What would be reasonable labor charges

[va302stang]

This morning my heat quit, 30(+) year old Coleman Evcon. I noticed things were not right when it got chilly in the house. The thermostat was on, calling for aux heat but the outside unit was not working and the blower inside the air handler was not blowing. I checked all the breakers and looked for anything obvious. It appeared the blower relay was not closing.
I called my serviceman and explained all of this. He sent someone to the house at about 11:00 am. I explained what I had done and what I thought the problem might be. The guy did a little checking with an analog multi-meter, my digital multi-meter and a spare capacitor and informed me my capacitor was bad. He drove back to his shop about 7 miles away and came with another capacitor (actually two 5s in place of my 10) he hooked it up and that didn't do it. He then determined that my fan motor was bad. He showed me that it was still very warm and there was some slop in the shaft. He took the fan out and carried it back to his shop about 7 miles away. He returned a few hours later with a new fan motor and capacitor. He installed it and it still did not work. I asked again about the relay and offered my digital multimeter again. He determined that the relay must be faulty. Another trip to the shop. He returned with a new blower relay installed it and still no success. I helped him check a few more things and pointed out that, as before, that there was only 21 or 22 volts coming off the transformer. (I now think this is the problem) So, I sent him home puzzled and he said to call him when I got home from Church tomorrow and he and the boss would come out. That was at about 7:00 pm. I think the guys is a parts changer and I don't think I should have to pay for his lack of experience or numerous trips to the shop. I fear a gigantic labor bill.
Opinions on how I should handle this?
Thank you.

[jwiehagen76]

I will agree from the sounds you probably had an inexperienced tech, but you can not complain if you have not received a bill. You may want to ask the contractor if you will be billed for the first guy. I would guess that you wouldn't be billed. Possibly there service dept. was tied up and the tech that came was the only available person.

[beenthere]

Talk to the boss/company owner.

[smoke]

As long as the company stands behind their work you should not have a huge bill once this is all explained in a calm and reasonable fashion to a service manager.

Good news is you are now the proud owner of a brand new blower motor in a 30+ year old system!

p.s. 30+ years old is really old...


~smoke~

[bmathews]

I'm not really familiar with Coleman, especially 30 year old ones. But 1 or 2 trips and it would have been fixed. There aren't that many more parts in such a vintage furnace.

[BamaCool]

At least he knows how to parallel capacitors. That's all I can say for this guy!

[beenthere]

Or maybe he wired them in series.

[BobbyBJr]

Yeah, something is up because sounds like all the parts to run the blower are new now. He could have wired something wrong, or the stat might not be calling, but the 21 or 22 volts on the transformer is probably not the problem. I am sure the guy who comes out tomorrow, or the service manager, will treat you fair.

[va302stang]

With the new motor came a new capacitor, so the two capacitor set-up is now gone. He ran a jumper across the 2 and 4 on the relay (high speed fan) and the blower fan ran. Like I said though, the outside unit does not come on, nor does the aux heat coils. The thermostat is new (DEC 08) and has been working fine, I don't think it is the problem but I guess it could be. Thanks for the replies so far. So if they try to hand me a huge bill what should I say? I don't mind paying for a new blower motor and capacitor, I am scheduled to deploy to Iraq again this fall so it is cheap peace of mind. I don't want my wife to have to go through this without me here. It is just the apparent lack of systematic troubleshooting (i.e. parts changing) and the numerous trips back and forth that kills me.
Thanks again.
-Matt

[beenthere]

See post 3

[james80031]

Or maybe he wired them in series.

Why would such a good tech do that? (I did that once when I first started)

[iraqveteran]

With the new motor came a new capacitor, so the two capacitor set-up is now gone. He ran a jumper across the 2 and 4 on the relay (high speed fan) and the blower fan ran. Like I said though, the outside unit does not come on, nor does the aux heat coils. The thermostat is new (DEC 08) and has been working fine, I don't think it is the problem but I guess it could be. Thanks for the replies so far. So if they try to hand me a huge bill what should I say? I don't mind paying for a new blower motor and capacitor, I am scheduled to deploy to Iraq again this fall so it is cheap peace of mind. I don't want my wife to have to go through this without me here. It is just the apparent lack of systematic troubleshooting (i.e. parts changing) and the numerous trips back and forth that kills me.
Thanks again.
-Matt

deploy? Iraq?

Sounds like a couple Marines I know....


where you stationed? If your at CLNC, send me an email.

[james80031]

deploy? Iraq?

Sounds like a couple Marines I know....


where you stationed? If your at CLNC, send me an email.

My old unit (Army) just re-deployed for their 3rd tour.