a/c compressor burned out?

My a/c quit working, no cool air. About a year ago a repairman did something with a switch in the attic that he said would normally be replaced at a cost of $150 or so but that it really wasn't necessary. He has a good rep and no reason to have me spend less.

Nos the A/C quit working. I called another company as I couldn't locate the other guy. The tech came out, took a look at the unit and said the compressor was probably frozen but that he couldn't tell until he put a booser on it to see if he could get it running. He said it was turning off because it was overheating and was getting a signal to turn on. He didn't look in the attic or mention anything about a disabled switch.

It's a carrier. I don't have the BTUs.

Any suggestions? What should it cost to replace the compressor it that's what turns out to be bad? The A/C is 10 years old. Should I replace the whole unit, if the compressor is bad?

Thanks : -)

Reply to
AKA Gray Asphalt
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That's the problem. ACs need Btus in order to work and you must have run out. Get a refill and you will be all set.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Pawlowski's response was neither useful nor funny. Leave the humor contributions to us professionals.

Reply to
Craven Morehead

Well poo. Sorry to hear of your trouble.

Given that the industry now has a mandated 13SEER efficiency on A/C units, it may be that you won't be able to get away with just replacing the compressor without also doing the coil inside. At 10 years, may as well just do the system I suppose. Plus at 10 years... it's not exactly a spring chicken.

I have some recent estimates for A/C for a 2 story colonial of around

2400sf in Chicagoland. 3TON 13SEER a/c + coil installed was $2000-3200 depending on how quiet ya want it to be outside.

The low estimate broke it out: Frigidaire R22 unit at $1400 with a $550 coil. Carrier systems using R410A ran between $2600-$3200 for basic/comfort/performance series. A Ruud 3TON (R22) came in at $2889.

Hope that helps ya with some ballpark numbers before you start gathering estimates. If you're comfy with Carrier (which you may not be with this failure), have a Bryant dealer quote ya too -- same stuff, same factory in Indiana, less expensive paint and label. Rheem and Trane seem to be very well respected. Ruud is another brand of Rheem equipment.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

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Reply to
Todd H.

So, is your response useful or funny?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

On Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:42:46 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote Re Re: a/c compressor burned out?:

Much more useful than yours. Heck it was even funnier than yours.

Reply to
Caesar Romano

Thank you. It's a real problem for me. Does the idea of a 'booster' make any sense? It might be a good idea to not replace everything until next year at the start of the summer season, no? I live in the desert so we still need it now, though. Really thanks.

Reply to
AKA Gray Asphalt

I thought BTUs was relevant. I guess it's tons. Oh well.

Reply to
AKA Gray Asphalt

I'm not familiar ?

You may get a benefit from it not being the frenzy season for A/C installations, and you can start saving on electricity right away, if you have to dump out the cash anyway. And prices next season will probably rise.

-- Todd H.

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Reply to
Todd H.

Now was that nice?

:p

tom

Reply to
Tom The Great

A professional comedian?

:)

Reply to
Tom The Great

Being an a/c guy myself the booster {hard start kit} would help in diagnostic. Why didn't he try it ? Is the outdoor fan running ? IF not Pwer may not be on at braker. Could have run capacitor bad if its a duel cap- that would keep both moters from running. You would hear the comp- try to start {slight hum for a few seconds}.

Reply to
Dr_wiley

Ed's all right, in my book. He's been consistently helpful with the occasional light remark about wiring, or a bit of freon advice. Actually, I considered writing whatyou did, but you BTU it. Next time, I'll beat YOU to it.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Yep, them BTUs are dissolved in the freon. Ask the tech to put in a couple pounds of freon.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I'm getting sense that the outdoor unit needs professional cleaning. If the fins get packed with dust (as they do every couple years), then the compressor will overheat and shut down. The booser can help for awhile, but it really needs professional cleaning.

If you replace the outdoor unit, you'll get nice clean fins. And $pend more buck$.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I'm sure it's cool. He couldn't handle the pressure, if I'm any gage of things. He did a fan tastic job of popping off, hope he didn't overload you. I'm sure you've got a good capacity for hard starting posters. He's probably a Typhoid Mary, a carrier don't you know. I see a ton of posts like that, they don't draft em, just type and send. If you're not airflow, you can write like that, too. I'm trying to be careful to not be usefl/ow, or funny. Maybe I should draft this, it's off to a hard start. A super boost of editing could help. But, writing isn't one of my manifold talents. Neither am I a punster, though Herman Punster was one of my favorite kids shows. Him and Grandpa and Eddie.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Lives in desert. Fins packed with dust. By holding a light behind my crystal balls I can see dirt packed condensor. Though, it's a lot easier to hold the light behind the fins.

Please call a company to clean the outside unit. They should use water and chemicals.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

The newer ones are so much more efficient. They run on CTU, not BTU. The older ones used tons and tons of BTU. Before that, when they first came out, they used ATU. They even have some RTU units, which are a lot more efficient.

Incidentally, a "ton" of cooling is the ammount of energy needed to convert a ton of ice to water at 32F. Which works out to 12,000 BTU per hour.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

AKA Gray Asphalt posted for all of us...

I am not in a/c but I know the tech should be able able to diagnose the problem without the "booster". Have him define exactly what this piece is supposed to do. I suspect it's to boost his wallet. But it may be what's called a hard start kit, which should be after a proper diagnoses. NOBODY can tell how much it will cost because we can't see it, touch it, know it through a screen.

Reply to
Tekkie®

Per hour, eh?

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

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