Water in the system? - http://www.hvacmechanic.com/ Forums
Original message
| jpb3d
 |  "Water in the system?"
, posted Sat 23 Aug 08:47  
In one day, my temperature in the house went from a comfortable 74 degrees to 80 degrees. My air conditioner was blowing warm air. I called the company that installed it 6 years ago and they found a leak in the air handler coil. Instead of replacing just the coil with a 30 day warranty, I replaced the entire handler with a 5 year warranty (the price difference was only $300.00). They installed the new (lennox) air handler without a problem. They checked the system with pressure to find any leaks, and it passed. The final step was to draw the humidity out of the system with an oil vaccum (standard proceedure). They used 8 bottles of oil over 4 hours and it still had humidity in the system. They then decided to flush the system with Nitrogen gas. When they used the dry gas, about 2 gallons of water, yes WATER came out. At this time they said that the NEW coil in the new air handler was compromised with water. They would have to replace the New Coil and flush out the system with many bottles of Nitrogen and oil vaccum it till they were certain it was dry and free of water and humidity.
Question 1. Did they proceed properly when they installed the new air handler without checking first for water in the system?
Question 2. Should I be responsible for any further expenses other than their original quote to replace the air handler?
Regards
jpb3d
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Replies:
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| theduke03
|  "Re(1):Water in the system?"
, posted Sat 23 Aug 09:04
1. Hard to say. Usually there are no signs of water in the system untill the vacuum pump is used(evacuation). If the system was empty then they should have "swept" the lines with nitrogen before installing the A.H. which may or may not have indicated water.
2. Yes. Their original qoute was to fix your original problem. Now that more needs to be done, more needs to be paid. I would suggest replacing the coil or air handler(again), and the entire lineset. If there is a possibility that the condensing unit was contaminated then replace that too.
"My dad was the most feared furnace fighter in Northern Indiana."
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| | yuri
| "Re(2):Water in the system?" , posted Sat 23 Aug 10:58:
How can you get that much water in a system? Pour it in? My area is usually about 50-60% RH and I find it hard to understand. I did visit Orlando and know you can get extremely high humidity. It must have run dry in a vacuum to suck in that much moisture. With that much water in your system the compressor oil is probably half acid by now and the whole system and lines may need replacing. I would NICELY try negotiate a discount on a new system. Impossible to know how much water was in the unit so it was not the installers fault. Sh*t happens. If you negotiate fairly he may help you. if not you may end up with nothing.
Yuri
[this message was edited by yuri on Sat 23 Aug 11:25] |
| | jpb3d
| "Re(3):Water in the system?" , posted Sat 23 Aug 13:44
They will replace the coil in the Brand New AH and send the compomised coil back to lennox as defective. I already owe them $2,200 for the New AH installation.
- What would (approx) it cost to redo the pipe from the AH to the outside Compressor?
- What would it cost (appox) to replace the outside unit?
- Should I still go with Lennox (Maybe Carrier or Trane?)
- If Lennox is the TOP of the LINE, why did the coil in the AH spring a leak?
Regards
jpb3d
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| | yuri
| "Re(4):Water in the system?" , posted Sat 23 Aug 14:26
I am not sure why they consider the new coil defective (probably trying to BS Lennox). Your whole system is now contaminated with moisture and it mixes with the compressor oil and turns it into acid. Replacing the coil is just part of the problem. Nobody is perfect. I have had lots of problems with Carrier evap coils and it got so bad we started using ADP generic coils instead. Lennox have a few failures but it has not been a huge problem and I sell Lennox. When my company gets a job that goes real bad the boss looks at his costs up to now (labor etc) and tries to work out a discount/deal on new equipment for the customer. So that we still make some profit/keep the customer/avoid hassle with BBB, head office etc. Not sure how your unit got that much water in it or the whole story but it sounds like a new/dry/uncontaminated system with a warranty will give you the best performance/reliability than trying to clean up this one.
Yuri
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| | jpb3d
| "Re(5):Water in the system?" , posted Sat 23 Aug 14:30
Yuri,
Thanks for your help. What would a whole new system cost? If you were to guess. How much "Marked Up" is this?
Regards
jpb3d
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| | yuri
| "Re(6):Water in the system?" , posted Sat 23 Aug 14:40
I have no idea what your cost of living or equipment is. I live in a city of 650,000 in Canada. My house may cost $275,000 and in your city a million $$. I would talk to the owner, he knows his costs and say you want to work with him. He knows the job has gone bad and may not want bad publicity. If you both compromise I am sure it can be worked out.
Yuri
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