on the following mon with the new unit & it only took 3 more weeks after that mon (along with a nasty phone call) to get the new unit here.
 
When we built houses on the side, I had a great HVAC guy. Showed up on time, great prices, etc. Five years later he now has 15 trucks, so his competition must suck. I do all my own at the house, so no need to call him now.

450-600 is making me feel OK about my $350/mo bill last summer (and this December!).
 
and I bitch when my electric bill goes over $150 (which is rare).
 
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