Expensive capacitor

[Ralph Mowery]

I thought $ 700 for a charging transformer was way too much and a whole charger should be a lot less. Other than being probalby 36 or 24 volts is there anything different than a normal car charger ?

I have not tried selling on ebay, so can not say about that part.

Living in a small town and with the price of gas being what it is, I can often find things on ebay cheaper than I can spend time and effort of driving to a larger town 40 miles away to where there may be a supply company.

I bought some carborator rebuilding kits for my weedeater and chain saws off ebay. I think they were less than $ 7 each counting shipping. By ordreing 3 items from one place, I got a 4th item free.

Unless I need it right away, I often look on ebay and Amazon for things. Usually I can get them for the same as store prices or less, but with free shiping. Just bought 2 TV sets. One for me and one to give for a birthday present. Ordred them from Best Buy as the shipping was free and I would have had to drive over 30 miles each way to the nearest BB. Then I could not be sure they would stock that modle. Shipping time was less than a week.

One day the local stores are going to go away just because of all the on line ordering.

I don't know how it is now, but years ago many times a person could not walk in off the street and buy something. I went with a friend to a boat motor supply house. A fellow walked in off the street and needed a small part, they could or would not sell him the part. My friend bought the part and resold it to the fellow for what it cost. Normally he would have marked it up about double.

For a good number of years my mother was a book keeper at a local electrical supply company. I could get anyting they had for their cost plus 10%. I don't recall the numbers, but they had 3 other prices starting at cost plus

30% and going up depending on how much business the others did with them.

[tony944]

No problem marking up parts a bit but $369 for the capacitor is absurd.

OTOH: If the guy did not itemize the bill and got it running and just told me "parts and labor" $468...I'd probably say "fine".

Assuming the $89 was both travel and labor though...that on the other hand is on the low side.

I know that when I used to repair industrial equipment...no matter what...if the bill came out to less than $500 no one much cared... just so long as I got them up and running ASAP.

[notbob]

I'm jes relating the prices I came across for this huge xformer. True, I could buy a brand new digital charger for around $350, but that's still almost triple what I finally paid.

I understand. I live 100 mi from the nearest urban center. I've become quite proficient at online buying. ;)

nb

[trader_4]

I see the $89 advertised here a lot in NJ, for an AC "tuneup". I agree, that doesn't seem to be a profitable number. So, either they are honest and know that for X people that take that offer they will find enough real problems that need fixing to increase the bill, or they are scammers and find problems that don't exist. I guess the real problems could start with people who don't change their own filter, they tell you that you need a new one and it's jacked up. But a lot of systems I see here now have electronic, so there is no filter.

The AC thing is really, really bad. They can show up, tell you the system was low, needed 2 pounds added, charge you whatever they please, and almost no homeowners could know otherwise. So, the $89 special becomes $250 or worse.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Damn straight. When we redid the system ten years ago. His bid for the Lennox was 40% cheaper than the other guy who bid a smaller capacity, less efficient unit.

Other than this and one time when a damn chipmunk got into the compressor housing and gnawed through the 24v control line, it's been trouble free and you can hang meat in the house on the hottest of summer days. Think the chipmunk escapade cost me $65 bucks for the service call, repair and a quick check of the refrigerant charge.

We refer his company (he's running, I think, seven trucks) to all our friends and everyone has the same experience. One of those rarities when you get fast, good AND cheap (well, pretty damn reasonable).

[micky]

In college around 1965, my clock radio, with tubes and a Telechron clock, with automatic and a 60-minute sleep setting, that was about 6 years old, developed a hum. At the time I didnt' recognize the standard

120cps hum (I think it's twice the 60cps of house current).

I took it to the repair shop at 53rtd and Kimbark, and he told me 15 for a new capactitor and 15 for labor. That was a lot of money then, especially for a college student, so I asked if I could buy the part from him and put it in myself. He could have said No, and I don't know what I would have done then, but instead he got mad at me, raised his voice and talked fast. I think he said I was another college student. So I had little choice but to leave.

I waited until a vacation when I got back home, where I could use my mother's car, and found the part, and it was under a dollar, and soldered it in with my wood-burning iron.

[Ralph Mowery]

I don't know what kind of clock radiio that was, but for $ 30 I would think you could get a new one back then.

[micky]

I doubt it. Things like that were more expensive then but I don't know how much more. I never went shopping for radios or almost anything.

[clare]

When I replaced my unit zi set it up on concrete blocks - about 9 inches off the ground. Now it doesnt suck in grass clippings and leaes any more

[Stormin Mormon]

Not done one in years, but about $75. Problem is, you can get a new one for about that same money.

[Muggles]

... but then you have to figure out what the heck to do with the previous window unit.

[Stormin Mormon]

I think the $369 was a bit high. But, you sounded satisfied, and that's what counts.

Yes, having parts on hand nearly guarantees not needing them.

Nearly.

[Ralph Mowery]

Scrap metal place and get a dollar or two for it.

[Unquestionably Confused]

[snip]

Park it at the end of the driveway or in front of the house with a sign

"For Sale - Works! $25/OBO"

It will be gone in 24 hours.

If it isn't, put it out the day BEFORE regular trash pickup. Scrappers will be by beforehand and take it way for scrap.

[Stormin Mormon]

Maybe less, but probably not zero debris.

[Muggles]

huh .. people really do that sort of thing? hmmm Can't hurt to try, I guess. Thanks for the idea.

[bob_villa]

...only the scrappers will release the refrigerant and if you take it to a recycling center, they will recover it. And it with cost you 10 or $20.

[Muggles]

OK I plan on trying to clean it from the outside first, but haven't gotten to Lowes yet to buy the spray AC cleaner someone else mentioned here.

[clare]

It's been a couple of years now, and I have not had to wash ot out at all -the coils/fins are still perfectly clear.

[Vic Smith]

I've kept the phone numbers of all the good contractors I've used. The problem is, I've found by the time you need them again, they're gone. The guy who originally put in my furnace/AC 17 years ago is gone, the roofer who did my roof about 14 years ago, gone. Same with the guys who put in my windows, and the guy who did my electric service. That's how it's been for me personally. Haven't needed most of them but once. But they're gone now. When I needed a furnace motherboard 3 years ago, had to find another guy. Same when my roof when the ridge caps went bad recently. I didn't have a problem finding good men to do those fixes, but it would have been easier to go with the original guys. You don't

*really* know they're good until the jobs done. IME you're hitting a window of time with contractors. When that window moves so far, those contractors are gone. The exception was my garage door, put in two years ago. It had trouble going up a few weeks ago. I couldn't figure it out so called the outfit that put it in. One of the guys who installed it came out in a couple hours. After some watching the door struggle to lift up, he got a mainboard for the Genie out his truck and swapped it. He was there about 10 minutes. No charge. Said there'd been a "recall" on the boards. But I'll probably never see that guy again.