[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]

Units are from Carrier -small one is model 38CMC024310, 5.0 lbs R-22 refrigerant; large one is model 38CMC042300, 6.75 lbs R-22 refrigerant.

The tech essentially just replaced the capacitor; no other system review was completed. I was surprised that they were going to charge for the repair, when the previous run capacitor quit so quickly. After I mentioned that, the tech called his supervisor, and they agreed to warranty the capacitor ($200ish) and only charge the labor to change it out. I agreed and the tech did the work, then wrote the ticket up and didn't charge for the labor. Something very fishy about that, even though it was to my good.

The temperatures this summer (so far) have not been that bad, compared to last year. Other AZ people may agree/disagree, and I don't have a problem with playing golf in 110-plus weather. The tech did say that the location of my units could be contributing to the problem due to reflective heat, as they sit on the east side of the house, in a narrow spot in between the house and the concrete wall, and surrounded by 3/4" rock on the ground.

Yeah, nothing lasts forever, I'm just trying to figure out if I'm getting ripped. Adding the start capacitor is probably the best thing to do.

This post has been edited by Rob Hood: Aug 5 2008, 03:39 AM