Is this repairman "BS"ing me?

[billyw]

First of all, Richard, thank you very much for your time and assistance!!
The fan on my outside unit stopped,it was about 4 hours before it was discovered that the fan was not running and the compressor was running the whole time with no air movement. I fixed the fan with capacitor replacement.With the fan running it still didnt cool. As that was the extent of my limited AC knowledge I called a repairman, a local mom and pop so the add says. He hooked up his guages and there was no pressure on either side,I know this to be true as I was watching closely. The compressor kicks in and runs when the relay switch is depressed. He looked up around the top of the comp and said he thinks that while the comp sat there running with no fan it got very hot and blew the " internal high head pressure bypass valve"
I asked him about replacing the copper lines and inside coil due to the possability of acid from the burnt comp oil being in the lines. He said he will look at the inside of the lines when he cuts them and if he sees residue to indicate acid he will install an inline filter to remove the acid.
He quoted me a price of $1250 for the complete outside unit with freon and labor. I forget the brand but he said it has a 10 year warranty and is made by the same people that make Heil. What do you think of the price? This is something I have to get done I just dont want someone doing it who is feeding me a load of BS. All his jargon may be on the up and up I just need the opinion of you experts....Thanks....Billy

[Dormer_man]

A 10 year warranty on a replacement compressor seems too good to be true. I was given a quote on one here in VA and the warranty was only 1 year.

Also, as others here told me, when a compressor fries, you should insist that the copper lines be replaced.

Otherwise, the new "internal high head pressure bypass valve" may go the way of the old.

[rabadger]

1. I started in the industry in 1977 this is the first time I ever heard that term used for any internal A/C part. Lets refer to the part as an internal head pressure relief bypass valve. I will edit your posts.

2. If a line broke do to high head pressure from the fan not running you would have seen it because compressor oil would have been all over the place.

3. Inside of a compressor is a high pressure bypass valve that could have opened. It is not resettable type. Once it opens, it is a done deal. Its there to keep the lines from blowing do to high pressure. The compressor will still run but you will not get any compression. When the guages are put on pressure would have been pressent.

4. You can not check for acid by looking at the inside of the lines. If the compressor had a bad burnout you may be able to smell it or see the bad oil (black in color). This type of burnout causes the breaker to trip and you would have never got the thing running or the compressor would just sit there and not run at all. Acid testing is done with an Acid Test Kit. (suggested retail in my area is about 15.00)

1250.00 for the unit installed with freon and labor is not a bad price. You may want to ask him how much more for a matching indoor coil.

[roger g]

There HAD to be pressure on his guages even if the unit wasn't running. As Richard said if there was no pressure it means that a line had ruptured and you would definitely see the results of that. I have seen lots of condensor fans stop and never had your problems. Not that it couldn't happen it's just that I have never seen it. The compressor would get very hot and kick out on the internal stat. THAT I have seen many times and had to wait hours for the compressor to cool and the internal stat to close.



roger

[rabadger]

I have been on jobs where the valve depressor on my hoses would not depress the valve stem. The hoses had to be disconnected and depressor adjusted to get a pressure reading. I bet the interal relief opened on him. when it does you can hear the freon bleading back into the low side. He needs to have someone start it up and take an amp draw reading to see if the compressor is doing any work at all.

What brand unit did they quote you? What size is it?

[roger g]

It was fairly common to have the depresser thing blow out ( in the old days) and not know it then scratch your head why there were no readings. Never had 2 blow out and not know it. Another time I was working on a unit with king valves and couldn't figure out why I had no readings. Took me about an hour to realize I hadn't taken my depressers OUT.


roger

[rabadger]

I was in trade school when working for sears part time in the shop fixing refrigerators and window units. Being the new guy my valve depresser came up missing on the high side. From what they told me I realy had a confussed look on my face.

[billyw]

The unit he quoted me is a Tempstar 2 ton 12 SEER $1250 +tax, labor included. When he checked the old unit I watched his gages and they never showed any pressure at all. Being sceptical after he left I got a screwdriver and depressed the drepressor valves on both sides and there was no pressure at all.

[rabadger]

A leak that size over a 4 hour period would produce compressor oil in the area of the leak.
Have you looked for the leak around the compressor and condenser coil?

I have never seen a internal head pressure relief and line break on the same unit. It's always one or the other. We could be waisting a lot of time here.
How old is the unit?

If he is selling you a 12 SEER unit the A coil has to be matched to produce the 12 SEER.

[vinman]

rabadger and others are totally right. There had to be some kind of pressure. If it leaked that bad, you would have known it from oil residue or an oil smell.
When your condenser fan crapped out the compressor should have been shutting down on the overload, then restarting when the pressure came down and cooled off. it would have kept doing this until you shut it off. It would not have been running for 4 hours straight and never stopped without the fan running.
Granted, it still could have been damaged, but there's a possiblity it wasn't and the guy's pulling your chain.