So I went downstairs last week and noticed a nice little stream gushing out of the chiller, housed on top of the furnace. I turned the a/c off, set up some floors fans, and waited until the beginning of the week to set up an service appointment. I called the same well-known national retailer that subcontracted my furnace and new ductwork a couple of years ago. The tech was a few hours late, but it became apparent that it was because he had done a thorough job on the earlier appointments. He did a similarly thorough job with me. He was a squat, sixtyish old fellow, with a twisted ankle and recovering from hernia surgery, full of apologies for not getting there sooner. As it happened, my problem was caused by the allergen-trapping filter that I was using. It was simply too thick, even though I changed it every three months. Air flow went down, condensation went up, and pretty soon it turned into a little Niagra in there. He inspected the rest of the unit, putting his pressure meters on the outside unit. (I stood with him in a nighttime shower, holding an area lamp.) He screwed them on, waited for them to peak, shouted "Goodness!", and yanked the fuse out of the unit's electrical box. It was registering 400 psi--"Burst point!", he said. If I hadn't called about the unrelated leaky chiller problem, the whole thing probably would have broken down in another week. So he went to work cleaning up the unit, hosing out the coils, checking the little electrical doo-dads, resetting some of them, all the while admonishing me to have this done yearly. And I should watch to make sure future technicians did it right, as many of them were just knocking around the service industry with just a few weeks training to their credit. He also had a look at my ductwork and snorted in disgust at all the corner-cutting the installers had done--installers that had been sub-contracted by the same national retailer, btw. Flex ducting can't be just draped and squeezed in any old way, nor can you just connect it at right angles just anywhere. Did I notice any weak airflow here? Here? Well, yes, I did... "There's a manual these kids are supposed to follow!" he said. So, on the whole, I'd say I got very good service. But I'd also say that the national retailer's brand-name is not necessarily a guarantee of good service. I'll still phone in and give him a compliment, though.
-- bruce The dignified don't even enter in the game.
--The Jam