[Rob Hood]

Just need some info/guidance on "maintenance" versus upgrades. Once of our AC units quit last night and I had the company come out today to diagnose/repair. They are just under 5 years old and we are the original owners.

[Rob Hood]

The tech said we needed a start capacitor, which was not installed by the original AC company at the time of building. The tech said the original companies have been doing that to reduce costs on their end. He installed another run capacitor because the one installed in May was bulging. He said the run capacitor should normally last 4-6 years.

The electric bill is one of those "managed plans" where you work up a debt, then pay it off in the off-season. Our average isn't bad so I'm not too concerned about that; I'm just frustrated that every time the AC company comes out I end up spending money. I contacted some neighbors and most have not touched their units, and they are 2 years older. The ones who have had maintenance done have not had as much as we have. We've had the run capacitors replaced on both units before as well.

[cccbock]

The tech said we needed a start capacitor, which was not installed by the original AC company at the time of building. The tech said the original companies have been doing that to reduce costs on their end. He installed another run capacitor because the one installed in May was bulging. He said the run capacitor should normally last 4-6 years.

The electric bill is one of those "managed plans" where you work up a debt, then pay it off in the off-season. Our average isn't bad so I'm not too concerned about that; I'm just frustrated that every time the AC company comes out I end up spending money. I contacted some neighbors and most have not touched their units, and they are 2 years older. The ones who have had maintenance done have not had as much as we have. We've had the run capacitors replaced on both units before as well.

Sounds like you need something the old school guys called a "hard start" kit (which is just a start capacitor). You may have another problem and this is a band-aid. But given the age of the system, I would install the start capacitor and see where it goes from there. You should get AT LEAST five more years out of it, which makes sense to repair rather than replace.

For some reason your electical system may be overheating. Could be a lot of things. Low voltage, undersized conductors, bad connection(s), worn compressor pulling too many amps. The tech should have checked all this stuff, but sometimes they just slap on the capactor and hit the road. If you trust your AC guy, pay him an extra hour of time to recheck all your connections and your input voltage all the way to the panel since this seems to be reoccurring. Also make sure the compressor relay isnt arcing.

Good luck. You will find (like everything else) that AC systems have increased dramatically in price over the past couple years....you'll want to avoid that eventuality.

Bock