"news.rcn.com" news.rnc.com wrote in message
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I have these exorbitantly expensive built in through the wall a/c units.
They are so expensive mainly because they are supposed to go on and on and
on (and on)
Isnt a unit made in the last 35 years that was supposed to go more than
12-15 years, but anyway...
They have virtually no features and are exceptionally old fashioned but
the replacement units (made by the same manufacturer or, - only, - one
other which will fit into these sleeves) are identical and equally old
fashioned
Since you havent given any information, the possibility of more than one
unit being able to be retro fitted may exist, but we dont know that.
There is a company around me which specialises in coming out free and
telling you that you need new units and that they will sell you new units
for some extraordinary amount of money.
Nothings free....keep that in mind.
It costs SOMEONE.
We give free estimates, and normally, they cost between $10 and $20 to ME,
not the person getting them.
There used to be a guy in our building who would service them EITHER
cheaply by doing a quick clean job on them so that 13,500 BThU units which
actually give out about 6000 can give out possibly as much as 9000.
And you ran the 75 different tests to determine this?
OR he could do what he called a more appropriate job which we were putting
off which involved taking the hwole slip-in unit downstairs and
steam-cleaning something underneath them to restore the whole
functionality of the unit, which we really need
Steam clean? Then you really got screwed.
You dont steam clean AC units..you chemically clean them, with a foaming
cleaner that gets into the coils and pushes out the crap in them.
He has departed for various health reasons. Now I have found a new
company which charges a call out charge to clean the units which doesn't
actually seem too expensive and an even smaller additional charge to do
additional units. But they seem to think that the cleaning process will
take about a half hour a unit.
For PTAC units, like you describe, that is prob about right to do it
properly.
Does anyone know how you steam-clean one of these units PROPERLY, which is
the difficult bit to steam clean on the underside, how important it is to
do this to get a 9000 unit back to 13,500 and how long it should take to
do this (by someone who does this every day)?
Steam clean...there is that term again..
To properly clean the unit, yes, we know how to do it, and we do it almost
daily.
How important it is? Well, you obviously are not getting the cooling you
need, or want, so, think about that for a sec...
How long should it take, all things being equal and since we cant see your
installation, where you are located at, how easy it would be to get them
out....1 hour to 3..
I am reluctant to pay this company the call out charge merely to be told
that I need new units because they want to sell me them. (I have been
caught out that way once before when I called the company with the largest
ad in the yellow pages only to find that they put this in BECAUSE it
imparts credibility to a cowboy who will come along and spin you a yarn
about needing a new unit refurbished by him)
First, if you buy a REBUILT unit, you are a fool...period. No other way to
put it.
Sure, many people can tell you stories about how they got a unit thats run
for the past 30 years and all it needed was this little part...but why in
hell are you buying someone elses ****?
Now, that said, you need to know that there are no salesmen in this world,
only consumers that do not know how to say no.
If you get someone out that says you need, must have, gotta get today and
for this low price we can do it now and YOU say yes, when the units are
running so so now, well, either one of two things is gonna happen, either
you are going to say Yes, do it now, or you are going to say no, just clean
the damn things like I asked.
Every so often, and its VERY rare, we get a call for service and we get
there and they have a 30 year old tank thats barely chugging along and isnt
long for this world. Then a real quandry kicks in...we service it and it
quits a week later, we get blamed for it as the bad AC company that came out
and destroyed their unit..it was running fine till we touched it...or, we
suggest a new unit, clean the old one, and its the one that runs for another
10 years and we look like a scam artist for even suggesting that the old one
get changed out...no matter that the things costing $500 a month to run when
it could be running under $100....
Make sure that if they do clean then, and suggest there are issues, that
they document everything..a good company will be able to do that.
If they are just PTAC units, service should consist of cleaning the evap
coil, the condensor, checking the cold controls for calibration, oiling the
motor, checking superheat on the unit since its prob gonna use old cap tubes
for metering, making sure you have a clean and non moldy drain, and pan, and
the possibility of a anti bac strip or slow disolve tab..something of tht
sort.
The cleanings should be done with something other than Purple Stuff as
well...Mean Green, or the like isnt a coil cleaner, but a legitimate company
will use NuCalgon or a similar product that is made for the sole intent of
cleaning AC coils.
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