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Have a trane air handler unit installed in 87 when the house was built. The contractor showed me that the coil in the air handler was leaking in multiple places. I'm guessing the coil is appoximately 18" wide by 30 " long by 4" deep. He said you couldn't buy them anymore, and they were near impossible to repair the leaks. It's a 2 1/2 ton unit, with an American Standard compressor outside put in in '96. There's a very small leak on the outside unit on the valve they hook the gauge to. He told me the best option is to replace the entire system with the same size Goodman.
Is that the best route or should I pursue trying to only have the coil replaced? Other than the leaking I haven't had any other issues except having a capacitor go out.
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I would suggest replacing the whole thing. If you only replace the indoor and keep the 16+year old leaking condenser, you will regret it. The type of refrigerent your system uses is being replaced and the outdoor unit will likely not be available in a year or two when your compressor dies so you will have to replace both to be compatible with the new refrigerent. Might as well bite the bullet now and replace it all. You will get a better efficiency rating with all new equipment also which will lower your utility bills
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I agree with replacing the entire system. That system owes you nothing.
I would be concerned about the multiple leaks in the indoor coil though. This is an indication of formicary corrosion which is mostly an environmental concern that will adversely affect a new system as well.
Formicary corrosion is caused by an increase of volatile organic compounds, VOC's, in the home. VOC's in the home are mostly from chemical additives to scented products, new carpets, furniture building materials etc. VOC's are not only more plentiful in the products we buy today, they tend to circulate in the air of our homes more because we are tightening up our homes to prevent outside air infiltration for energy savings.
The two things to concentrate on for problems caused by VOC's are; get rid of products containing VOC's and/or have a proper ventilation system installed to eliminate VOC's in the house. Having an ERV or HRV ventilation system installed when you have your new heat pump system installed will benefit your household in many ways for the health of both your new heat pump system and your family members.
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Or mabey you could replace it with a new Trane , i would get couple of estimates .
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The brand for replacement is not as relevant as is the contractor doing the replacing. All brands have equivalent models and features and the best brand in one area may not be the best brand in another area, depending on the support from the distributor for that brand.Originally Posted by catmanacman
What ever contractor you feel the most comfortable with, allow them to install the brand that they recommend with the features that you want.
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+1. Pick the contractor, not the brand. There are only a few companies who actually make the systems, the others are just re-badged with a different cabinet. Kinda like GMC and Chevy trucks...
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And even the ones that are made by specific manufactures all use similar if not the exact same parts.
In my area, Ruud became the better brand for the Eastern part of my area and Rheem the better brand for a Northwestern part of my area. Why? Because I went to work for the distributor of these brands for those areas.......
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I dont like to brand bash just it seems that most goodmans i work on ill say have a less than stellar install . Please post a picture of your new install
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That's not brand bashing, that's installer bashing.
Many companies that sell Trane, Carrier, York etc., also install Goodman and other perceived lower level brands of equipment. We've also all seen the so called better brands installed like crap, and guess what? They have prolems.
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It does seem like Goodman has a higher proportion of crappy installs. I wonder if Goodman isn't a decent brand but just gets a bad rap due to poor installs. Then again Goodman is only one I know of that makes a 2 stage furnace without the capability to hook up a 2 stage stat. I fail to see the point of that one, how hard would it have been to put an optional W2 terminal like everybody else?
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I agree that more Goodman systems are poorly installed. I've had Goodman in my homes and my family members and friends homes for over a decade and have had only one issue with my brothers heat pump having a noisy Copeland scroll compressor that I changed out. All of the Goodman equipment I've had in my personal homes have been units that came back with claims of not operating properly. Other than changing out filter/driers in these returned units, I've never done anything else other than install them in my homes and never had a days problem with any of them.
I like the way the Goodman two stage furnace operates by logorythym calculations on the furnace board. The York, Luxaire and Coleman fully modulating furnaces operate from a single stage stat in the same basic way.
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