Labor estimate to replace a Lennox HP Compressor

Hi,

I have a Lennox Heat Pump model HP-27-042

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and the compressor died in it.

Luckily there is a warranty on the part, but I need to pay labor to have it replaced. (I don't have an annual contract, but based on the cost estimate I got, I would have broken even anyway I think).

In any case I got an estimate of $650 to replace the compressor, and while to my non-HVAC professional eye, it looks like it could be time consuming (i.e. doesn't look real simple to just swap it in and out) $650 struck me as kind of high. I am going to try to get a 2nd quote, but figured I would check with the pros in here to see if that was at least a reasonable ball park number.

thanks in advance for any input or advice.

- Lynn B.

Reply to
lbecker
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$750.00 Flat rate

PS- Blow me

Reply to
NoSpam

Thanks for the $750 part.. that was helpful. Trying to double check my quote. My estimate was actually $750, but the company I use was very cool in knocking of the $100 fee to diagnose the problem.

Not sure what caused the PS part? Care to elaborate? Was this not a cool question to ask on alt.hvac ?

Reply to
lbecker

The question would be better answered in alt.home.repair.

My flat rate for that job is $780 unless it's a severe burnout which adds $500.

- Robert

Reply to
American Mechanical

Ahh.. my bad. Thanks for taking the time! I cross-posted over there (alt.home.repair) because I was not sure.

Sorry... thanks again for the helpful information.

Reply to
lbecker

That is not a fair price, but you are being victimized by the "parts not labor" warranty scam, and the trade protection racket.

Replacing under warranty means you gotta go thru the factory's dealer network, which literally goes to school to learn how to manipulate and gouge you on price.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

Nope. I can get the warranty part simply by walking in to the wholesaler and giving them the MN and SN even if I'm not one of their dealers.

Reply to
HeatMan

The compressors I've replaced have been on smaller units. Typically takes me about three hours. Can't comment on heat pumps, we don't have many of them in my part of the world.

I'd guess between 3 and 5 hours of work. Plus the trip out to your house, and maybe a trip to the wrecking yard to dispose the old compressor.

HVAC guys, well, the labor rates vary around the country.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Not really. Richard..you really dont know a damn thing about running a business do you?

LOL!

Nope. He does not. Any licenced legitimate HVAC company can replace that compressor, however, it helps to know

1-IS it really the compressor? 2-If it is, what is involved in the units replacement?

The reason I bring this up, is that I just came back from a call, on, ironically, a 10 year old Lennox unit. It was not due to the fact that 3 other companies had been out and deemed the compressor dead, (2 of the estimates stated on the invoice, shorted to ground) but due to the fact that no one would come out and repair it. I was refered to this guy by another old York customer that was friends of his, and when I got there, I didnt know about the other 3 estimates, nor, that it had been looked at previous. When I got there, sure enough, the compressor was dead, and the customer told me that somethings TRYING to run, it makes a noise and the lights dim... Ok...fair enough, it SURE sounds like....umm...could be...might be...the CAPACITOR! After checking the Copeland scroll, (looked really good for a 10 year old unit) and finding none of the windings shorted, I took the cap out of its holder and sure enough...it was swollen. Snap, crack, BOOM. Replaced it with a new cap, and the unit ran like a champ. After another 20 minutes of checking, the unit was deemed fit enough to continue out the summer. Total bill? $300? $250?

Nah...a grand total of $65 on a Sunday, and hes back in biz...

Now..had it been, lets say...a new unit, still under warranty, and the compressor really WAS bad.

I would not have touched a job like that that will kill a good 5 hours of time or more for under $500..

I also have to state that over 90% of the time that a field tech condems a compressor..warranty or otherwise in MOST areas, its a capacitor, or other problem.

Reply to
steve

thanks for the additional info. Yeah, the big old capacitor in mine was gone and leaking... and replacing it did not solve the problem...

hard to say what the cause and effect was (the cap went bad and then the compressor went bad, or vice versa).

The wires feeding in around the compressor had melted a bit (the insulation)

I am comfortable with the technician's opinion on this one being the compressor...

By way.. it is HOT here in VA without A/C... yikes.

Reply to
lbecker

It was pretty rough down here below ya today too...that tropical storm really laid the humidity and heat our way.. Hope you get it all worked out.

>
Reply to
steve

When you get that foil hat off your head and wind up here in the real world, let us know.... On second thought - don't.

See above.

- Robert

Reply to
American Mechanical

They'll hand you an expensive part for nothing more than two numbers. Right. And Chrysler will give my local teenage grease monkey a new engine for my car.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

No, dumbass. They put the part on my open account and credit me back when the old part is returned and warranty paperwork turned in. You better stick to screwing the grease monkeys.

- Robert

Reply to
American Mechanical

I suppose you want to whine about how much it costs to put a truck and tech on the road.

While I have some business experience, I admit it is limited to competing fairly and without artificial barriers to entry. You may be right: I don't know much about the inside of your collusive, anti-competitive, and protected trade. I do know that the alt.hvac cronies are the meanest bunch of roustabouts in the NNTP universe, and don't fairly represent the HVAC biz.

I dunno what it is about fixing stuff for a living, but whether it is AC units, or garage doors, or brain surgery, you all seem to think your labor is worth many times what mere mortals can do, but you need all kinds of barriers and licenses to force people into paying it.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

This is Turtle.

Richard , Your a Hack Maginet if i ever saw one or heard one reply on the newsgroup. All the Hacks out there listening to what is said and they are smilling like a mule eating briars. I'm not joking at all here.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

Well sport, just how much do you *think* we should charge??? Just how much am I supposed to charge to keep from going bankrupt so I can be there down the road when your heating and cooling system dies because it was never properly maintained, or you tried to have it repaired by the lowest bidder, or worse yet you tried to do it your self. With my *basic* company and personal expenses exceding $4,000 per month, figure $1,000/week *NET* so that means gross reciepts of over $2,500/week. Ok....now lets figure a 40 hour week with 4 calls per day (no you can't charge for travel time inbetween calls) with an average of 1 1/2 hours on each call.... that means an average of $125 per call..... this is a minimum bare bones just to be able to stay in business, keep a roof over my head, and food on my table. Now thanx to the greed of the oil companies, I have a $350/mo fuel bill for an S-10 truck, and in another couple of months I will have a heating bill that will go up 10 fold. Licenses, laws and code is there only because somebody did it wrong at the cost of loss of life, limb, and/or property.

Reply to
Noon-Air

"Richard J Kinch" wrote

Right you are.

Now shut the f*ck up and go away before I come over there and sh*t down your neck.

If I do, I'll give half off on the labor charge.......

Reply to
Red Neckerson

Actually, you as a homeowner can do it too... It works like this..

You go to the Lennox supplier You show them your EPA card that shows that you have half a clue about what you are about to embark on.. You give them the model and serial number of the unit You give them the old compressor that you claim is bad You give them a check for the cost of the compressor in CASE its NOT bad, and check out time from factory..normally another $150 or so..plus a new cap, not covered under warranty in this case..oh...and a jug of 22, since you cant buy it in little cans any more... They give you the paperwork back, a cap, a compressor, and a jug of 22... You wait 5 months for your refund, IF and only if the compressor was really bad.

And as a son of a Chrysler dealer, and ex-service manager for Chrysler, actually they can do that as well, but the difference is, the dealership wont charge you a dime in labor for a warranty engine swap out..altho, the dealership is charged for it. And yes...they will hand over an engine to your local grease monkey...but the question is, why in hell would you want ANOTHER hack working on your stuff???

Reply to
steve

Richard, You are a dumb-f*ck. I'm not a manufacture's dealer (none of them will pay me to endorse them) however, I do warranty work all the time. The warranty work isn't really worth the time I spend on the warranty repair but the additional work that is created by the "new-customer" relationship pays off well.

Jabs

Reply to
Jabs

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