Hi,
My old central air conditioner broke last night. We were told the compressor is the part that is broken. Is there any chance it can be repaired or the compressor replaced. The unit is a Shana Air Model #361. It is over 40, possibly 50 years old, but if I can repair it I want to do it.
Thanks in advance.
Debbie ____ Deborah Oney Blood Recall / Withdrawal - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
"DebbieOney" wrote
Even if it is over 20 years old, you are better off putting in a COMPLETE new system. It will pay for itself in no time in the nergy savings. Replacing the compressor is just putting a band-aid on something that will eventually nickle and dime you to death....
Are you serious?? Anything can be repaired including 40 year old air conditioners, but there comes a time when the smart money is on replacement! A new unit will be much more efficiant than the old one. Greg
Check out this link....
What part of the world are you in?
ANY can be...
No..you dont. That tank has ate more power than you installing 2 new systems over the course of just a few years.
I installed a new, 12 SEER unit, complete, for a customer like yourself about 2 months ago. They also had a unit that was pushing 40. They called a week or so ago, and told me that the power bill dropped over $200 from the month PRIOR, and was over 250 less than the one from the same month a year before, and it was a mild summer last year. Now...you figure it out...you got about a 2SEER unit...thats TWO...if that. Why in hell do you want to drop between $900 to $1500 into a unit that isnt worth $50 at a scrap yard? That money will be much better spent working to save you money.
Debbie, get a new unit I have a small town house I just had a window ac unit for my bedroom it was costing me
60.00 a month just for the bedroom. I had a 13 seer installed with a new gas furnace when I got my first electric bill it was 50.00 and I run it a lot for health reasons. I new unit may cost you now but in the long run you will be more comfortable. and I run the blower on the furnace 24/7 with special air cleaners it helps with the dust and the comfort level increases for me at least with the blower 24/7.Mike
I wonder if its an old R-500 !!! WOW
Hardcrab is right, change it ALL, not just the outside. If you have to take a loan out you will save money in energy and future bills.
Being a contractor myself in the HVAC trade, I would refuse to repair this unit, let those in business who shouldn't be rip you off by repairing it, I would not be one of them.
Rich
A unit that old is maybe 2 seer that is 2 btu of cooling for every watt consumed. A bottomline 10 seer will use 1/5 th the power a top line 20 seer will consume 1/10 the electricity. Junk what you have. You need a load calculation done, just replacing it with same unit may be way off in size and leave you uncomfortable, to large a unit and it wont pull out humidity leaving you clamy. Have you upgraded windows or insulation or have trees grown to shade the house in 40 yrs, . You may get by with a much smaller unit. You wont have a warranty with the old With a new unit get the optional 10 yr warranty. Payback on electrical costs alone should make you junk what you have , you may also get allot more comfort.
Sure, it can be repaired. What did the guys (who looked at it) say?
It's definitely possible to put in a new compressor. The problem is that at
50 years old, something else is going to break soon.Did they even use R-22 fifty years ago? Might be an R-12 system, or sulfur dioxide or something cranky like that.
It's my experience that with residential AC, it's a heck of a lot easier to replace the condensing unit (the outside unit) than it is to try to mess with changing parts. and then you get clean coils, and lots of new parts. For about the same money.
Thanks everyone for your responses. We had a guy look at the unit who said the compressor can be replaced. He also warned us of the problem that if we replace it something else can go. There is a 5 year warranty on the compressor and he said it is the most expensive part of the air conditioner. We've decided to repair the unit. ____ Deborah Oney Blood Recall / Withdrawal - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
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