Advice Please - http://www.hvacmechanic.com/ Forums

Original message

namraps

207.166.54.91

"Advice Please" , posted Mon 19 May 17:30

Hello,
I had an AC person come to my house to fix my AC. Here is the background: I installed a new thermostat this winter and the heat worked fine. When I went to turn on the AC it would not work. I told the AC guy that I was the one that had installed the thermostat. When he first arrived he looked at the thermostat but he did not open it up and look at the inside. He went back and forth from the thermostat to the furnace to the outside AC unit. He then told me that I needed a new relay switch which would total about $216.00 for parts and labor. I was expecting worse, but somewhat relieved since the cost was relatively low. So after he installs the relay switch he comes back into the house and then looks inside the thermostat and tells me that I have wired it incorrectly and he shows me the correctly wiring. He then correctly connects the wires. I didn't think about it until later, but shouldn't he have checked the wiring first? How did he know the relay switch was bad if the ac wasn't turning on in the first place? Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Replies:

Jojo98

68.53.201.185

"Re(1):Advice Please" , posted Mon 19 May 22:19

You can bet your last dollar that old relay is in some anonymous dumpster, never to be seen again.

jOJO98

68.53.201.185

"Re(1):Advice Please" , posted Mon 19 May 22:18

You can bet your last dollar that old relay is in some anonymous dumpster, never to be seen again.

theduke03

24.250.18.179

"Re(1):Advice Please" , posted Mon 19 May 18:21

Your concern is a valid one, unfortunately we may never know. However we can make some assumptions baed on some more info.
Was that a "blower relay" that was replaced?
What did the tech change about the stat wiring?
What was the original problem/symptoms before tech arrived?
Before tech arrived would blower turn on if you set stat to "fan on" ?
I'm a little suspicious.

"My dad was the most feared furnace fighter in Northern Indiana."

namraps

74.37.131.217

"Re(2):Advice Please" , posted Mon 19 May 23:25

The AC guy gave me my "alleged" old relay. It is a brown shaped box with 5 prongs. The prongs are numbered 2,4,5,6,1,3. He put it in a box that says steveco 90-370. When he opened up the thermostat box I had connected all five wires. He removed the red wire and maybe the brown one, I can't remember exactly. The symptoms were that the heat worked but the ac did not. The blower fan would not turn on when "fan on" was selected. I would think if a customer said that they installed the thermostat and the ac was not working, I would check that first. The fact that he changed that last is suspicious to me. He charged me a total of $154.00 to change the relay switch and $65.00 for a diagnositc charge. Is that reasonable? He also quoted me $365.00 to come out and clean the coils on my ac. Does that quote seem to be in the ball park? Thanks again.

Rebecca

anf128

75.57.66.50

"Re(3):Advice Please" , posted Fri 6 Jun 01:23

Namraps...do you happen to have a picture of the wiring...I have the exact same thing happening to me now... I want to see if I can do it without calling the repairman.

theduke03

24.250.18.179

"Re(3):Advice Please" , posted Tue 20 May 06:54

Yes those prices sound OK for here in CT, not sure about your area. If your coils are dirty you should consider having them cleaned or you will soon have another costly service call.
Also it is possible that blower relay was bad and could be tested even if stat is incorrectly wired and not calling for fan or a/c. If you must know then swap it for the new one and see what happens.

"My dad was the most feared furnace fighter in Northern Indiana."