bigdeal,

I have a window AC unit you can use for a few days. It's a small unit (that's what my wife says, at least) but it will cool a bedroom down to be able to sleep.

I'm by UCF.

E-mail is in profile.

Yeah, that has happened to me a few times. The last time was just last month but it was an easy fix as some rodent or ants got into the outside unit and chewed a few wires. A small cheap window unit might be a reasonable fix until they get it figured out.

 
My deepest sympathy, since I see you live in FL. 88 here in AZ would be very tolerable with fans.
 
Don't know what your HVAC system is, but if it involves mini-splits, one troubleshooting step I learned from our installer is, if the power went off (or the breaker tripped), you have to go to the unit's disconnect box, usually on the wall right next to the compressor. Pull the disconnect contacts "fuse" and wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in. You can hear some clicking noises from the compressor as the circuit board resets itself. I've had to do that a few times, and in the case of power loss, it works every time.
 

quote:

So $210 to replace an admittedly hard-to-turn fan motor a

Probably what caused the breaker to blow so you really didn't lose that money.

Dude, a window AC unit is $120. Go buy one. Now. And the store will even take it back when you are done with it, if you are a cheap bastard. I keep a working window unit in my garage at all times. If the power goes out, I can hook up my generator and window unit and sleep in comfort while the less prepared (idiots?) bitch and moan and complain.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Dude, a window AC unit is $120. Go buy one. Now. And the store will even take it back when you are done with it, if you are a cheap bastard. I keep a working window unit in my garage at all times. If the power goes out, I can hook up my generator and window unit and sleep in comfort while the less prepared (idiots?) bitch and moan and complain.

This is what we did during the Hurricanes when power was out for several days, even the generator was fine with it, closed the MB door and turned the AC on, nice, fresh cool air, plus the hum just puts me right to sleep.

I would pick a portable AC in the meantime. They are generally 10,000-15,000 VTU and should be able to do a couple rooms.

Backup window units are a must have.

We have a dual zone setup, but the upstairs still gets warm in the Florida Heat. So we have 2 units for the kids rooms and can move one to a guest room if need be.

I grew up in NW Pennsylvania so I never had AC to deal with until I moved to NC in ‘88. And issues do crop up, it’s unavoidable. But I never had some dumb fuck show up and say “I dunno.....”. Maybe you should try another repair service or vendor.
Ours crashed 5 days after bringing home a newborn, in late June, at 1 AM. So much fun.
But it was diagnosed and fixed within 12 hours, during 8 of which the company was closed.
Good luck, but try to affect that luck.

Yeah, Murphy's a bastard sometimes. My AC crapped out right in the middle of a heat wave last month. I know, what we call a heat wave isn't what you guys in the southeast get, but for us it's bad enough. The AC failed on a Friday night or Saturday morning, so it would have been an emergency call to get a guy out to look at it (at twice the normal rate) and he'd likely have to order a part anyway, so it would be a the middle of the week before it was working again. So I opted to not pay the emergency charge and suffered through the weekend. On Monday he showed up and fortunately it turned out to be a failed startup capacitor, not the fan motor itself, so he was able to get it going right away. Still about a $400 bill including the capacitor, which is like a $160 part all by itself.

Far as I'm concerned, the ONLY good thing about summer is women's wardrobe changes.

I had the same thing happen to me 3 weeks ago. I picked up a cheap Wal Mart 6k BTU window unit and put it in my bedroom window. During the day I left the door open, and it managed to knock the whole house down a few degrees at least. An hour before I went to bed, I closed the bedroom door, and when I went back in there it was a comfortable 65 degrees to sleep in, and as someone else said earlier the hum puts you right to sleep. It got me through until I managed to replace the whole HVAC system.

After this, I don't think I will ever be without a window unit again. It kept the house liveable, and any time I need supplemental cooling for any reason I can just plug it in.

quote:

Originally posted by rscalzo:

quote:

So $210 to replace an admittedly hard-to-turn fan motor a

Probably what caused the breaker to blow so you really didn't lose that money.

Nope, the 3 amp fuse protects the 24 volt control circuit, not the blower.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
He had no clue what was wrong with the system.

Sorry to hear you found a rookie, but at least they didn't condemn the equipment because they couldn't repair it. That's what most HVAC company's do when they don't know "jack shit" about how things work.

Make and model numbers?

What's the symptoms?
Indoor blower running?
Does the outdoor unit run?
Anything else you can tell me? (As in, trips breaker, humming sound, freezes up, etc)

88 degrees?

Try 109 degrees in Tucson, but it's a dry heat.

Any update?

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
He had no clue what was wrong with the system.

Sorry to hear you found a rookie, but at least they didn't condemn the equipment because they couldn't repair it. That's what most HVAC company's do when they don't know "jack shit" about how things work.

Make and model numbers?

What's the symptoms?
Indoor blower running?
Does the outdoor unit run?
Anything else you can tell me? (As in, trips breaker, humming sound, freezes up, etc)

Its a Bryant 5 ton Evolution system, about 14-15 years old. The air handler in the garage functions without issue, but the heat pump on the pad outside won't kick on. Had a senior tech look at it yesterday and he condemned the compressor as being bad. With the system as old as it is, and a new compressor for the old system being stupidly expensive, I'm pricing a new 5 ton system right now.

Any recommendations on brands? Since we plan to sell this house in the next couple years I really don't want to bury any more cash in this than necessary. Through just a bit of conversation with my neighbors, it appears darn near everyone (four and counting) who've replaced an AC system in the past couple years used Goodman equipment.

I sold Goodman (Janitrol) for a number of years at the distributor level. It was a no frills brand. Did not have the brand recognition of the big namers but we did well with it. It was a bit cheaper but functioned well. Goodman rebranded it self many times over.
I won't say it was as good as the best. But as has been said over and over and over in these threads. It is about 80% the installer and 20% the equipment when it comes to a good job or a bad one. Equipment aside, imho.

Check with the company you are using to replace your a/c about window units.

When our a/c went out the earliest they could schedule us was 9 days out. They gave us 2 loaner window units to help us get by until they could install the new unit.

Fortunately they had a few cancellations and were able to get to us sooner.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Its a Bryant 5 ton Evolution system, about 14-15 years old. The air handler in the garage functions without issue, but the heat pump on the pad outside won't kick on. Had a senior tech look at it yesterday and he condemned the compressor as being bad. With the system as old as it is, and a new compressor for the old system being stupidly expensive, I'm pricing a new 5 ton system right now.

Was the electrical breaker for the outside condenser tripping?
If not, does the outside fan operate?

At this point, I would recommend getting a second opinion. Without telling the second company that it was already condemned by the first company.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Any recommendations on brands? Since we plan to sell this house in the next couple years I really don't want to bury any more cash in this than necessary. Through just a bit of conversation with my neighbors, it appears darn near everyone (four and counting) who've replaced an AC system in the past couple years used Goodman equipment.

Goodman dealers are normally cheaper than the rest. Equipment is cheaper (lack of advertisement), easier to get, often installed by new contractors (lack of proper installing technics and/or lack of knowing cost of business exspenses) and other factors lend a hand to the cheaper overall price.

*If* installed by a competent HVAC tech, it can and will last several years. Although, it's harder to find a competent tech selling this particular brand of equipment.

I worked in HVAC for about 8 years at a Nuclear plant. I will add, to always ask for an explanation. Sometimes it's easy to smell the BS.

If they are condemning the compressor ask how they tested it? At a minimum check for shorts to ground and resistance check across all the windings of the compressor. I would also megger (megaohmmeter) the compressor motor leads to ground. That checks the varnish/insulation on the motor windings that a regular ohm meter would not detect.

I agree with Excam_Man, just condemning things with out a reason is not a good sign usually.