Help! Major freon leak

[missusliz]

Hi, I started up my unit for first time this year and it was running for about 20 min then made this loud noise like a 'powering down'. Then, we were given the freon show as it sprayed out of the top of the unit for about five minutes! It is a three year old Lincoln 2 ton SEER 10 High Efficiency C/A unit and I'm at a loss. I have a manu warranty but how much is that worth?? Thanks in advance, really...

Liz

[todouble]

better call a contractor in to fix it...more than likely not under warranty unless you bought an extended warranty with it and then it probably only covers parts if your lucky. be prepared to fork out some money its not just gonna be a simple service call....

[subcooled_]

It's not always possible to fix a leak in a coil. Call a contractor to repair, preferably the installing contractor.

[missusliz]

I called Sears who installed it, and they can't get out until Thurs. Yep, its only a parts warranty from the manu, any idea at how much I'm looking at? I know its $90 just to look at the darn thing...ugh.....I had a burst pipe in my ceiling and I'm just getting the house together from that disaster, when it rains it pours, eh? (pardon the pun...) Also, what could be the cause here? Why doesn't anything last like it used to? My parents got a Hoover when they were married and I was still using it when I was 17 years old...those were the days.

Liz

[OregonYeti]

Ohhh that suqs. Not gonna be cheap to fix if the warranty is expired. Get the installer to cover everything possible--don't give in too easily. They should last 15 years or so with few major problems.

Sears hmm, they subcontract most of their installations. Be polite but insist on good service.

[mr horsepower]

mam. with all due respect, how in the world would we know what its going to cost you to fix something we haven't looked at? did Sears know? (loaded question there, i know they didn't) furthermore, your join date shows you have just joined this site. did you not see the part about no pricing questions or did you think they were just kidding? sorry but we truly can't answer your question. and even if we knew enough to answer your question, we couldn't answer your question. hope it goes well for you though.

[the dangling wrangler]

Read the rules NO PRICING in this forum.

[vet]

Seen and heard this many times once while standing over one, I think your compressor is shot. Terminals In your compressor gave up and it will be alittle costly since the lines are sure to be contaminated, probably thru your breaker quickly too? You will want a new compressor, lines flushed,new driers,and vaccumed,also you will need them to return afterwards to replace your driers again to insure a clean system. Told my boss tha,t once and he ignored it since it was his friends, well two weeks later I was back to change them and re-clean the system.

[OregonYeti]

Compressor shot? Not likely. Unless they kept running it after the blast. You were kidding, right?

[subcooled_]

Seen and heard this many times once while standing over one, I think your compressor is shot. Terminals In your compressor gave up and it will be Little costly since the lines are sure to be contaminated, probably thru your breaker quickly too? You will want a new compressor, lines flushed,new driers,and vaccumed,also you will need them to return afterwards to replace your driers again to insure a clean system. Told my boss tha,t once and he ignored it since it was his friends, well two weeks later I was back to change them and re-clean the system.

Wow! That maybe the luckiest over the internet diagnosis ever! Or you could be completely wrong.

[Mr Bill]

If it took 5 minutes to blow the whole charge it was probably overcharged and that probably caused whatever that did blow to blow, even the red rag recovery machine is faster than that.

[ga-hvac-tech]

Mam, I do not know how forceful you can be, but if it were me I would push Sears for a new unit, at their expense. A unit 'blowing up' after only 3 years is not normal.

It is my opinion that something was probably not done correctly during the installation. But proving that will be tricky.

Best of luck to you mam, you probably will need it.

[mr horsepower]

Wow! That maybe the luckiest over the internet diagnosis ever! Or you could be completely wrong.

lol. i need a receptionist that has that ability. with gas prices the way they are, it'd help to always know what parts to take before even seeing the job.