I had a new split system American standard allegiance central air conditioner installed two days ago. I had to put a stop payment on the check because of some very serious concerns about their installation. I have a couple of questions if someone experienced would be so kind as to reply. Just some minor questions:
1) Is it normal for condenstation to form on the outside of the furnace plenum with the a/c on? The evaporator coil is on top of the furnace within the plenum.
2) How can I determine if my system has a LIQUID LINE FILTER DRIER installed? I checked the copper lines from the a/c base outside all the way to where it enters the plenum to the evaporator coil and I don't see one. Could it be within the plenum or out a/c unit?
Thanks for your time!
PS: The installation of my new unit is one from hell!
What are your concerns to put a stop payment onn the check. If it is beacause of the two questions you asked below, you are a thief. IF not please state what were the real reasons of your stop check. Why did you even give them a check if your were dissatisfied.
If the temperature of your plenum is below the deewpoint yes it will sweat.
There is one inside the condenser. Not a very good one, but there is one there.
You may have committed a felony by stopping payment on the check. The bank will do this anytime you call them, but in our State if you stop payment on a check it better be due to fraud or theft. Very few are aware that a check is considered that you accepted the completed work and it is viewed by the courts the same as cash, therefore, by cancelling your check, and if the contractor knows the law, you have to explain to the court why you stole 'money' from this contractor, (remember, the court views a check the same as cash). In Ohio if you steal cash or bounce a check over $50 it's a felony with possible jail time, the same is true concerning cancelled checks. It's like giving the contractor money/cash then without his knowledge you take back/steal the money. If this causes the contractor to experience penalties and judgments by creditors he can sue you for damages and he will probably win. If you don't believe me, call your legal representative or your local court and ask them, or go to the library and look up your States laws concerning this. I got this information the first year I was in business by my lawyer friend who is now a judge for the county.
For those of you who call me a thief and an asshole for protecting my investment let me further state serious concerns as to why I did. Its not JUST because of the two I stated. Here are other reasons:
1) I did not have a/c prior to this. It was a new install on a 2 year old American Standard Freedom 90-R furnace. They had to cut the plenum and make a new junction with a boot from where they cut the plenum to where it attachs to the furnace. This new metal work of theirs is held in tact in 90% of the seams with only aluminum duct tape! Also at the seams there are many places where is bowed with 1" gaps..on some seams the entire seam does not line up and there is a 1" gap the entire length of these seams. They put aluminum duct tape covering these gaps. Already the duct tape is starting to fail! They did not use metal strips(I don't know what they're called) that join two pieces of metal together but also they didn't use screws because of the 1" gaps. In a few places they did, the metal bowed out. The
19 year old kid who did this metal work was a college student on summer break.
2) When the unit was installed and it was getting near 5PM the work crew was sucurrying so they get out and go home. The electrical wiring on the outside of the house is complete except for the power company to come and put a second meter in the new box because I am having interrupted service. They jumpered the new box so the a/c will work. 5 mins before 5pm they finally started the system by plugging in the out disconnect(which is an unfused disconnect..in fact I don't see any circuit breaker or any kind of protection). After the unit started they got ready to leave they put the thermostat setting to 70 and said: "Let the a/c run for 45 mins then raise it to 78. Let the system shut itself off. Do not shut the system off(at the thermostat) before it shuts off or it will cause a short!" We let it run 45 mins, raised to 78 and after is entirely shut off we shut the system off at the thermostat because its not cool enough for a/c and not warm enough for heat during the day. The next morning it was chilly in the house(61F) so I put the thermostat to heat. Nothing happened! I checked the furnace breaker, it was not tripped but I reset it anyways. After a few hours of wondering, I looked in the furance at the control board and there is a 5amp spade fuse on it that was blown. I replaced it as immediatey when I put the system from OFF to heat it blew again. I didn't change it any more. Something is amiss.
These are my two major concerns and reasons for stopping payment. Call me a thief if you like but if I didn't stop payment they stall coming back to make repairs, or fail to make proper repairs who is the thief then?
The contract has a $70.00 fee for a permit but I didn't see one posted. Someone mentioned not paying them until it passed inspection. Thats a good idea but at 5pm on a friday there are no city inspectors on the job. Sometimes it might take a few days for an inspector to show up.
Regarding condenstation on the plenum I guess I won't be able to use my a/c for fear of condenstation draining into the furnace and causing damage, mold, rust and whatever else.
I wish I'd never have had this done. I'd be better off using my window a/c's which is probably what I'll do and not use the central a/c.
One last thing, do those of you who call this being a thief and fraud would you accept this type of installation in your home? I kind of feel I am the victim because when I contract with a licensed contractor to do work I don't expect an unqualified 19 year old to be doing journeyman work at my expense.
Thanks to those who offered valuable information. I appreciate it very much.
There must be a lot of felons around. I see on TV court shows people who stopped payment on checks all the time for shoddy repair work. Maybe it IS fraud when what you paid for isn't properly installed and SAFE! If the contractor KNOWS the law then he should know installing something improper and unsafe could have VERY serious consequences. For instance, the aluminum duct tape that is holding my plenum together failing and spewing carbon monoxide in my house. Your lawyer friend/judge sounds like a joke to me, and you do too. If the job is done proper then there is no worry about stopped payments on checks. I think you get that check and run! I'm glad you're in Ohio!
I Am Being Sued for Placing a Stop Payment? If you are being sued for having ordered a stop payment, you will need to show that when you stopped payment, you did so in good faith. An example of a good faith stop payment would be that you were not satisfied with a service you received.
I'm not worried at all Geoman. You're no lawyer and I don't care what your sorry opinion is.
This is something that you didn't tell us before. Don't expect a straight answer from *ANYBODY* without giving *ALL* of the details. BTW, you ignorance is showing.... There is nothing wrong with using aluminimum tape to seal off plenum air leaks after its been screwed together, and IF you have CO coming out of the plenum, you have a hell of a lot worse problem than you realize....CO DOESN"T COME OUT OF THE PLENUM
I'm glad you not in Mississippi, because even ignorant rednecks got more sense than you do.
Stopping payment on a check if you have a signed contract, and the city building inspector signed off on the installation, is still CRIMINAL, and subject to breach of contract, fraud, theft, and my favorite....flalse pretense.
My questions weren't regarding the legality if stopping payments on checks. I guess you couldn't grasp that though. Sealing a seam and covering 1" gaps with tape are two different things. The tape was used because it cannot be screwed together. mississippi? Never heard of it, oh um, maybe I did..land of ignorant rednecks who are married to their sisters and cousins.
City inspector had not been here yet..There is NO WAY he is going to aprove this installation. Hey don't worry about it OK. Go newsgroup trolling somewhere else.
Now the truth comes out..... did you contact the owner of the company and explain you issues to him?? Did you try to get your issues resolved through the company?? Have you called the permit and inspections department and talked to the chief code enforcement officer?? If you have not done any of these things, then your guilty of the before mentioned offences. if you HAVE taken these steps, then you need to stay on the city inspections department until they force the contractor to do the job right.
You keep getting the issue confused Noon Air..Let me try to splain' it to you again, veeeeery slooooow so you can understand. I asked 2 questions NONE of which was a query, to legal guru's like you, about stop payments on checks. Get it? Duh! Need it splained' again?
Actually I have been here for over 10 years..... and unless you give ALL of the information in, then your going to catch a bunch of crap. If you don't like it, you can go away.
Noon, thats because it wasn't any part of my original post. Ya has a hard time of understandin' don't ya bud? Its ok, I know you used to ride the small school bus.
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