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Ralph Mowery

In article ,
says...
Every time I have my air conditioner serviced the service guy
recommends installing what he calls a soft start to assist the
compressor in starting and extend its life. Is this really a worthwile
investment and if so what would be a reasonable price?

It depends on what he wants to charge you for it. What price did he quote you? o_O

It may help if the conditioner is on its last legs. If it was needed,
the factory should have installed it. I have seen some already
installed and the same company not install them on similar but different
units.

Yes, it depends on what they want to charge. A couple of years ago my
AC quit and the service man came out and in less than 20 minuits he had
found a bad capacitor and had it replaced. The capacitor can be bought
at a store for less than $ 20, but the companies going rate to install
it was about $ 300.

I can see them charging aoundd $ 50 for a capacitor and the $ 100
minimum service call, but not that extra $ 150.

The service man was very nice and knew what he was talking about and
told me a few things. About 3 years later the capacitor went out,but I
had bought one and a relay that may go bad for about $ 20 each.
Replaced the capacitor myself in about 10 minutes and all was well
again. Saved about $ 300.