Home Air conditioner repairs
 

Does anyone in here have good knowlege of home AC units? My air conditioner has been running like crap for the past couple months. I called out an AC guy and he filled my freon and said I had a leak at the coil. The coil is rusted up around the pipes.

He says I need to have the coil replaced at around $1100. Is this something that can be repaired, or does it make sense that I would have to replace the whole thing?

I would get at least a second opinion. If the condenser coil needs replacing (and it may) the price sounds too high.

I'll ask around a bit to other people then. The unit is only 5 years old so I really can't see having to replace something that major yet.

If the unit is only 5 years old you shouldn't have leaks and it almost certainly doesn't need replacing.

5 years is way too short for a "normal" life for that coil, but if for some reason it was exposed to conditions that accelerated corrosion, it could fail in very short time; e.g. improper drainage, frequent cycles of unusually high wet then dry like flood immersion then drying, or if a gutter or runoff from a roof is dumping water right on it everytime it rains.

Yea 5-years is a very short life but if it's rusted or corroded as the tech said then it'll likely need to be replaced.

I'd sure want to find out why it rusted in the first place so I wouldn't have that problem again. YOu also might check the warranty as compressors are pretty long but I have no idea on coils.

If it has a leak, charging the system with more refrigerant is only going to be a temporary fix. It won't be long before that refrigerant leaks out, too. Sometimes it's possible to repair a leak by soldering over it, but condensor coils can be very hard to get a clear shot at, and if they're rusted over, it probably wouldn't be worth it anyway.

I'm a universal refrigerant tech, and I'll tell you that five years is not really an exceptional time for a unit to develop a leak. In fact, before we send units out we pressure test them at the shop because about half of them come from the factory with leaks.

It looks like a new condensor coil is in your future. Be happy that's all you have to replace.

A couple of questions, if the unit is 5 years old, is it new construction? or a replacement unit? Many replacement units or even new construction units have large warranties. What brand is it? I just had a new Trane unit installed, and was given a 10 year total parts and labour warranty.

My house was built in 2001 and it was a brand new unit when it was put in. Unfortunately, the unit only has a 3 year warranty on it.

What brand is it? because I am supprised that it only had a 3 year warranty. Even no-name brands have a 5 year warranty, excluding labour charges. Hey, even if it's only the cost of a part, $300.00 is better than $700.00! lol.