PURCHASING A NEW AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM
•Buying New
•Service Information
•Air Conditioning Inspection

AIR CONDITIONING SERVICE INFORMATION

We give our customers a one year parts and labor warranty on all repairs.

BEFORE YOU CALL A SERVICE COMPANY CHECK THE ITEMS BELOW YOU MAY NOT NEED A SERVICE CALL

1. Check the warranty on your air conditioner. Some manufacturers have a 2 year or a 5 year warranty on parts. If you do not have warranty information we can check with the manufacturer to see what the warranty is. Most air conditioning compressors have a 5 to 10 year parts warranty.

2. Check to see that the thermostat is set correctly. Make sure the system switch is on cool and the thermostat temperature is set correctly. If you have a programmable thermostat the batteries may be dead.

3 Turn the fan switch on the thermostat from the auto to the on position. The blower or fan for the furnace should come on and air should come out of the registers. If this does not happen check the circuit breaker or fuse in the electric panel, check the on/off switch on the side of the furnace to make sure that it is on. , and check the blower door to make sure that it is installed correctly. See number 4 below.

4. Make sure that the blower door is firmly in place. On most furnaces there is a door switch that will not let the furnace come on unless the door is on the furnace properly. This is particularly important if you have removed the blower door to change the filter. [see furnace service information item 4]

5. Make sure that the furnace filter is clean. Replace or clean the filter.

6. Do the fan blades on the condenser fan on the outside unit turn and blow air? Note some units have a 5 minute time delay and it takes about 5 minutes for the unit to start after the thermostat calls for cooling. If the condenser fan is not running check the circuit breaker or fuses in the electric panel and check to see if there are fuses in the disconnect which is the electric box that is usually mounted on the side of the house. If there are fuses in the disconnect they should be FRN or dual element fuses. Note! Turn off the power to the unit by turning the two pole (double) circuit breaker in the electric panel to “off” or remove the two fuses to prevent electrical shock when checking the disconnect. Note! Most electric disconnects do not have fuses, it is just an on/off switch. Make sure that the plug or handle is in the on position.

7. If the outside unit appears to be running (see 6 above) and you do not get cool air out of the supply air registers after 10 minutes, turn the unit off, because you will damage the unit. The air coming out of the registers should be about 15 to 20 degrees colder than the air going into the furnace. The air goes into the furnace at the furnace filter. See item 4 above.

8. Make sure that damper on bypass humidifier is closed for summer operation. . Make sure that the coil on the outside unit (condenser coil) is clean. Turn the unit off at the circuit breaker. Use a hose with a nozzle and wash the coil out. Point the nozzle downward at a 45 degree angle and wash the unit out. Try not to get the condenser fan motor wet. Let the unit dry out for 12 hours before turning the unit back on. If the unit has a louvered cover to protect it from hail (Trane and Rheem) and possibly other brands it may be difficult to get the coil clean without removing the top cover and or condenser fan motor. It is recommended that a professional service company be called if it is necessary to remove the condenser fan and fan motor and clean the unit. [see number 6 above 1st picture]

 

QUESTIONS TO ASK THE SERVICE COMPANY BEFORE THEY COME OUT

1. How much do you charge for a pound of refrigerant?

Answer: Most companies charge around $10 for a pound of refrigerant 22.

2. How much refrigerant does my unit hold?.

Answer: The name plate on the air conditioning unit lists the amount of refrigerant that it holds. There are 16 ounces of refrigerant in one pound. If the refrigerant lines are longer than 30 feet the unit may contain slightly more refrigerant than is indicated on the name plate.

3. Do you have a meter to measure superheat and sub-cooling?

Answer: The meter that is used has leads with sensors that attach to the liquid line and suction line so that the liquid line and suction line temperatures can be measured. When this is used in conjunction with pressure gauges that measure the high pressure and low pressure for the unit, it is possible to tell exactly how the unit is performing. It is difficult to tell how well the unit is performing without measuring superheat and sub-cooling. It is necessary to know the refrigerant superheat and sub-cooling in order to make sure that the unit runs efficiently. If the superheat is too high or too low it can also damage the compressor in your unit. [Prohvac3 1]

4. Do you have a recovery unit?

Answer: The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requires that refrigerant not be allowed to escape into the atmosphere. If it is necessary to remove the refrigerant from your air conditioning system to repair a refrigerant leak or change the compressor, the recovery unit removes the refrigerant and puts it into a container for re-cycling.

5. Do you have a two stage rotary vacuum pump and micron gauge?

Answer: When working on the refrigeration system, such as repairing refrigerant leaks, installing a new system or changing a compressor it is necessary to remove the air and moisture from the refrigerant system. If the air and moisture is not removed the efficiency of the unit is less than the rated efficiency and it is likely that you will have pre-mature compressor failure. It takes a two stage rotary vacuum pump and a micron gauge to get all of the air and moisture out of the system. A micron gauge reads very low vacuum levels. Most manufacturers want the system evacuated to 500 microns. [purchasing a new air conditioner, paragraph 13]

We have the equipment above and we use it!