HVAC tech broke heat pump

[280Ackley]

Our A/C went out Monday night. Tuesday morning a local HVAC tech came out and replaced a couple of fuses and got it running. Once it started running he noticed how loud the outdoor unit was and “bent some lines that were hitting”. Everything was great and the outdoor unit was way quieter.

Thursday afternoon no A/C again. New tech from the same company came out today(Friday). The tech on Tuesday broke a 1/4 copper line and all the refrigerant bled off. He told me that it would be around $2000 to fix and recharge the unit but he recommended a new unit because it is 20 years old. He said ballpark price would be $7k-$8k. I asked how we proceed since their tech is the one that broke the line. He also told me it is $85 a pound for R410A which I know is not true. You can buy a 25 pound jug for $350 online.

The tech left and said that the sales manager is working on a quote for me and the owner is aware of the situation. They should have something to me by Monday for a replacement but it would 1-2 weeks before they could install.

So what do I do call and make them come fix it tonight or suffer through the weekend with 3 hot grumpy little girls waiting for there response?!?! Weather forecast shows mid 90’s for the next week.

 

[BBob]

$2K sounds high but not crazy high. I'd guess it could/should be done for $1300-1500. I'd say 3hrs labor. They may be charging travel on top. Unfortunately that's how much refrigerants get marked up. Around here I've seen 410 @ $65-85lb to the customer. A good company should squeeze you in for a mistake they made but unfortunately there's not many great HVAC companies that see it that way. I've seen way more HVAC abuse these days. It's such a big in demand market that customer service seems to be failing. I agree that they shouldn't be charging you at all for their F-up.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Yes have them get it working if they can. I say that because if the compressor continued running without refrigerant it may well have damage compressor. The refrigerant coming back to the compressor cools it and returns any oil which will be in the cooling coil. If the condensing unit, outside unit, did not have low pressure cutout switches it would have continued running not good, not good at all. They had better give you a damn good price. 20 years old or not, it could have easily lasted another several years. What you pay for R410A , if you could even buy it, has nothing to do with what a contractor charges you. They have markup, overhead and profit to consider.

 

[journeyman713]

Your best bet is to try and work with them, to get the price down, and consider the reasons for his recommendation on replacement.

Keep in mind, it may not be entirely his fault the line broke, because if the copper line was banging and making noise, it definitely suffered some wear, and fatigue.

I'd be concerned why the unit was vibrating enough to make the lines hit each other, bad motor mount, or compressor on the way out?

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Small claims court.

 

[Stalker69]

Or fix it yourself, you can buy 410A online you said. You can probably buy a condenser and coil on line also.

 

[280Ackley]

I thought about fixing it myself since I already have the gauges and vacuum pump that wouldn’t help until next week.

I talked to another person in their office and I believe they are going to try to make it right. I got a portable and window ac rounded up from friends and family so we will survive the weekend!

 

[dtrkyman]

Sounds like they FD it, don't let em off the hook!

 

[*zap*]

tell them to fix what they broke......period.

 

[CorbLand]

I thought about fixing it myself since I already have the gauges and vacuum pump that wouldn’t help until next week.

I talked to another person in their office and I believe they are going to try to make it right. I got a portable and window ac rounded up from friends and family so we will survive the weekend!

Wife and I rented an apartment that didn’t have AC. Our saving grace was that our car did and fuel was 2 bucks a gallon. We went on lots of drives.

 

[hunterjrg]

I am a journeyman service fitter of 30 years. So many questions here.
Call #1 why did the fuses blow? Did he troubleshoot that?
Call #2 besides him breaking the line why did it stop again? I’m wondering what that 1/4” line is? If it is a liquid line it’s a smaller unit with a few lbs of refrigerant. I would have brazed the line shut, fixed it and wrote off the small amount of refrigerant. The question is still why did it stop in the first place. Blown fuses is a concern. Bad compressor? High head pressure? Outdoor fan failure? Find a company that can repair it correctly.

 

[hunterjmj]

I am a journeyman service fitter of 30 years. So many questions here.
Call #1 why did the fuses blow? Did he troubleshoot that?
Call #2 besides him breaking the line why did it stop again? I’m wondering what that 1/4” line is? If it is a liquid line it’s a smaller unit with a few lbs of refrigerant. I would have brazed the line shut, fixed it and wrote off the small amount of refrigerant. The question is still why did it stop in the first place. Blown fuses is a concern. Bad compressor? High head pressure? Outdoor fan failure? Find a company that can repair it correctly.

These are good questions to find out. It'd also be interesting how long it ran without refrigerant. I've fixed a lot of lines where a wire rubbed then eventually shorted out and blew a hole in the line or just a rub that finally wore through and all the refrigerant was lost. Typically everything I work on has a low pressure switch though. Regardless they should make it right depending on what exactly was the initial problem. Good luck.

 

[hunterjrg]

These are good questions to find out. It'd also be interesting how long it ran without refrigerant. I've fixed a lot of lines where a wire rubbed then eventually shorted out and blew a hole in the line or just a rub that finally wore through and all the refrigerant was lost. Typically everything I work on has a low pressure switch though. Regardless they should make it right depending on what exactly was the initial problem. Good luck.

Same here. I typically see large commercial/industrial units but occasionally see the smaller stuff.
So much goes through my head in this call that my thumbs can’t keep up in typing on my phone. Either way I hope the OP gets some cooling.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I agree with past few post. I worked in A/C for over forty years, lots of commercial equipment and a good amount of residential equipment. Most residential units will come without low and high pressure switches, so I always gave the customer the option of adding them. After I told them the advantage of adding them, most approved the addition of switches. As for the blown fuse issue, the tech should have gave your unit a thorough trouble shooting, to see if the unit had issues or if it was just a weak fuse. If after checking it out, he found no obvious reason for the blown fuse, he prolly wrote it off the the fuse just being weak, then replaced both because that is the way it should be done. Your unit ran for short while after the first tech left, so it wasn't a lock rotor on the compressor or a burn out. He should have gave the condenser coil a good cleaning with a coil cleaning solution them a fresh water rinse. You mention you have what you need to do the job, less the refrigerant so I would do the work then ask them to charge it for you.

 

[Weldor]

Can see both sides, except for the broken line. I nursed a 15 yr old 5 ton pac unit heat pump for about 7 yrs. Our local Electric company constantly browns out or power outage everytime it rains or we have a breeze over 5 mpg. It would take out my contactor at least once every 2 weeks. First A/C tech says just replace the unit. Called my old neighbor owns his own A/c company. He comes up checks it out replaces burn't wire and we put a 50 amp starter in. No more problems for a few years til the compressor went. New 5 ton unit installed on the roof crane include plus about 8 ft on new Duct work ( I wanted to move unit a few feet over to the garage roof.)
$6900 for everything. Unfortunatley power still goes out once a week when it is over 100 everyday. We'll see how long this on lasts.

 

[180ls1]

The Golden Rule always helps me out when I don't know what to do or whats fair. It's OK to remind the boss of it also.

Good luck!

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Can see both sides, except for the broken line. I nursed a 15 yr old 5 ton pac unit heat pump for about 7 yrs. Our local Electric company constantly browns out or power outage everytime it rains or we have a breeze over 5 mpg. It would take out my contactor at least once every 2 weeks. First A/C tech says just replace the unit. Called my old neighbor owns his own A/c company. He comes up checks it out replaces burn't wire and we put a 50 amp starter in. No more problems for a few years til the compressor went. New 5 ton unit installed on the roof crane include plus about 8 ft on new Duct work ( I wanted to move unit a few feet over to the garage roof.)
$6900 for everything. Unfortunatley power still goes out once a week when it is over 100 everyday. We'll see how long this on lasts.

Sounds like you need emergency backup generator. You mentioned 50 amp starter, was that a hard start kit?

 

[Weldor]

No kit , Just put it in instead of cheap chinese contactor. Looked at them, 35kw for whole house. We did a load test A/C freezers fridg pretty much everything you want keep running in the desert heat. About 80 amps with counting starting amps for AC pool pump. They were just running. I'm going to go diesel, less expensive out here than propane. Watching the auctions.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

One thing I did not mention, It is very difficult to second guess a tech.or trouble shoot a problem from several hundred miles away.

 

[hunterjrg]

One thing I did not mention, It is very difficult to second guess a tech.or trouble shoot a problem from several hundred miles away.

Very true. This is why I have so many questions. Hope the OP gets it sorted out