virginiajersey
07-11-2007, 04:07 AM
My 19-year-old a/c condenser is on it's last legs and I know it. However, I decided to let it run until it quits, and then I will replace it. I also decided that if it quits in the middle of summer that I will go out and buy a portable unit if necessary and use it rather than to succomb to high-pressure sales tactics.
A few weeks ago, I saw an energy guy on tv saying it conserves more energy turning A/C systems off when you go to work rather than to raise the thermostat, so I've started doing that. Then came the hottest days of the year. Instead of only having to run a few hours to cool the house, my system has been having to run 6, 7, or 8 hours.
Monday morning, I noticed it was getting hot inside when the system had been on all night, and I saw that the condenser had quit running. First I checked the obvious: tripped circuit breakers and blown fuses. Nothing. Curious I threw the circuit breakers and took the cover off the electrical box on the condenser. I saw a component that had a wire hanging out of it. Natuarlly, I called an HVAC repairman.
Not sure I can trust the hvac repaiman I've been using, last year I had already preselected another for my next call. However, when I called them, they couldn't come out to a "new customer" for a week, so I called my "old" company. They could have sent someone out within hours, but I had to go to work, so I made an appointment for the next day.
The guy came out, saw the wire hanging off, and reattached it. I threw the CB's back on for him, then he reinstalled the fuse plug, and it blasted back to life. He put a clamp meter around a wire, and knowing this reading is important because of a previous visit where the numbers I saw didn't match what I had been told, standing about 5 feet away, I glanced over and saw the numbers changing rapidly between 15.9 and 16.9.
He says, "Your compressor is shot. It's supposed to be drawing no more than 14 amps, but it's drawing 21." As he pulls the fuse panel out to shut the system down, he says, "You need a new system."
It was 95 degrees outside and in my home it was 87 upstairs and 84 downstairs, so I said, "Aren't you going to leave it running?", to which he replied, "No, you shouldn't run it; it needs to be replaced." He then called his salesman who said he could be here within an hour.
As soon as the salesman left, I put the fuse plug back in, and I now have a nicely cooled home. However, I was so worried about it over-heating and burning something else up that I shut it down for an hour after it had been running for 4 hours. Obviously, following the energy conservationist's guide of shutting the system down when going to work isn't good for my old system, so I won't do it again.
Shouldn't the numbers I'm seeing on the gauge be the ones they're telling me it's "pulling"? This is important to me because if they're lying about this, they could lie about anything, and thus I wouldn't want to buy a new system from them.
Thanks in advance.
A few weeks ago, I saw an energy guy on tv saying it conserves more energy turning A/C systems off when you go to work rather than to raise the thermostat, so I've started doing that. Then came the hottest days of the year. Instead of only having to run a few hours to cool the house, my system has been having to run 6, 7, or 8 hours.
Monday morning, I noticed it was getting hot inside when the system had been on all night, and I saw that the condenser had quit running. First I checked the obvious: tripped circuit breakers and blown fuses. Nothing. Curious I threw the circuit breakers and took the cover off the electrical box on the condenser. I saw a component that had a wire hanging out of it. Natuarlly, I called an HVAC repairman.
Not sure I can trust the hvac repaiman I've been using, last year I had already preselected another for my next call. However, when I called them, they couldn't come out to a "new customer" for a week, so I called my "old" company. They could have sent someone out within hours, but I had to go to work, so I made an appointment for the next day.
The guy came out, saw the wire hanging off, and reattached it. I threw the CB's back on for him, then he reinstalled the fuse plug, and it blasted back to life. He put a clamp meter around a wire, and knowing this reading is important because of a previous visit where the numbers I saw didn't match what I had been told, standing about 5 feet away, I glanced over and saw the numbers changing rapidly between 15.9 and 16.9.
He says, "Your compressor is shot. It's supposed to be drawing no more than 14 amps, but it's drawing 21." As he pulls the fuse panel out to shut the system down, he says, "You need a new system."
It was 95 degrees outside and in my home it was 87 upstairs and 84 downstairs, so I said, "Aren't you going to leave it running?", to which he replied, "No, you shouldn't run it; it needs to be replaced." He then called his salesman who said he could be here within an hour.
As soon as the salesman left, I put the fuse plug back in, and I now have a nicely cooled home. However, I was so worried about it over-heating and burning something else up that I shut it down for an hour after it had been running for 4 hours. Obviously, following the energy conservationist's guide of shutting the system down when going to work isn't good for my old system, so I won't do it again.
Shouldn't the numbers I'm seeing on the gauge be the ones they're telling me it's "pulling"? This is important to me because if they're lying about this, they could lie about anything, and thus I wouldn't want to buy a new system from them.
Thanks in advance.