Bought one of the coolest things i have ever bought today...

[ImcLoud]

Well it sounds like you have a good company working with you, do you have the one outside unit and one inside unit? I would say when they replaced or repaired the leak they didnt evacuate the system well enough and either moisture or other contaminant made it through the compressor to do the damage, if the pressures are correct and the unit is loud it needs a compressor, I am assuming you have a system with R22 refrigerant and he wants to switch it over to R410a, This makes sense {we haven't been able to use R22 in a while, I thought your home was too new to have one of the old low pressure refrigerants}, but at that point you should switch EVERYTHING, the inside coil {or entire air handler since its not much more expensive}, the line set {thats is the 2 copper lines {one is insulated} that run from the OU to the IU}, and the outside unit... This can get expensive depending on the size of the unit {if you have one for the entire house I would imagine its 5+ tons of cooling, my house has 4-3ton units and a single 2 ton so 5 outdoor units total}, does your ac also control your heating {heatpump?} if that is the case, I would say you are looking at $6000 or so again depending on the size of the unit...

Check with your local utility and see if there are any rebates available for AC upgrades, a 16-22+ seer unit may cost you just a small amount more...

 

[ImcLoud]

Was Irv your AC guy?

Its not really true, you can still buy {at least we can} the old low pressure r22 units, and you can still buy the r22 gas, so you can still simply replace your OU to save money, actually you can simply replace the compressor to save money and use your old outdoor coil, controls, fan, and chassis. BUT, if the system isnt cleaned properly, vacced down properly, and contains any metal from the old compressor then you will most likely damage the new compressor in short order... Its a gamble.... Now if you have an older unit that uses the old gas r22, r12, R32, R134a, ect you need to change everything to update to the new equipment... It will be high psi r410a it will last longer, be cheaper to maintain {until that gas is outlawed} ect.... Long term its the smart move, pay now save later, for some people that are selling a house, renting it, losing it, or just dont have the funds, a simple compressor swap, cleanout, and charge will be the best option...

 

[sawzalot]

Was Irv your AC guy?

No it was Mcallister (not a member) lol

 

[ImcLoud]

No it was Mcallister (not a member) lol

Was it Keven McCallister?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

We had our house built in October of 2006. Our AC guy was shocked that he had to recommend a new one to us. He said 12 years is about avg. here.

He said it was up to us on how much of it we replaced but he said he would do all of it if it was his and he also said something about the cost of R22 and he said it's about to go up again.

Yes, our AC controls the heat. $6,000 is exactly the price quoted to us.

We have a Lennox now and he wants to put in an American Standard.

Well it sounds like you have a good company working with you, do you have the one outside unit and one inside unit? I would say when they replaced or repaired the leak they didnt evacuate the system well enough and either moisture or other contaminant made it through the compressor to do the damage, if the pressures are correct and the unit is loud it needs a compressor, I am assuming you have a system with R22 refrigerant and he wants to switch it over to R410a, This makes sense {we haven't been able to use R22 in a while, I thought your home was too new to have one of the old low pressure refrigerants}, but at that point you should switch EVERYTHING, the inside coil {or entire air handler since its not much more expensive}, the line set {thats is the 2 copper lines {one is insulated} that run from the OU to the IU}, and the outside unit... This can get expensive depending on the size of the unit {if you have one for the entire house I would imagine its 5+ tons of cooling, my house has 4-3ton units and a single 2 ton so 5 outdoor units total}, does your ac also control your heating {heatpump?} if that is the case, I would say you are looking at $6000 or so again depending on the size of the unit...

Check with your local utility and see if there are any rebates available for AC upgrades, a 16-22+ seer unit may cost you just a small amount more...

 

[ImcLoud]

I like american standard, very nice equipment, they flew me out to look around a few years back, nice people, nice business practices, you can not go wrong... Their new platinum Z series stuff is about the best you can buy and the rest follows suit... I personally use Armstrong in my business because they are also top notch and gave me great pricing and a personal {local} rep... But AS is great stuff and if your contractor is familiar with it you should use that, plus $6000 is a fair price, IMO...

R22 costs me $419 a container and 410a costs me $77 a container, I used to pay $80 a container for r22 before they started removing it.... You think that is a lot, try and buy r12 and some of the commercial stuff like R408a.... A full 30lb dupont R12 is around $1100 {I have a few containers in stock, and charge $50 a # for it when we need to use it, mostly commercial coolers and refer/frzr units....}

 

[its phillip]

We had our house built in October of 2006. Our AC guy was shocked that he had to recommend a new one to us. He said 12 years is about avg. here.

He said it was up to us on how much of it we replaced but he said he would do all of it if it was his and he also said something about the cost of R22 and he said it's about to go up again.

Yes, our AC controls the heat. $6,000 is exactly the price quoted to us.

We have a Lennox now and he wants to put in an American Standard.

Be sure to update us on what you decide to do. I have a Carrier unit (my house was built in 2003) and I'll probably be needing a new unit as well. Virtually everybody I know around here has changed their entire systems after ~10 years. I have gas heat though and I dunno how much that's related to the a/c system.

 

[slipperybidness]

Yup, yup. $6000 is just about spot on for an "average" size house down in these parts too. I completely swapped mine out about 2 years ago. At that time, here, they had some city utilities rebates and some federal tax rebates, so I got something in the neighborhood of $1000 refunded to me from those programs.

My house was built in 1986, and when I swapped it in 2012 (maybe 2011), it was still running on the ORIGINAL Trane A/C. I know this for sure because I found the original paperwork too! Needless to say, when I realized that I was still running the original AC, I replaced it with another Trane. And, that old unit was still working fine when I swapped it. It just wasn't too efficient, it would literally run 24/7 over the 100+ degree summer, but that did keep it 70 degrees inside. I only swapped it for better efficiency and the timing was right with the rebates.

 

[ImcLoud]

Yup, yup. $6000 is just about spot on for an "average" size house down in these parts too. I completely swapped mine out about 2 years ago. At that time, here, they had some city utilities rebates and some federal tax rebates, so I got something in the neighborhood of $1000 refunded to me from those programs.

My house was built in 1986, and when I swapped it in 2012 (maybe 2011), it was still running on the ORIGINAL Trane A/C. I know this for sure because I found the original paperwork too! Needless to say, when I realized that I was still running the original AC, I replaced it with another Trane. And, that old unit was still working fine when I swapped it. It just wasn't too efficient, it would literally run 24/7 over the 100+ degree summer, but that did keep it 70 degrees inside. I only swapped it for better efficiency and the timing was right with the rebates.

Yah, slip.. Its like everything else, an ac from the mid 80s will last 30 years but one from 2010 will only last 10 or so...
I charge around $6K for the average ac system {swap out, no sheet metal or electric work except for the tie ins}, it takes 2 techs 6 hours and costs around $2000 in materials {air handler $650, condenser $1200, line set $120 and the condensers pre charge is enough so we don't have to add refrigerant 90% of the time}.... High efficiency units are the same labor just more in parts...

 

[Adam]

P-Dawg, when you run your AC, can you tell in general where the noise is coming from in that unit? Once it starts up, there's only three things that are moving (and that could cause noise): the fan, components in the compressor, and the refrigerant (which is flowing through the system). If it's the fan, that's a pretty inexpensive and simple thing to replace - but I'd be shocked if your AC guy couldn't troubleshoot that. Like Irv said, it very well could be moisture in the compressor, which could be caused by non-refrigerant in the lines or by not getting the refrigerant into the vapor state before it enters the compressor. I'd also be surprised if your AC guy didn't think of that, though.

 

[ImcLoud]

P-Dawg, when you run your AC, can you tell in general where the noise is coming from in that unit? Once it starts up, there's only three things that are moving (and that could cause noise): the fan, components in the compressor, and the refrigerant (which is flowing through the system). If it's the fan, that's a pretty inexpensive and simple thing to replace - but I'd be shocked if your AC guy couldn't troubleshoot that. Like Irv said, it very well could be moisture in the compressor, which could be caused by non-refrigerant in the lines or by not getting the refrigerant into the vapor state before it enters the compressor. I'd also be surprised if your AC guy didn't think of that, though.

Look a the brains on brad..

Good job adam, you looking for a job, lol... Normally in my experience when someone calls in about a loud a/c {outside noise}they mean the compressor, sometimes its a bad fan, sometimes it just needs some chassis screws to be replaced or tightened, you would be amazed at how loud a silly loose cabinet door can sound... But most of the time its the compressor, bad compressors can sound like a bad engine, like a knocking noise. In my experience once a compressor goes loud and gets ran for a while, it will be short lived, not run efficiently, and can drive you crazy when you are trying to sleep...

 

[Adam]

Good job adam, you looking for a job, lol...

If I ever am, and I feel like putting up with frigid weather and months of snow, I'll give you a call.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Freak...Irv has killed Adam and is using his account. I knew he was nervous that I was gunning for him but I didn't think he would take out Adam.

I am really shocked that you know that much about AC's. The noise is outside and sounds like a fan or a loose chassis to me but my AC guy assures me that it because we ran it without Freon for 3 days.

Honestly, I am sure we are hard on parts as we keep our house really cool and we leave the front door open all summer with the AC on so just the storm door is trying to keep the house sealed.

P-Dawg, when you run your AC, can you tell in general where the noise is coming from in that unit? Once it starts up, there's only three things that are moving (and that could cause noise): the fan, components in the compressor, and the refrigerant (which is flowing through the system). If it's the fan, that's a pretty inexpensive and simple thing to replace - but I'd be shocked if your AC guy couldn't troubleshoot that. Like Irv said, it very well could be moisture in the compressor, which could be caused by non-refrigerant in the lines or by not getting the refrigerant into the vapor state before it enters the compressor. I'd also be surprised if your AC guy didn't think of that, though.

 

[Adam]

I am really shocked that you know that much about AC's.

I actually do, but you know...anyone could look it up online.

The noise is outside...

I figured that much. I wondered if you were able to isolate where in the condenser unit the noise was originating. But, if you trust your guy, and that's what he says, then there you are.

 

[ImcLoud]

Easy to tell if its the fan, open the side panel and unplug the fan while the compressor is running, noise goes away its the fan, noise stays its not.... Chassis noise is also easy, just put your foot on it, if the noise changes it could be a loose/deformed casing... That will be $75 sir........


You guys are much harder on equipment than we are up here, our hottest days are mid 90's {few exceptions}. Why on gods green earth would you keep your door open? I live in a great neighborhood you need to drive through 2 gates before you can even see my house {depending on foliage} and I wouldn't trust the front door open when the kids and wife are home.... My wife sets the alarm when she is home alone during the day, and there is barely a crime rate here.... I would be careful with that... plus why cool the outside and waste energy, mama earth wants you to shut that door..

 

[Adam]

Well, he did say that the storm door was closed. Those can insulate very well depending on the design.

 

[ImcLoud]

Yah, but for the most part them are thin vinyl and single layer glass, and aren't know to close and seal very well... I don't have any storm doors on our house, I wish we did have something that closed by itself, I can't count the times my kids have walked in the house and left one of the doors open, the alarm beeps when they are open for a long period of time other wise they would probably stay like that until me or my wife noticed... We have double/double + glass side doors in our foyer, so there is 2 full size doors that are like 3"s thick {super secure} BUT then a strip of glass on each side of the door lol, my wife picked it out, its nice and ornate but super heavy to open, you can not just go buy door knobs, they shake the house if you slam them, and anyone can just bread a pane of glass on the side of them and be in the house faster than picking the lock... I call it the oxy moron door, its super secure but surrounded by glass...

Anyway, yah I guess a storm door can insulate well enough, but I would image the glass and plastic would shed heat into the house on a warm day pretty good...

 

[Alex2507]

Gregg's storm door is all glass. It seals pretty well and locks so nobody steals his pooch.
His wife can kick his @$$ so nobody needs to worry about her.

 

[lsiberian]

Why on gods green earth would you keep your door open?

We are allowed to shoot people that invade our homes here and most folks have the guns to do so. Besides most violent crime down here is the domestic kind.

 

[ImcLoud]

We are allowed to shoot people that invade our homes here and most folks have the guns to do so. Besides most violent crime down here is the domestic kind.

We can shoot people too, BUT probably will go to jail for it, I know in Texas you get the key to the city... Here you have to be backed in a corner, the bullet has to have left the assailants bullet has to have left his gun, and you can then defend yourself, but only shoot him in the front and do 4 jumping jacks first.... Otherwise you will get thrown in jail for 50-60 years, lol...

Its a crazy world, and I know if someone wants in they will get it, but a little more security is better than a little less IMO... I have quite the gun collection but if I'm a sleep on the couch and someone only had to pop the glass out of a storm door to enter my house, there is a good chance I'll die before getting the gun off my hip, especially if they wake me up with a .40 to the eye... Thats if I decided to keep my ccw on me in the house, which would be rare.... Some criminals don't need much temptation to do the wrong thing, I would rather not wave it in front of them, now I never been to greggs house and for all I know he may have dobermans that when they bark shoot african bees at intruders outside that storm door, and the storm door may have an taser built into it, but either way hes spending more on energy and getting less security by leaving the door open.... But again, never been there that may be the only window in that area and they like the sub, in which case its their choice and I like the sun too.... I know my dogs would love to sit by the front door and be able to look outside, we have 2 sets of sliding doors on the main level but they go to porches that don't have stairs to get to the yard so they aren't to interested in them...