That Feel When...

[no4mk1t]

So, this is a place to vent.
Vent your frustrations, your anger, your disappointment.
It is also a place to celebrate your triumphs, your accomplishments, and your victories over the forces of evil at home, in the workplace or in public.
In short, anything you wish to announce to the world whether it be a lament or a conquest.

Here's mine:

TFW...
You wake up in the morning Sunday and the house feels a bit cool.
As the day progresses, you note the temp gradually falling and know there is something wrong with the heat pump.
A check of the breaker panel shows the 50A breaker for the outside unit is tripped. Turn the unit off at the thermostat, and it resets, but trips as soon as you turn the thermostat back on.
This is not completely unexpected. I just wish it would have happened in April instead of January. The heat pump was installed in either 1990 or 1991, I don't remember. So, I have been waiting for this day to come, but I got more than my monies worth being heat pump life expectancy is 18-22 years.

Got the first quote on a new system. Just shy of $11K. Waiting on another estimate from a second guy.
As a parting shot, the electric bill came today, and the old unit ran the bill up to $442 before it shit the bed. (it's usually about $250-$275)

So, for now, we're effectively "glamping" with portable heaters to get by. Makes me glad I didn't live back in times when houses had only a fireplace.
On the bright side, thank goodness the weather has been mild. I look forward to the increased efficiency that 30+ years of advancement offers. The new unit is supposed to blow warmer air than the old and lower the electric bill. I look forward to being convinced on both counts.

 

[D232A]

So, this is a place to vent.
Vent your frustrations, your anger, your disappointment.
It is also a place to celebrate your triumphs, your accomplishments, and your victories over the forces of evil at home, in the workplace or in public.
In short, anything you wish to announce to the world whether it be a lament or a conquest.

Here's mine:

TFW...
You wake up in the morning Sunday and the house feels a bit cool.
As the day progresses, you note the temp gradually falling and know there is something wrong with the heat pump.
A check of the breaker panel shows the 50A breaker for the outside unit is tripped. Turn the unit off at the thermostat, and it resets, but trips as soon as you turn the thermostat back on.
This is not completely unexpected. I just wish it would have happened in April instead of January. The heat pump was installed in either 1990 or 1991, I don't remember. So, I have been waiting for this day to come, but I got more than my monies worth being heat pump life expectancy is 18-22 years.

Got the first quote on a new system. Just shy of $11K. Waiting on another estimate from a second guy.
As a parting shot, the electric bill came today, and the old unit ran the bill up to $442 before it shit the bed. (it's usually about $250-$275)

So, for now, we're effectively "glamping" with portable heaters to get by. Makes me glad I didn't live back in times when houses had only a fireplace.
On the bright side, thank goodness the weather has been mild. I look forward to the increased efficiency that 30+ years of advancement offers. The new unit is supposed to blow warmer air than the old and lower the electric bill. I look forward to being convinced on both counts.

What a pain...

Back in the Fall we had one abnormally warm day(we had already turned the A/C off because of falling temps), so my wife turned the A/C on for this warm day. Problem was, the was still warm, finally sometime in the afternoon I go down to the basement to find the coils all frozen up. This unit was installed back in '96 when the house was built. At one point probably 10+ years ago we had come home from being overseas for 2 weeks, about 4 am we both woke up sweating(probably August, if I remember correctly). The thing was frozen up at that time too. I had a friend who came out and recharged the system for us, and it has worked since, except for those 2-3 times I have had to replace the capacitor over the years. So I too feel like we have gotten our use out of it, but come spring I am pretty sure the thing is going to need to be replaced.

I havent even bothered with quotes yet, since the heating side of it is still working

 

[no4mk1t]

So, it turned out the first estimate was the best one. 10 years parts and labor. Zero percent financing for 36 months.
Installation is scheduled for Wednesday. They claim they can do it in a day. We'll see. I do not have good luck when it comes to things like this, so I will not be surprised when they tell me they will have to come back Thursday with another part or something.

 

[no4mk1t]

TFW, you wish things were still as safe and innocent as in 1963...

Can you imagine the list of charges that would be brought against the driver today?
School officials and parents losing their minds because there was a gun on a school bus.
Kids crying and needing counseling because they had to look at a dead deer all the way to school.
PETA on the local news demanding "something be done".

 

[Racer88]

TFW, you wish things were still as safe and innocent as in 1963...

Can you imagine the list of charges that would be brought against the driver today?
School officials and parents losing their minds because there was a gun on a school bus.
Kids crying and needing counseling because they had to look at a dead deer all the way to school.
PETA on the local news demanding "something be done".

View attachment 26099

When I was in high school in Arkansas (1979), it was common for guys to bring their hunting rifles in their trucks to hunt before and after school. The school also offered a Hunters Safety Course at the school. Most guys carried a pocket knife to school.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Think about geothermal. It costs more to put in but it will save a lot of $$ in the long term.

 

[One Ping Only]

no4mk1t: so sorry to hear your news. These things never seem to happen at a convenient time.

Have you a fireplace?

 

[Bongo Lewi]

When I was in high school in Arkansas (1979), it was common for guys to bring their hunting rifles in their trucks to hunt before and after school. The school also offered a Hunters Safety Course at the school. Most guys carried a pocket knife to school.

Was Boo Radley as nice as he seemed in the movie?

 

[Racer88]

A/C systems have gone WAY up in price in the last couple of years. Ask me how I know.

 

[Racer88]

Got the first quote on a new system. Just shy of $11K.

Sounds about right, unfortunately.

 

[no4mk1t]

no4mk1t: so sorry to hear your news. These things never seem to happen at a convenient time.

Have you a fireplace?

The heat pump was replaced back in February. That's all over except for the payments.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Sounds about right, unfortunately.

I have a new system now but have experienced the "bend over" cost of replacing an HVAC system that has worn out.

It's a ripoff, like funeral homes. The cost of materials in a heating/cooling unit come nowhere near what they charge. The margins on the stuff must be in the 50% range. Then there's the labor. I am less upset about paying a HVAC guy to do the work. Sadly, the tech gets a fraction of that.

 

[no4mk1t]

I have a new system now but have experienced the "bend over" cost of replacing an HVAC system that has worn out.

It's a ripoff, like funeral homes. The cost of materials in a heating/cooling unit come nowhere near what they charge. The margins on the stuff must be in the 50% range. Then there's the labor. I am less upset about paying a HVAC guy to do the work. Sadly, the tech gets a fraction of that.

I can't complain too much. The old unit lasted 33 years. the new unit comes with 10 years parts warranty from Trane, and 10 years labor warranty from the company that installed it.
We got an independent guy to also quote. He was slightly higher, and of course no 10 year labor warranty being this was a side hustle for him.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

I can't complain too much. The old unit lasted 33 years. the new unit comes with 10 years parts warranty from Trane, and 10 years labor warranty from the company that installed it.
We got an independent guy to also quote. He was slightly higher, and of course no 10 year labor warranty being this was a side hustle for him.

30+ years is a world record.

Getting 15 is doing really good.

 

[bkbrno]

Before you bite off on the central a/c, check into a mini split system. May not be cheaper but they are incredibly efficient and you can turn down parts of the house you are not using. They can heat when the outside air is well into the negative F. No central heat pump can do that without heat strip backup.

 

[Bobster]

I've been servicing our big boy Trane (5Ton, 19seer) since it was out of warranty after 10yrs. My advice to anyone is to learn how to inspect/farad-check capacitors and de-power your unit to replace them. My local ACE carries the two common ones that usually go bad after a few years. $20ish each. They do NOT last forever. It takes far less time to go to the store and pick up a cap and replace it than it does to wait on a tech (sometimes days) who MIGHT have one on the truck but is going to charge you $250 to turn a few screws. And that is time that you are sweating balls with no A/C.

There are other things that go bad like contactors and breakers where a meter is handy. Contactors (we have two for the two compressor unit: one high-load, one low-load) were replaced around 15yrs. You must understand and respect electricity if you are going to do your own A/C work because most failures are electrical in nature*.

* semi-electrical, at least in my case, is if the float for the condensate pipe sees excess water (ie: drain is clogged) and shuts off power to the unit. Blowing the drain out is done about every 3 months before this happens. Filters (2) about every month. We've been pretty good about pulling the cover off the air handler and cleaning the condensate pan every couple/few years.

This year was especially "bad" as the external breaker went bad ($75 )--this was tested by disconnecting the power to the unit inside the cover and breaker still tripped.

Another issue was the blower motor control module went bad. The module allows variable blower speeds. I found an "open box" one on debay for $300, BUT I lucked out and found a like-new one on the side of the air handler leftover from when the motor was replaced under warranty after 5 years. The module on the back of the motor wasn't bad so the tech left it there. Had about an inch of dust on it...

The last issue was the bleed-down cap/resistor was causing issues with compressor start-up. This third capacitor had never been replaced. To accurately test it, I had to de-solder the resistor from the terminals. My neighbor is a Trane tech on the commercial side and had the exact cap/resistor I needed in his truck and by his accounting, it had been there for over a decade, leftover from some job. This special cap was about $80 online but his cost me a case of Redd's. ($30)

In related A/C news, my neighbor was telling me about his apprentice who apparently fucked up big time on Wednesday. First it was an improper ladder setup he had to scold him about--he had JUST taken the ladder-safety training the week before!
Then the apprentice attached 2 or 3? (expensive) non-reusable compression fittings to motor bearing greasing plastic tubing BEFORE removing the 40'+ of excess tubing. An analogy would be having grease fittings for your car suspension under the hood next to the radiator, easy to get to. Then imagine coils of excess tubing sitting there that you would have to fill with grease before you could even reach the suspension
The WORST thing the apprentice did was he was replacing a fan motor for a chiller. No big deal, motor was about 20-30lbs, 4 bolts and a couple electrical connectors--simple task. Somehow, the new motor slipped from his grasp and dropped down INTO the condensor coils ruining them, releasing refrigerant and their cost is $28,000!
BUT, my neighbor is a standup guy and since the apprentice didn't have anywhere to go for T-day, invited him to dinner. He was still pissed, but that's what good people do, I guess....

 

[no4mk1t]

30+ years is a world record.

Getting 15 is doing really good.

The Trane guy said he saw one go a bit longer, but yeah, 30+ years is unusual. He said 18-20 was typical.
I don't look for this one to make 30 just because things are not engineered to last anymore. Planned obsolescence and all that.
On a related note, I have a fridge that is over 40 years old and still going strong. Everyone say that nowadays, 5-8 is all you get from them.

 

[D232A]

The Trane guy said he saw one go a bit longer, but yeah, 30+ years is unusual. He said 18-20 was typical.
I don't look for this one to make 30 just because things are not engineered to last anymore. Planned obsolescence and all that.
On a related note, I have a fridge that is over 40 years old and still going strong. Everyone say that nowadays, 5-8 is all you get from them.

Ours was quite old too.. probably 28 years old and Im sure it was the cheapest builder grade they could get when the houses were built while I was still in high school. And as far as the fridge.. my parents have a second/third hand chest freezer that they are still using. It was old when they got it. I remember that day specifically, I was young probably early teenage years, and wanted to be the one to plug it in. It was a rainy day and just grabbed the plug and put it in the socket, it was a little tight so I got a "better" grip to get it in the outlet and proceeded to get zapped. I had my index finger on one prong and my thumb on the other Learned a lesson that day! But I bet the thing is 50 years old by now!!