"Evan Mann" wrote in message
om...
Well I think I'm not going to renew this. I'd probably never get a new
home
warranty, but for the price, and a 24 yr old home, it sounded like it was
worth it. But now I see it was not. Since your in the business, I hve a
few A/C related questions.

Tell you something else that sucks, BTW, and thats my home insurance
company...I have Farmers Homeowners insurance...made a claim this week, and
I can smell it coming.....denied.


I have no idea how many HOURS the compressor ran w/o the cooling fan. At
least 3, I'm guessing more. I'm worried the compressor is bad or going to
go bad soon.

Seen them run for months, particularly in the winter months like that.
3 hours wont kill it.

If the compressor does go bad, can just the outdoor unit be
replaced,

You CAN, and in some cases, depending on the age of the outer unit, it may
be cheaper. Normally, just the compressor is replaced, and a good tech will
add filters to the lineset (the copper lines) to collect burnout junk, and
add a product like AcidAway to the lines to prevent acid from attacking
parts of the compressor after the new one is installed.

or does the coil inside the vent stack have to be replaced?

Tech term alert! LOL..thats called an evap coil, and its in its own place in
the airstream, not the vent stack.

Does
the copper pipe frm the compressor to the coil have to be replaced?

If the outdoor unit, complete, is replaced, the smartest thing you can do,
is replace the lines, and the evap coil with a matched set.

I want
to try and plan ahead for the compressor failing. I also have a furnace
that the blower fan is part of, at least 14 yrs's old but no problems with
it this past winter, or with the fan itself.

Not bad...but be prepared for it to fail, and if you dont have them, get
some CO detectors.


If the compressor does fail, is that part replaced, or is it the entire
box/fan/everything outside?

Either or....see above.

What kind of price could I be looking to be for
a mid-range unit to cool 1800sq ft?

Depends. What current tonnage you have now, and what SEER rating will you
want? 10? 12? 13? 14? 16?18?

I know it's a somewhat loaded question,

No kidding..LOL..particularly since depending on where you live, and the
type of structure you live in, it could be a 1.5 ton unit, or a 5 ton..

Prob closer to a 2 or a 2.5 ton unit, and figure since its straight AC, and
not a heat pump, from $1500 to $5000...depending on what you need, size,
SEER, and parts that need to be replaced to make it all work right again.

but at least its pointed to a specific component, and not "how much for
new
A/C for my entire house". Unless your going to tell me when you replace a
compressor, you need a new coil/piping/fan/other things.


Nope...just add burn out filters.



"CBhVAC" wrote in
message
...

"Evan Mann" wrote in message
om...

This is long, but I'm wondering if everyone else gets this treatment.

My home warranty with American Home Shield (AHS) is up for renewal.
Today
they really ticked me off.

Took long enough...AHS is a rip....period.
I have waited over 1 year to get PAID for a job I did for them...


Came home to find the house is 86F and the A/C is blowing warm air.
The
cooling fan on the compressour outside is off. The compressor is
still
running. I turn it off for 45 mins and kick it back on, working OK
now.
20-25min later, warm air again. I call AHS and the first place they
send
me
to can't do it until next Tues or Wed at the earliest. That's not
within
their 48hr "emergency" time frame.


Hint....there ISNT a 48 hour time frame...
Get there when you can...


I call back, the 2nd company they send me to calls back. The guy who
runs
the shop said he isn't there to schedule me and doesn't know when
he'll
be
back. Says that someone will call tomorrow (Fri) to schedule me, but
as
of
this morning, Monday are the schedule times, probably later. That's
not
within 48 hrs, so I call AHS.

AHS tells me that "it's summer, it's hot, there are a lot of problems,
and
unless there is someone ill or with a medical condition, they won't
classify
it as an emergency" Needles to say, I want to know why I'm waisting
money
if you don't come help me when I need it, especially when I live in
FL,
it'll be 95F all weekend, and my house will get up to 90F. It was
only
86F
at 6pm because some rain came in and dropped the outside temp.

95F? LOL...BAH...
It hit 98F here, and we are 700 miles north of you...and to ME, thats
still
cool.



The 1 other time I called for my A/C, they told me it was
"pre-existing"
and
not covered. So $190 out of my pocket. This time, I opted to pay out
of
my
pocket anyway, because I WILL NOT go until Monday or later w/o A/C. I
have
a small indoor pet to think about . AHS didn't seem to care. So
tomorrow
someone will be here at 8am and the fan will cost $225-265 with labor.
Hopefully the compressor wasn't damaged. If it is, I'll have to be at
the
mercy of AHS, because I'm sure that's not cheap, and I won't spend up
to
or
over $1000 when I've already paid $345 for this warranty.



Has anyone gotten something useful done through their home warranty?
I
don't even know if they would have covered this fan replacement. They
weasled out of the last repair. Is it just my company that sucks? I
know
of 2 other major ones, but this was the one the sellers of the house
said
they'd pay for (had it as part of closing, but did not specify
company,
didn't know better).

Is it worth $345/yr if I don't even know if they'd really cover me
when
I
need it? I already had to pay $2200 out of my pocket to repipe my
house.
My appliances are all new, so I'm not worried about those. I have a
brand
new roof. What else is there to worry about except my A/C and heater?
Shoul;d I just stop wasting my money and hope I make it a few more
years
w/o
needing a new A/C or heater. Thatwould cover up to 1/2 of the
replacement
in savings from not paying the warranty.


Let me explain something to you as someone that will NEVER EVER do
another
2-10, AHS, or Amercian Republic or the like warranty call again, for
anyone,
even existing customers.
First, its an INSURANCE company. They will not do what needs to be done,
but
piece it together so it works.
Example, had a customer that called and got me approved with AHS since I
am
NOT one of their contractors. He refused to let the last asshole that
worked
on it, (they use newbies that need the money) work on it again. It was
an
old Carrier..about 7 years...and the evap coil was leaking...like that
was
a
surprise. At first, they refused to cover it. Then, they did, after he
raised hell. I told them on the phone that the outdoor coil would start
next, as is the case 99% of the time, and to be ready for it. We fought
for
3 days over the price of the coil, installed.
4 weeks later, he calls me and says its not cooling....get there, check
it,
its frozen over, thaw it, charge it, check it, and the evap is fine, but
the
outdoor coil has started to split seams. Its leaking slowly, and about
to
go
postal with the leaks...
Call AHS, and they want to put a coil in, a coil thats not made any
longer,
and if wwe cant do that, they want to pay me $150 for a braze job on the
old
coil....in other words, they want me to destroy the coil, as the leaks
are
in places that a torch will destroy the fins..
The homeowner raised hell again, and then, when they finally admitted
that
a
coil was a bad idea, and a new unti was to go in, they granted me...get
this
****....$300 for a new Goodman unit....he was gonna go from a Carrier to
a
POS Goodman. I sell York, and I told them I was not going to install a
POS
like that.
They denied it, and said their guy would do it for them in 4 to 6
weeks.....think about that when 48 hours isnt getting it....
Now...I put in a York, they offered to pay $500 finally on it, and that
didnt cover the wholesale on the machine....the homeowner paid the
difference, and has not had a problem since.
I STILL dont have my money from AHS...

The home warranty crap is that...crap. They use the biggest hack
contractors
I have seen. American Republic sent a guy out to a customers of mine
that
I
had put a brand new contactor and capacitor in, because the customer was
worried about the rust I saw on the Goodman unit they had. This guy in
front
of me, not knowing who I was, said that the last asshole had put in used
parts, and when I asked to see them...BTW, the manufacture date was on
the
cap, and it was 6 weeks old...
he said I would not know what I was looking at, and put the cover back
on
and said that the rust was a figment of the jacklegs imagination, and
that
the unit would run another 50 years...
When I told him that *I* was the jackleg that put the parts in, he went
on
a
tirade about being licenced, and how its illegal for a non licenced
person
yadda yadda...and when I gave him my card, with the licence number on
it,
and asked to see his, he packed and left...turns out, he was non
licenced,
and is now paying off his $30,000 fine from the State....AHS had no clue
he
had no right to work on a unit.
Oh...and they also have a new York unit, one that I GAVE to them since
they
are in their 80s, and deserved not to worry about the unit when it got
above
90.

Also, if you PAY a licenced, insured contractor for a repair, they have
to
reimburse you, and it will be a fight, and dont expect all your money
back...but they DO and CAN pay you back.