The 2 or 2 and a half ton systems I've serviced have taken about 5 pounds. Eight may be high.
The offer sounds less and less believable.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
realized he had written a 4 not a 2. The system fully charged takes 8 lbs of refrigerant, it should not require that much to re-charge."
only gets so hot that I try to turn it on about 5 days a year. I can feel some cool air come out, but it isn't much and definitely doesn't cool the whole house. For years, we just kind of ignored it, since we barely turn it on. But I saw the inspection advertised and thought, I should have this looked at.
At this point, I'd decline the offer, and see if some other tech will come out for estimate. I'd come out, but the trip charge from PRNY is a bit much, and I don't have a business licence in PRC.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
In earlier post, I also suggested some maint that likely is very needed, and requires no freon.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
able to tell whether there was a leak or not, and where it might be?
No, and no.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
Considering the age of the equipment, my advice from an earlier post is more likely to be useful than this freon obsession.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
The first system I worked on (june 2000) took
5 pounds. IIRC, two or two point five tons.- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
My concern is that they didn't really check out the air conditioner and do the "20 point" inspection. They said everything else was within standards, but come on, could something this old still be within standards. Nothing else on the thing needs work except for more Freon?
the air conditioner and do the "20 point" inspection. They said everything else was within standards, but come on, could something this old still be within standards. Nothing else on the thing needs work except for more Freon?
You did read my earlier posts, right?
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
My old ac unit was 40 years old and had only had freon added once - and was still working well, when I replaced it with a newer more efficient unit.
Sometimes you can find a leak just by looking for oily trace. When the freon comes out it oftem takes a little bit of the refrigeration oil along out with it - particulatly if the leal is in the bottom "corner" of the condenser or evaporator. In auto A/C you can often locate leaks that way that don't even sho up with a "sniffer"
They certainly can tell if it's low on R22 or not. If it's low, then it went somewhere, so it's leaking. Could be just a very slow leak at the schrader valves which costs $1 or it could be a leaking evaporator, etc that costs $1000+.
Did it ever run right? You seem to be saying that either it never cooled right or it hasn't been cooling right for a long time. If it's the latter, but it's still doing some cooling, that would suggest that it's a very slow leak. You could do what gfre suggested, get someone else to diagnose it and assuming they can't find a leak, if it needs a few pounds of R22, top it off. That should get it back to normal performance and then you can see how long it lasts. I'd make sure that you know how much it's going to cost though. Putting a few hundred into it to try to either fix it or get a couple years out of it wouldn't be a bad idea. Putting $700 or $1000 into it, that's a different story.
Also, as gfre suggested, you can measure the air temp going into the returns and coming out of the registers. Somewhere between 15 to 20F delta is typical.
I am not an air conditioner technician, however, I had a big problem with m y new AC unit in my newly built 2450 square foot home in hotter-than-hell T exas not being able to keep my home at the 72F set on the thermostat. I had about 4 technicians tell me that the unit was working fine, but when the t emperature kept creeping up approaching 80F, I called the manager of the AC company. He came out and just looked at everything, no tools involved. H e told me that an AC unit, like a performance car engine, works better if y ou can improve the way it breathes. He advised me to add an additional air return duct and filter. I did this myself and all my problems were cured. A cheap and easy fix!
my new AC unit in my newly built 2450 square foot home in hotter-than-hell Texas not being able to keep my home at the 72F set on the thermostat. I h ad about 4 technicians tell me that the unit was working fine, but when the temperature kept creeping up approaching 80F, I called the manager of the AC company. He came out and just looked at everything, no tools involved. He told me that an AC unit, like a performance car engine, works better if you can improve the way it breathes. He advised me to add an additional a ir return duct and filter. I did this myself and all my problems were cure d. A cheap and easy fix!
I presume this manager was from the same company that installed it? I guess the only thing better would have been if the company put in the additional return, which is what seems right. If they put the system in a brand new house, it's supposed to work.....
A lot of that assumes that the guy installing it was competent. If this is a place where A/C is an afterthought, they may not know much about A/C design and just try to use the heat duct design.. Here in Florida, it is the other way around. They design for A/C and the heat is inefficient.. We seldom ever turn it on so that is not a problem. I think it has been 2 or 3 years since the toaster wire strips in my A/C have been hot.
ith my new AC unit in my newly built 2450 square foot home in hotter-than-h ell Texas not being able to keep my home at the 72F set on the thermostat. I had about 4 technicians tell me that the unit was working fine, but when the temperature kept creeping up approaching 80F, I called the manager of t he AC company. He came out and just looked at everything, no tools involve d. He told me that an AC unit, like a performance car engine, works better if you can improve the way it breathes. He advised me to add an additiona l air return duct and filter. I did this myself and all my problems were c ured. A cheap and easy fix!
He said it was a brand new house in Texas. And even if the guy installing it was incompetent, the fact that a manager figured out that the solution is an additional return would, in most cases, mean that they are responsible for doing the modification.
And here in NJ which needs both, there are still plenty of screwed up ineffective systems, usually on the cooling side. Which is sad, because by now, with all the computer tools and knowledge base, it should be easy to do it right. Unfortunately, doing it cheap seems to be one factor. And I think because so many techs are focused on that world, they don't even learn how to do it right.
What do you mean "no answer"? How do they have nerve enough not to answer?
Unless someone can explain to me how this is okay, it sounds like a con game to me. That is, who knows if they checked out anything. Who knows if you really need 8 pounds? maybe you need 2 pounds. I certainly wouldn't let this company touch your AC again, and if they won't answer about the other 19 points, I'd report them to Angie. After all, what good is that list, which you have paid to use, I gather, if people don't report their bad experiences.
I'd demand an answer to each of the 20 points, but at the this point, I would expect anything to be true.
My Carrier AC worked fine until about 4 years ago, when the compressor started tripping the breaker on startup. It's not the cap. I rarely used it, preferring open windows unless it's over 90 or 95 out, but it worked fine for 32 years.
He misread the number! That sounds like a lie to me, the kind of thing they say when they get caught. (But it still doesn't mean they're saying the truth now, only that they're no longer claiming you need 8 pounds) Sure, someone can misread a number (How coudl a 4 look like a 2?) but in context, I don't bellieve them.
So how much would it take, and where do 4 and 2 come in?
Good idea. Also, check your filter(s) to make sure they are clean. That the guy says he checked doesn't mean he did.
Most likely, the insullation on the motor windings is breaking down. 32 years is long past time to replace.
- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .
I'd be trying a "soft start kit" first.
+1
And at least now we know how the system could be running. With 8lbs missing, that seemed impossible. IDK if having
1/2 a charge is enough to run it for sure either, but at least that seems like it could.
Maybe Stormin can help us out here. I'm not sure that you can tell for sure how many pounds it will take based on readings. Seems more likely to me you can only ballpark it.
Since it looks like it may just be low on refrigerant, I'd get a different company out to check it out, look for leaks, and if the leak is just at the valves, or they can't find a leak, then top it off. At the least, he'd likely get another year out of it and see what happens. If you get another year, possibly more for maybe $250, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.