Anyone here with HVAC knowledge?
Long story short, my outdoor AC condenser stopped working. Had someone inspect it and, big surprise, the whole unit needs to be replaced along with the indoor coils. The price range from different places is 9k-12k for a solution. With it being peak summer here in Texas I suspect they're hoping people are desperate enough to take a shitty deal -- happy to be wrong though. Symptoms of the problem and what I've tried:
>indoor unit is pulling in air
>outdoor fan is not spinning so no cooling
>When power is turned on for the outdoor AC condenser it's tripping the break
>I had a spare capacitor and swapped them but didn't fix anything.
>the flashing led signals on the circuit board were indicating that there were no errors
The kicker here is that it's an R22 unit so wise, big daddy government has outlawed it's usage. Any help would be appreciated.
Yeah I'm an HVAC engineer in fact. I like Texas tho.
>I like Texas tho.
Why?
It's nice. I like the heat. I like the people. I als like larping as a cowboy.
Could be the condenser fan motor is busted and you need a new one.
Anyway to self diagnose?
disconnect the motor leads, and keep note of which wire goes where. if you have a megger you can test if theres a short in the motor windings, if not you can use a regular multimeter to see if the motor windings are open or not, but it wont tell you what conditions the windings are in. if the breaker is tripping right when the motor kicks in you probably have a shorted out motor, or theres a short after the contactor. check all the leads you can, and make sure theres no rust or corrosion on the terminals. knowing how to use a multimeter is a handy skill, along with some above basic electrical knowledge if youre gonna be fricking with HVAC units.
I appreciate it. Once it gets below triple digits outside I'll make an attempt.
how many estimates did you get?
>The price range from different places is 9k-12k
WHAT! seems very high.
I'm not crazy then. We were expecting 3k-6k max and were floored when those numbers came up.
I can buy an entire outdoor unit here for like $2k Canadian
you're being ripped off badly, get other quotes
You either have a short somewhere or the compressor shorted internally. Check all the wires and make sure none of them are touching ground or rubbed theough. Pop the cover off of the compressor terminals and check those too.
R22 isn't outlawed. It's perfectly legal to own and recharge units with, its just expensive.
Equipment prices have almost doubled since 2020.
Maybe your wholesale prices have doubled. Buy off the websites and they've gone up 15-25% or so, like everything else as part of the democrats' miracle economic plan.
trump lost. seethe and dilate
>ad someone inspect it and, big surprise, the whole unit needs to be replaced
An HVAC tech refusing to offer any actual help or actual diagnosing besides "uhhhh replace the whole thing for a 900% markup brah "? Damn, that's CRAZY. Never heard of that before. FYI, R22 is not illegal to use,fix, or refill with any R22 already produced before the end of its production in 2020. If he told you "R22 is illegal" in any shape or form he's lying to you.
If your unit used R22 that means it was manufactured before 2010. At this point since he's not willing to actually fix your unit because he'd rather make an E-Z $8000 off you tell him to frick off, just order a new unit yourself and throw it together. If you're not a completely useless beta male it's not that difficult. Since everything's already plumbed all you have to do is cut the lines, put in the new coil and outdoor unit, reconnect the lines, and turn it on.
Whole new system to your door is about $3k. If you can get a hold of a vacuum pump and are willing to watch a video or two and pick up some basic supplies totaling less than $200 you are capable of doing this yourself.
>just order a new unit yourself and throw it together
I hear ya. It wouldn't be against this idea but time isn't really on my side with work obligations and the fact that everyone is cooking in the house right now. If it were March then definitely. Plus the odds are high that I'll frick something up.
The fan would start up for like a few seconds then trip the breaker. It did buzz when inspector tried it but no other time did it make that noise. I might test it out here again in a minute just to see.
I have 2 right now, having another inspector out tomorrow and getting a 2nd opinion.
tried the fan again, didn't sound normal. Almost like a grinding sound?
Busted bearing? That'll produce a grinding noise + trip the breaker.
Do what other anon said and throw a new motor on it.
Shouldn't be more than $100 and if it works, congrads.
If not, then test leads on compressor.
Check amperage as well
If all else fails find some beaner to fix it cheap
>you see i'd do it myself and save $9000 but I have....le job. i have.....le responsibilities
Frick off. If you work 19 hours a day 7 days a week and couldn't possibly take a single Saturday to save $9000 you must be wealthy enough that $9000 is like $20 to us peons. Just pay the nice, not ripping you off HVAC man then and quit asking people for help.
You alright man?
What did he say that was wrong?
pretty much being a spaz about how broke he is. not the og replier and i know this is PrepHole, but dude anybody that isnt a multimillionaire will try to save money as best as they can. nobody really has the luxury of spare change these days.
>nobody really has the luxury of spare change these days.
brainwashed or sheltered, either way this is an idiotic claim, and I'm not referring to billionaires. I'm referring to millions of ordinary americans. I just read something about how american teens hate android phones and most of them have Iphones. Talk about spare fricking change.
chill out moron, a smart phone and a massive service charge are not the same thing.
>guy says OP is ridiculous for saying he can't possibly take a single day at any point for the rest of the cooling season to do this work and replace the unit himself saving almost $10k
>yeah frick off dude people need to save money
????? Are YOU alright ? Both you and the guy you called a spaz are saying exactly the same thing but you're arguing with him. OP has been through two HVACBlack folk giving fake inspections that are obviously bullshitting him. A fan motor will run independently of a compressor. These reports are obvious bullshit. He's about to be taken for a ride and apparently is just coming to terms with it.
>Both you and the guy you called a spaz are saying exactly the same thing but you're arguing with him.
You can say something that someone else is saying while also having an issue with them acting like a homosexual about it, homosexual.
No, thats literally called having a c**t and being one. Men don't act like that.
Check the amps on both the fan and compressor wires. One of them is fricking you. After you reset the breaker, place the clamp around the wire and press the button in the middle of the contacter with something non cunductive. Whichever one goes super high is your problem.
Spend $80 on a new fan motor.
If it turns out to be the problem, it was an $80 fix.
If it wasn't the problem, you are only out $80 which isn't that much when you are looking at $3k-$12k
I appreciate it guys. Looking into this now.
I replaced the condenser motor on my AC two years ago, super simple job, just go out and find the plate on your old motor and go to Grainger and look it up. I think I spent under a $100 replacing it.
Yep, got my YouTube PhD and the specs on the motor this morning.
>Had someone inspect it and, big surprise, the whole unit needs to be replaced along with the indoor coils.
Sounds like he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with the unit and just decided it would be simpler for him to replace the whole thing instead of troubleshooting ever component.
The fan doesnt spin, but does the compressor kick on? Is there a loud buzzing noise? Does the fan spin freely?
OP Look up R-22 Drop in refrigerant
"Description. RS-44b (R453a) is the newest R22 drop-in replacement refrigerant in the U.S. market. RS-44b has been sold worldwide for the past 5 years, branded as RS-70 outside the US. It is the closest replacement to R22 that operates with very similar discharge pressure, cooling capacity and flow rate as R22."
How will a substitute refrigerant help him with a shorted out motor/compressor?
To replace it all the freon gonna go vroom . Then he has to vaccume it. Some compressors come pre charged to a short length of copper pipe. But that wouldn't have the drop in replacement nor enough for a house
Go back to California
Did a second inspection and the it was the same outcome: bad compressor. Need to replace whole unit plus the indoor coils. He mentioned he could replace the compressor but the manufacturer quoted 5k for just the part.
This doesn’t make any sense with the fan motor making a grinding sound.
I had this happen to me a lot, but it was because my hand or face was in the fan itself
The compressor was making the noise XD op is just a noob
give me the model number of your outdoor unit. I will look up the compressor.
What area of Texas ?
DFW
Try Adam the answer man in Dallas.
facebook com AdamTheAnswerman
check the voltage at the fan motor.
it probably shit itself.
>t. HVAC knower
Looks like OP gave in, HVAC Techs probably fricking that guys wife too because he told him its the only way to get it done on time.
I'm close. We got a 3rd independent inspection yesterday and the same thing. Do I have to pay alimony to HVAC guy if he fathers a child with my wife? What's the protocol?
Sorry man, didn't see this: 13HPD-030-230-01. One of the guys looked up the part and said it was 5k for the compressor alone. I assume it's mostly due to high demand.
HVAC is a cartel. They all work with each other and know each other in a given area. Thats how they write their licensing rules, you have to get paid minimum wage working under some boomer "Master HVAC" cert holder for 2-3 years before you are allowed to take the test to get the license to work on your own. They aren't going to undercut each other and risk pissing them off. So far you've wasted almost a week on a fools errand, had you ordered that unit I told you to it would be arriving tomorrow for you to install on Saturday. Now pay them their obscene extortion because thats your only option .
nothing that you've just said is true. not even remotely close.
I've been doing HVAC for 12 years and in three states. Most companies hate each other and do everything they can to undercut.
I work for the second largest company in my state, I started in 2011 at $19.50/hr, by 2013 I was making $35/hr, by 2015 I was making $55/hr.
A lot of companies are pieces of shit but most actually care about fixing the problem and making you happy. If you had a bad experience you likely chose a shitty company.
Just adding more information since you insist on being rabidly obnoxious. Yes, they are probably jacking up the price but I was able to get it down to 7k . I did shop around and the units were ~3.3k. Now I have to buy the tools and learn how to do it in the middle of a work week and in the middle of a record-breaking drought and I have zero experience doing this. The main part you're overlooking: the warranty. I plan on dumping this shitpile of a house in less than year and I want that warranty as a selling point which is easily worth the 2k-3k difference due to the age of the house. I'm not going to dig into the paperwork but -- from what I've read -- there are clauses (thanks to the HVAC cartels) that void the warranties if it's a self-installation. I hate the HVAC cartels too but that's the situation.
You never mentioned anything about a warranty, moron
Since, apparently, you know everything why didn't you consider it.
Anyway, thanks all. It's all repaired now and my butthole is bleeding a little bit but we aren't sweating as much any more.
What does a drought have to do with an air conditioner you moronic Black person? Whatever, enjoy your AC dude.
>13HPD-030-230-01
compressor is a Lennox 11C30
compatible units are zr28k5e-pfv-800 which you can get as cheap as 900usd.
finding someone to recycle the r22 is another story.
and this is all assuming your outside unit isnt dilapidated as frick
now first find out if it is the fricking compressor or something far cheaper you Black person.
OP if you had bought a multi meter from harbor freight you could have diagnosed the problem yourself instead of getting three trip charges from various companies.
I had this happen to me in Cali wali. Had to replace roof condenser and air handler because of its age and questionable install quality. Roof condenser's date stamp was 1993 if I recall correctly
The AC worked but the air handler (the thing that goes sucky blowy in the house) had its squirrel cage start to separate from itself.
It led a good life. It was original to the condo and had a date stamp of 1971 on it. I found two beer cans behind it with old school pop tops and no surgeon generals warning.
An Indy guy came out and replaced the squirrel cage with another but had to replace the motor and do some hacking to make it work.
It ran really well but was noisy AF. The unit was moving way more air than before. Gentle whine.
Anyway, when it started getting cold, I tried to turn on the heat and basically ruined the air handler. Thankfully you don't really need heat in California.
This happened in late December. I did some research and the truth is all brands are the same. It comes down to install quality.
So I went with reputable dealers and all of them came to the prices you were given between 9-12k.
I ended up going with one that installed these fancy Bosch units that do this weird scale down thing to save energy as they get to set point. They even warrantied the units for labor and parts for 10 years which I thought was impressive.
Anyway, the install was remarkable and incredibly professional. They did a solid job.
It was a heat pump and while I think the push to get everyone on heat pumps is lame and gay, I was really impressed with how it worked and heated the place. I set the differential for the heat pump and strips to like 10* in the digital thermostat. Our electrical bills from the year prior this summer were slightly cheaper. They'd be less if we didn't run recirculate but that makes a huge difference in air quality.
> thanks for reading my blog
Try and finding an Indy HVAC repair guy of you can. They'll help you out.
Did you at any point between calling people actually go outside and fricking literally go to the fan motor and unplug it.
if it is getting replaced anyway, just do total grug diagnosis, cut the wires going to the fan.
literally go out and with a pair of wire cutters just cut them in the middle.
then turn the fricking thing on, if it trips the breaker again, its over, replace it.
if it doesnt, replace the fan
not HVAC advice but I recommend that you have a happy day.
If you hate Texas move to California you homosexual
>yeah bro you need a whole new system
>don't worry bro my company has really good financing
They aren't people and you can stab them and still go to heaven