ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!

Lynn and I were out last night and came home to a hot house! It seems the a/c decided to crap out. It's been HOT down here lately (mid-90's) and I seriously thought about spending the night in the motorhome, but I haven't had a 30-amp service installed outside yet. Right now, all my outside outlets are 15-amp (maybe 20?, not sure), so it'll run most everything in the motorhome EXCEPT the a/c. It would "probably" run ok, the big challenge would be when the compressor kicks in and that surge would most likely pop the circuit breaker in the house, plus I probably wouldn't get away with running much else inside the coach even if the a/c powered up ok. The only other option was to run the generator all night, but I'm not sure how much the neighbors would appreciate that. Of course, I have great neighbors and all their windows would be closed with their a/c on anyway, so I seriously doubt there'd be any complaints. But, we managed to sleep ok with a fan next to the bed.

My a/c guy has been a personal friend for the past 30 years, but last November (kind'a like Cappy) he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at a relatively young age. So, after all those years, I have somebody I don't know, headed here to see if he can screw me over. We'll see. I didn't mention anything to him but I've already diagnosed the unit and know what the problem is. On my old unit, I'd have gone ahead and fixed it myself, but this one is still under it's factory warranty (it's 3-1/2 years old). I guess I should tell them that up front, but this will be a test to see if they will ever be called out again.

Its hot as the hinges on the gates of hell here. Which means its a typical late Huly day in Oklahoma. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Walked my two miles, got the trash out, mowed the back yard, and now I’m gonna take a dip in the pool and spend the rest of the day under the AC harassing you guys. We’ll likely have our first 100 degree day here today. 99 yesterday.
Its bearable until about 10 AM, then I get real grateful I don’t have to work outside in it like I have a few times in my wonderful life.

BKB

ps…..let me troubleshoot that for you. at 3 1/2 years its about time for a bad weld on the coolant pipe to have let all that high dollar coolant out. A reweld and a recharge will run you about $600. You can send me 10% for avoiding all that pesky thinking.

I’m pretty sure it’s a relay or capacitor. Every few seconds I’ll hear a buzzing noise coming from the heat pump. Then nothing. The fan is running (both air handler in the attic as well as on the heat pump), so it’s not the start capacitor on the fan. Heck, there’s always a chance the compressor seized up, but it’s “usually” something simple. It’s been a good unit and a real work horse up until now. A/C basically runs year-round down here. I have no clue if the heat side works.

My old a/c guy was a great friend and had four passions. Family, fishing. cooking and hunting … I believe in that order. I don’t care if it was 10:00 pm on Christmas Eve, if I needed him, I could call and he’d be here with his tools and a flashlight. It sounds selfish, but I miss having someone to depend on for help almost as much as his friendship. He was a nice guy and I’ll miss not being able to b/s with him during this repair.

I don’t know anything about heat pumps. I know its a bitch for AC to go out in the summertime though. Hope it gets fixed soon before you melt plumb down to nothing.

(Right)

BKB

What a mess that would be. A giant puddle of melted lard!

Well, am I good or what? As I figured, it was a capacitor. They replaced it under warranty and the house is cooling down now.

Ha ha ha ha! My bad! How many times have I heard, "READ THE FINE PRINT???"

My a/c was fixed yesterday ... "under warranty". I just received a bill for $190.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lemme see here ....

A/C Service Call - $80
A/C Tune Up - $75
A/C Capacitor - $35
Total - $190

WTF? I called the repair company and stated the a/c was under warranty. They agreed. So, I asked what all those charges were. The Service call was just that ... they charge $80 to come to the house! Well, what options do I have? Bring the unit to you??!!

A/C Tune Up ... basically just a regular service. That was done in order to keep my "warranty" valid!

Ok, that brings us to the capacitor. That's something I always took care of myself on my old unit ... they're usually good for 3-4 years and I've prolly replaced 5 of them in the 32 years I've lived here. But this was a new(er) unit that was still under warranty, so I didn't mess with it .... just called the company who installed it. I asked why I was charged for the capacitor if it's under warranty? Oh, we replaced the capacitor at no charge, the $35 was the labor! (I then read the fine print with a magnifying glass and see the warranty covers PARTS only!)

Ok, I already knew what was wrong with the unit. When I called for service, I told them it appears the start capacitor has taken a shit (unless the compressor is locked up ... highly unlikely). I could have bought a frigging capacitor for $11.95 and replaced it myself in 5-minutes ... possibly even quicker, and been done with it.

Live and learn. What a frigging joke. :pissed

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