Who needs access to a indoor coil?

[PaysonHVAC]

I went to a big house today belonging to one of the large builders here in Phoneix. His wine cellar went down.
When I got there I found the compressor locked and pulling LRA. Start Assist was ok, etc. Comp is frozen. BTW, I always try every trick to get the comps started again, even though we know it is temprary by piggy backing another start cap, reversing run and start to BUMP the comp backwards and forwards, etc. This comp wouldn't budge. No big deal, he's going to need another.

On the outside it's going to be a piece of cake.
http://www.paysonarizona.net/HOS/0301171633_0.jpg


It's the INSIDE that will suck.

http://www.paysonarizona.net/HOS/0301171633_3.jpg
This is a fancy wine cellar in this guy's home.

http://www.paysonarizona.net/HOS/0301171633_1.jpg
You can see why he wants it fixed. He must have a lot of $$$ in this room.




Then here's what bugs me about people like this...

http://www.paysonarizona.net/HOS/0301171633_2.jpg
How the heck is anyone going to work on the indoor section when they need to?
Tomarrow morning I will change the comp. I think I will leave him a note about the problem with the access inside and how I will not be able to do much to it when he needs it. I can't access the drain, or the coil.

I may complain about crappy installs on the cookie cutter homes, but then on some of the million dollar homes they do stupid stuff like building enclosures over the coils, especially the OUTDOOR coils.
They want it "out of sight" but they sure make them units run harder and harder for us techs to work on!

[rdj357]

Nice place to put it. I can relate, I'm sure I'm not the only person that's worked on boxes with the evap coil mounted across the end of the w/i allowing about 2" on each side for access. Gotta love a defrost heater changeout or even a burnt wire on those. Nothing like using an inspection mirror to troubleshoot.....

[ct_hvac_tech]

An inspection mirror my a$$.....we simply refuse to work on units like these, we tell them to call us back when the units are accesible.

[DeltaT]

I just rebuilt one something like that but I talked the owner into letting me bolt a low profile evap on the ceiling. No problems and it works great.

Does this HO have room for a self contained water cooler wine cooler unit? Another customer has one that fits under his cabinets out of the way. Let me know and I'll find the name and tele number of this company.

[Freezeking2000]

It will be a nice sale for a new coil if that one has a problem. Maybe the thing will run 20+ years!

[topdog]

I HOPE YOU'RE CHARGING BY THE HOUR.

[CoolCopperUSMC]

Hey Payson, whats up dude!

It also looks like a pretty tight spot for the condensor, For Phoenix I would have let it breath better, At least a little farther from the wall.

One other thing, the back of that evap is probably dirty,, haha,, If it ever goes out or If the cust seriously wants to do something about it I know of some slim ceiling mount evaps that are quiet and would look nice in there.

Next time you are in ARS ask to see what they can order,, I've ordered dual evaps that looked great and only hung down about six inches. I think they even have some that have stainless cabinets, your guy looks like he has bucks and taste and may go for it.. Ask him, I will bet he is not happy with the way it is now.

[PaysonHVAC]

Luckily the evap didn't need repair and I FELT the coil, it FELT clean. :-P


It turns out some of that trim around the evap comes loose easily. But the shelves under it do NOT.

Also, at the time of the photos I didn't see the two panels that were pulled out by the owner when it failed. There are luvered wooden panels that fit in front of the evap section there. So when they are in you can't even tell the evap is there. It surely restricts some of the air. I installed the comp the other day. It works ok now.
These guys care more about looks than how the equipment performs, that is until it breaks. Then they want miracles, but still want the stuff the way THEY have it!

[MadeinUSA]

Oh come on, this isn't the toughest job you've ever been on.

Just STEP BACK, grab you a $10,000.00 bottle, pop the cork, pull up a chair and re-evaluate the whole situation. This process might take two bottles, so beit. You know he's going to give you another bottle at the conclusion of this job, to show his appreciation of all your efforts in hard work and design. Buddy, you're $30,000.00 ahead on this job before you even start.

See what happened to the so called carpenters, I'm telling you laying out a job SOBER will come back and bite you every time. You on the other hand have such an advantage with the fine stock you have at your disposal.

Listen you're going to have two hours of thinking and evaluation, eight hours of recuperation. This is ten hours total being paid $20,000.00 dollars. This is $2,000.00 dollars an hour, you are the ENVY of your trade. You are being paid one hundred times above scale.

If you don't want this job, STEP BACK because I already have my first bottle picked out.....=-)

Listen, here's how you correct the poor design. Tear out the back wall, rebuild it where the wall opens up like French doors, giving you full access to your evaporator. Go look in his kitchen pantry, I'm sure he has the same concept on the swing out shelving, you'll get the idea.

Now, here's my bill, one case of the $10,000.00 a bottle wine, mixture if you would please. See how this works, the competition will come in and walk all over you every single time when you hesitate. I made $120,000.00 on this job and didn't even have to touch it. I just love this trade. Thank god for digital cameras.

Now, I'm going to STEP BACK out of the situation and let you people take over.

P.S. Send me your e-mail so I can forward my bill.

Thank you for your business,

madeinusa

[midhvac]

I've worked on a few of those as well. Seems like they always find the hottest place to put the condensing unit. The last one was in their *hot* garage.

If the humidity gets out of line, the corks go bad.

Save me a bottle of Rothschild's 1859. That was a very good year.

[CoolCopperUSMC]

Found a neat article on storing wine. I became curious after seeing this post.


http://www.intowine.com/cellar.html


It talks about light, temp, time, vibration, and Humidity. Really interesting.

[Green Mountain]

Originally posted by DeltaT
Does this HO have room for a self contained water cooler wine cooler unit? .

I'm just sticking my nose in here. Being that this house is in Phoenix I would imagin that the cost of water would be expensive.

[PaysonHVAC]

Too funny.
Water seems almost un limited here in Phoenix (you just don't drink the tap much). Most places have no restrictions. But in the AZ Mountains they have some restricitions. They have smalled water companies that run out of water in summer months (Pine, AZ for one).
They ALWAYS seem to find enough for all the golf courses though.

[workinlate]

did one like that...put a heat strip in front of the fan to reheat and a hot pan off the drain for humidity "3 way valve" all controled by a thermidistat.......:)

[astro2122]

How bout talkin the HO into one of those nice new Sanyo split-units? would be much simpler?

[PaysonHVAC]

You mean a "Ductless mini split"?

I've done those. Our company deals with Fujitsu. Supposed to be the biggest brand in Japan. Over there I guess they use way more ductless systems even in commerical buildings.

Anyway. I'm not so sure a mini split or any split system NOT designed for med/low temp wouldn't freeze the coil at 62 degrees.

The equipment in the wine cellars is the same you find in small walk in's.