Replacing compressor (outside unit) - http://www.hvacmechanic.com/ Forums
Original message
| Lorio
 |  "Replacing compressor (outside unit)"
, posted Wed 30 Apr 19:11  
Last summer the compressor went on our 15 year old central a/c unit. Our hvac guy proposed replacing just the outside unit. When I called another company to get a second opinion, they said I must replace the inside condenser coil too, because the seer number would not match and the new unit will fail prematurely. Plus, he says the warranty will be void due to the mismatch. Our old guy says this is not an issue. Before I make a huge mistake, can someone discuss this with me?
Thank you for your time.
Lori O.
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Replies:
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| yuri
| "Re(1):Replacing compressor (outside unit)" , posted Wed 30 Apr 19:46:
A cheap lousy controversial topic in our biz (no offense intended). Professional techs will replace both to have a proper clean MATCHED system and trouble free warranty. Low overhead Lou/heat em and cheat em wants your biz and is either too lazy or wants your job with his lowball bid. Buy new and don't have problems/regrets later. You get what you pay for. All companies will void the compressor warranty if they find contaminated oil/acid in the compressor left over from the previous unit or created by the mismatch. It is next to IMPOSSIBLE to clean it out 100% despite what some people say. A 15 yr old unit is a 8 SEER and the new units are 13+ SEER, no match. I would replace the refrigerant lines also if physically accessible/possible/ due to contamination issues. Some of the new units use a larger suction line also.
Yuri
[this message was edited by yuri on Wed 30 Apr 20:23] |
| | Lorio
| "Re(2):Replacing compressor (outside unit)" , posted Wed 30 Apr 21:31
Dear Yuri:
Thank you for your answer. Please help me to understand it. How does it get contaminated if we're getting a whole new outside unit? We are pursuing this because we don't have $7k right now for a whole new system and we CAN come up with $2k for the new outside unit. The low bid guy has been our hvac man for 10 years. He gave us both of these quotes. So, while I understand that this is not the BEST way, will it work at all? and for 5-10 years?
Thank you again for your help.
Lori O.
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| | yuri
| "Re(3):Replacing compressor (outside unit)" , posted Wed 30 Apr 22:06:
Depends on what caused your compressor to fail. If it burnt out/shorted windings then it will have sent contaminants throughout the system. If it just seized up/stuck then it may be okay. My advice is intended for the large number of people who read these posts also. If the guy changes the outdoor unit and puts a clean filter drier on BOTH lines and vacuums and purges it properly it may go for 5 yrs. It still will be badly mismatched as 8 SEER is a long way from 13 SEER. Don't know what kind of strange operating pressures those 2 may produce. No guarantee it will work reasonably well. If you have a line of credit or reasonable financing I would invest my $$ in a new unit. The new unit will probably be $9K in 5 yrs. Gotta go now, Boss had a extra early service mtg this morning, need ZZZ's.
Yuri
[this message was edited by yuri on Wed 30 Apr 22:11] |
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