Unbelievable
Aug. 24th, 2008 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyThe air conditioner started acting up yesterday. I tried powering it up on the new generator just as a test, that didn't work; the generator sounded really put upon and the compressor just made some noise. It's possible that led to the trouble I'm having but I don't think so, or at least, it only accelerated a problem that would have happened anyway.
There's a relay in the outside unit so that the thermostat can deliver 24vac through a control line and have the 30 amp, 220VAC unit turn on. J noticed yesterday that the compressor was running but the furnace wasn't blowing air. "Stuck relay" I figure. I've never done anything with air conditioners before, but there's gotta be a relay in there. Took the cover off, found a quantity of insanely fast spiders (like, run around the circumference of a 12" square metal box in about 1 second). Yup, relay is stuck. Whack it with a screwdriver, compressor shuts off. Contacts look really fried.
As I said, it's possible that the relay chattered a bit while trying to run on the generator, and maybe got a hundred or two extra cycles added to its life right there, but I think this thing was going to die soon anyway.
So I went online today to find a replacement, so at least when I go to the HVAC shop tomorrow I'll have some idea what I'll be paying.
A Hundred And Thirty Bucks. NO SHIT. For a RELAY. I was figuring maybe $40 or $50 would be the stupidly inflated price for what should cost maybe $25. The HVAC shops charge list if not more so I knew there was no hope there.
Anyway, I went up to eBay and found better (40 amp sealed contact instead of 30 amp open (invite the bugs to crud things up) contacts) new replacement units for $10 each. I went ahead and bought two; I'm betting that these things just are going to fry contacts every 5 or 10 years, so I'll just have a spare.
Luckily it's pretty cool today, and I think we can live without the AC for a few days to save $100. I can just hardwire the thing and switch the compressor on and off with the breaker if it gets hot again before the new relay shows up.
In the past we had a bad solder joint in the control box for the furnace. It took me a couple of years to really find it because it was intermittent, but it cost nothing to fix (I did replace a relay that it turned out was OK, so that cost $8). An HVAC guy I talked to said that they NEVER try to diagnose the insides of the box; they would have replaced it for $400, and it was a couple of hours work so another $250). We've also been through a hot plate ignitor, which cost $45 (I later bought a spare on eBay for $25), but again would have been probably $150 or more to show up and install it. And the guy who sold it to me tried to sell me two, because "these things only last 2 or 3 years" (funny, we're still on #2 after 13 years).
Added to whatever they charge to show up and diagnose (I'm guessing $150), it's no wonder people wind up paying so much for maintenance.
There's a relay in the outside unit so that the thermostat can deliver 24vac through a control line and have the 30 amp, 220VAC unit turn on. J noticed yesterday that the compressor was running but the furnace wasn't blowing air. "Stuck relay" I figure. I've never done anything with air conditioners before, but there's gotta be a relay in there. Took the cover off, found a quantity of insanely fast spiders (like, run around the circumference of a 12" square metal box in about 1 second). Yup, relay is stuck. Whack it with a screwdriver, compressor shuts off. Contacts look really fried.
As I said, it's possible that the relay chattered a bit while trying to run on the generator, and maybe got a hundred or two extra cycles added to its life right there, but I think this thing was going to die soon anyway.
So I went online today to find a replacement, so at least when I go to the HVAC shop tomorrow I'll have some idea what I'll be paying.
A Hundred And Thirty Bucks. NO SHIT. For a RELAY. I was figuring maybe $40 or $50 would be the stupidly inflated price for what should cost maybe $25. The HVAC shops charge list if not more so I knew there was no hope there.
Anyway, I went up to eBay and found better (40 amp sealed contact instead of 30 amp open (invite the bugs to crud things up) contacts) new replacement units for $10 each. I went ahead and bought two; I'm betting that these things just are going to fry contacts every 5 or 10 years, so I'll just have a spare.
Luckily it's pretty cool today, and I think we can live without the AC for a few days to save $100. I can just hardwire the thing and switch the compressor on and off with the breaker if it gets hot again before the new relay shows up.
In the past we had a bad solder joint in the control box for the furnace. It took me a couple of years to really find it because it was intermittent, but it cost nothing to fix (I did replace a relay that it turned out was OK, so that cost $8). An HVAC guy I talked to said that they NEVER try to diagnose the insides of the box; they would have replaced it for $400, and it was a couple of hours work so another $250). We've also been through a hot plate ignitor, which cost $45 (I later bought a spare on eBay for $25), but again would have been probably $150 or more to show up and install it. And the guy who sold it to me tried to sell me two, because "these things only last 2 or 3 years" (funny, we're still on #2 after 13 years).
Added to whatever they charge to show up and diagnose (I'm guessing $150), it's no wonder people wind up paying so much for maintenance.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-24 05:33 pm (UTC)Our furnace has been working fine since I found that cold solder joint and reflowed it.