Evaporator coil replacement - contractor says needs Mods

[imureh]

Hello all, I have a 8 year old Lennox Elite system that has had a history of leaked evaporator coils, Well I have one more again. This time I have home warranty and the tech that came to inspect is quoting charges for modifications to the drainage as well as plenum redistribution and says its per code. I do not recall this being done before when I had them replaced. Is this is typical? My share is about $ after warranty coverage.

Thanks

[BaldLoonie]

Home warranty companies rip you off any way they can. They pay so low their dealers come up with ways to gouge the HO to make up for it.

You can see if you can get a cash out and take the money and use a good contractor. Is the coil in warranty from Lennox?

[imureh]

Its an ADP coil and I do not believe it is now. The cash out option is a good one. I had not thought about that. I am interested in knowing though whether the recommendations made by the tech is expected in case I do not have the cash option

[BNME8EZ]

It is very possible that some of your coil issues have been from poor air flow through the coil. Drain line issues generally will not cause coil leak issues except for water but the piping still has to be done according to local jurisdiction. It should also be noted that warranty companies will not pay for changes needed to the plenum to get the new coil to fit.

[Makeitcold]

It very possible that the new coil will have different height dimensions than the old coil. This means that the cabinet the old coil set in cant be used, hence the mods which maybe easy or hard, I'm not there. It's not impossible that a HW contractor will do good work, I just have never seen or heard of such a thing. I'm usually left to clean up their mistakes

[Advanced Response]

The problem: coil failed

The solution: replace coil or system

Now curveball: home warranty

Home warranty only attracts low quality contractor sometimes not insured or licensed properly. Sometimes only a handyman type person with no formal training.

Home warranty throws peanuts to contractors as payment. Also sometimes require contractor to use home warranty supplied parts or equipment that most times don’t fit correctly or match the equipment properly.

Then home warranty company says to mr low quality contractor: we know we only throw peanuts as payment, so you can charge what you want for all these things on a list that we don’t cover.

Then the low quality contractor has to deal with telling the homeowner: I know you thought everything was covered by your home warranty but this list of items are not covered and required to do the job. Which may of may not be true. But what is true is the poor low quality contractor cannot do the job and pay his bills off the amount(peanuts) that the home warranty pays for the job.

Home warranty is bait and switch and the reason most quality contractors will not deal with them. Home warranty companies give a false sense of security thinking anything in the home will be repaired or replaced at little to no charge to the homeowner.

Cash out from your homewarranty and find a quality contractor to repair or replace your system.

Be advised it may be more or even much more than the amount that you were quoted plus the cash out, as the quality contractor is not a low quality home warranty contractor that you may end up with even more issues than you started with.

[fliks]

I have to ask, did they prove that the leak is in fact the coil? I ask because you said multiple coils have leaked which isn’t impossible but imo not likely. Some not so good techs think that the leak is always the coil without verifying.

[imureh]

Well he opened up the coil and showed me some oily residue which he said was a leak. The was absolutely zero gas in the system. I also have found that my condenser model number shows 3.5 ton capacity, the coil model shows capacity of 5 ton, so they are charging me for a 5 ton unit coil replacement. Should the condenser capacity and the coil be the same tonnage?.

[imureh]

The problem: coil failed

The solution: replace coil or system

Now curveball: home warranty

Home warranty only attracts low quality contractor sometimes not insured or licensed properly. Sometimes only a handyman type person with no formal training.

Home warranty throws peanuts to contractors as payment. Also sometimes require contractor to use home warranty supplied parts or equipment that most times don’t fit correctly or match the equipment properly.

Then home warranty company says to mr low quality contractor: we know we only throw peanuts as payment, so you can charge what you want for all these things on a list that we don’t cover.

Then the low quality contractor has to deal with telling the homeowner: I know you thought everything was covered by your home warranty but this list of items are not covered and required to do the job. Which may of may not be true. But what is true is the poor low quality contractor cannot do the job and pay his bills off the amount(peanuts) that the home warranty pays for the job.

Home warranty is bait and switch and the reason most quality contractors will not deal with them. Home warranty companies give a false sense of security thinking anything in the home will be repaired or replaced at little to no charge to the homeowner.

Cash out from your homewarranty and find a quality contractor to repair or replace your system.

Be advised it may be more or even much more than the amount that you were quoted plus the cash out, as the quality contractor is not a low quality home warranty contractor that you may end up with even more issues than you started with.

Any recommendations on coil brands to go for? Seeing recommendations for Lennox, Aspen slab and Goodman. All at about the same price range of$

[pecmsg]

Is this a heat pump or straight a/c?

[Dad]

All pricing removed... again

Our rules state no pricing. Please follow our site rules.

[Advanced Response]

If it is a heat pump, go with a Lennox aluminum matching coil. The only sad thing with Lennox is you only get a 5yr coil part warranty when only the coil is being replaced.

I would recommend to get a aluminum evaporator coil. If it is straight 410a A/c, you could possibly go with a ICP(tempstar/heil) evaporator and make sure it is registered and get a 10yr part warranty. It is not ideal to mix match brands but I have installed icp coils on many other a/c brands and never had an issue.

Make sure that if they come with a cased coil, that they install the case with the coil. I like cased coils as it is harder for an installer to install it with airflow bypassing around it.

[imureh]

Is this a heat pump or straight a/c?

It has gas furnace and AC

[imureh]

If it is a heat pump, go with a Lennox aluminum matching coil. The only sad thing with Lennox is you only get a 5yr coil part warranty when only the coil is being replaced.

I would recommend to get a aluminum evaporator coil. If it is straight 410a A/c, you could possibly go with a ICP(tempstar/heil) evaporator and make sure it is registered and get a 10yr part warranty. It is not ideal to mix match brands but I have installed icp coils on many other a/c brands and never had an issue.

Make sure that if they come with a cased coil, that they install the case with the coil. I like cased coils as it is harder for an installer to install it with airflow bypassing around it.

They will be replacing the case of the coil as well and putting in a new one