At least 4 times wihin the past of couple of years, i had called A/C
maintenance people to take a look at my a/c unit for not giving cool
air. They all found freon level was too low. Filled the freon,
tightened the valve here and there. But few weeks later, the same
problem again. One a/c guy said coil was leaking and gave me an
estimate of $3000 to replace it. i called other a/c guy for his
opinion. He said there was nothing wrong with coil system. Coil is in
my attic. i did notice, attic gets cool when i run the a/c although
there is no a/c vent in attic. then i found out there was cold blow of
air coming from joints around the coil system box. is it normal to get
cool air blowing out from coil system? I taped all those joint
openings. i also hear some hoarse/dry noise coming out of the coil in
the attic that i do not hear from another coil system in the first
floor (we have two a/c system, one for each floor). Eveytime a/c guys
show up they fill up the freon, clean the shrubs around compressor,
tightens the valves, but the problem does not go away. i wanted to put
this problem here before calling a/c guy for the fifth time. what
should i ask him? why they can not fix the leak which is the obvious
problem? How do i find out the leak and fix it?

"katrina" wrote in message
oups.com...
At least 4 times wihin the past of couple of years, i had called A/C
maintenance people to take a look at my a/c unit for not giving cool
air. They all found freon level was too low. Filled the freon,
tightened the valve here and there. But few weeks later, the same
problem again. One a/c guy said coil was leaking and gave me an
estimate of $3000 to replace it. i called other a/c guy for his
opinion. He said there was nothing wrong with coil system. Coil is in
my attic. i did notice, attic gets cool when i run the a/c although
there is no a/c vent in attic. then i found out there was cold blow of
air coming from joints around the coil system box. is it normal to get
cool air blowing out from coil system? I taped all those joint
openings. i also hear some hoarse/dry noise coming out of the coil in
the attic that i do not hear from another coil system in the first
floor (we have two a/c system, one for each floor). Eveytime a/c guys
show up they fill up the freon, clean the shrubs around compressor,
tightens the valves, but the problem does not go away. i wanted to put
this problem here before calling a/c guy for the fifth time. what
should i ask him? why they can not fix the leak which is the obvious
problem? How do i find out the leak and fix it?


Obviously you have a leak that needs to be fixed. The $3K price will
probably do it because they will likely also replace some fittings and such
and catch the problem. It may be sort of like changing the engine in your
car for an oil leak. Maybe not too good of an analogy. Anyway - Have someone
find the leak. Show you where it is and ask them how they identified it. I
think there are dyes that can be added to the system that can be detected in
leaking areas with certain lights or some such thing. As you call around to
find an AC service tech ask them how they go about finding AC leaks. If the
answer is they just start replacing stuff till it goes away then move on to
the next guy. There must be a better way.

katrina wrote:
At least 4 times wihin the past of couple of years, i had called A/C
maintenance people to take a look at my a/c unit for not giving cool
air. They all found freon level was too low. Filled the freon,
tightened the valve here and there. But few weeks later, the same
problem again. One a/c guy said coil was leaking and gave me an
estimate of $3000 to replace it. i called other a/c guy for his
opinion. He said there was nothing wrong with coil system.

There is a problem somewhere. A/C does not consume the stuff.

Coil is in
my attic. i did notice, attic gets cool when i run the a/c although
there is no a/c vent in attic. then i found out there was cold blow of
air coming from joints around the coil system box. is it normal to get
cool air blowing out from coil system? I taped all those joint
openings. i also hear some hoarse/dry noise coming out of the coil in
the attic that i do not hear from another coil system in the first
floor (we have two a/c system, one for each floor). Eveytime a/c guys
show up they fill up the freon, clean the shrubs around compressor,
tightens the valves, but the problem does not go away. i wanted to put
this problem here before calling a/c guy for the fifth time. what
should i ask him? why they can not fix the leak which is the obvious
problem? How do i find out the leak and fix it?

You need to ask him why he things the coil is leaking. Did he test it?
If not you need to find someone who will really find the leak(s).


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

"katrina" wrote in message
oups.com...
At least 4 times wihin the past of couple of years, i had called A/C
maintenance people to take a look at my a/c unit for not giving cool
air. They all found freon level was too low. Filled the freon,
tightened the valve here and there. But few weeks later, the same
problem again. One a/c guy said coil was leaking and gave me an
estimate of $3000 to replace it. i called other a/c guy for his
opinion. He said there was nothing wrong with coil system. Coil is in
my attic. i did notice, attic gets cool when i run the a/c although
there is no a/c vent in attic. then i found out there was cold blow of
air coming from joints around the coil system box. is it normal to get
cool air blowing out from coil system? I taped all those joint
openings. i also hear some hoarse/dry noise coming out of the coil in
the attic that i do not hear from another coil system in the first
floor (we have two a/c system, one for each floor). Eveytime a/c guys
show up they fill up the freon, clean the shrubs around compressor,
tightens the valves, but the problem does not go away. i wanted to put
this problem here before calling a/c guy for the fifth time. what
should i ask him? why they can not fix the leak which is the obvious
problem? How do i find out the leak and fix it?

That time frame looks like atleast once a year. The AC man should be
finding the leak. He should have a device usually called a sniffer. It is
a handheld device to check for leaks and he should be able to use it to find
the leak and fix it. Often when you are low on the freon the cooling coil
will become very cold and have ice on it. This seems like the opposit of
what you would think, but that is the way it is. Then the air flow gets
blocked with ice and no cool air can get through the unit. While not likely
it may be a dirty air filter. Friend of mine had a problem with the air
flow in his house. He had an electronic air filter and when it was
installed they forgot to remove the regular filter. Over teh years it
clogged up and cut off the air flow. He found that and removed the filter
like it should have been and all was fine.

katrina wrote:
At least 4 times wihin the past of couple of years, i had called A/C
maintenance people to take a look at my a/c unit for not giving cool
air. They all found freon level was too low. Filled the freon,
tightened the valve here and there. But few weeks later, the same
problem again. One a/c guy said coil was leaking and gave me an
estimate of $3000 to replace it. i called other a/c guy for his
opinion. He said there was nothing wrong with coil system. Coil is in
my attic. i did notice, attic gets cool when i run the a/c although
there is no a/c vent in attic. then i found out there was cold blow of
air coming from joints around the coil system box. is it normal to get
cool air blowing out from coil system? I taped all those joint
openings. i also hear some hoarse/dry noise coming out of the coil in
the attic that i do not hear from another coil system in the first
floor (we have two a/c system, one for each floor). Eveytime a/c guys
show up they fill up the freon, clean the shrubs around compressor,
tightens the valves, but the problem does not go away. i wanted to put
this problem here before calling a/c guy for the fifth time. what
should i ask him? why they can not fix the leak which is the obvious
problem? How do i find out the leak and fix it?


Like the others have said, INSIST that whoever you have service the
unit find the leak. You might even tell them BEFORE they come out what
you want. It could become a constant source of income for them if you
let them get away without finding it. I had a unit that was leaking
freon a couple of years ago, and although it was not as bad as yours, it
became a nuisance having repeated calls for the same problem. I put my
foot down and after they screwed around with dye and other tests, found
the leak at the Schrader valve where freon is inserted. The choice was
to replace the Schrader valve (a costly procedure) or wrap the threads
for the cover for this valve with Teflon tape so that freon could not
escape. I chose the latter and it has held freon for several years now.
It cost me about $200 to find a problem that in my estimation should
have been found on day one.

I wish I could say that most heating/cooling people were honest and did
good work, but that has not been my experience. If you find such a
person or company, write down their phone number so that you can call
them again when needed. If you want proof of this, go to the news group
alt.hvac and read the comment by many of the "Pros." Although there are
a FEW who try to answer questions, most are jerks who think their
knowledge is special and not to be shared by the "Unwashed." I wish I
knew precisely who the businesses were, for I would make it a point to
NEVER patronize them.



Finally, your discovery of cold air escaping your ductwork or furnace
unit in the attic only reinforces my comments about poor workmanship. I
had much the same problem and solved it like you did. Rest assured that
the units belonging to the installers or service personnel do not leak
at their homes!!!

Ken

On 3 Mar 2006 03:59:54 -0800, "katrina"
wrote:

At least 4 times wihin the past of couple of years, i had called A/C
maintenance people to take a look at my a/c unit for not giving cool
air. They all found freon level was too low. Filled the freon,
tightened the valve here and there. But few weeks later, the same
problem again. One a/c guy said coil was leaking and gave me an
estimate of $3000 to replace it. i called other a/c guy for his
opinion. He said there was nothing wrong with coil system. Coil is in
my attic. i did notice, attic gets cool when i run the a/c although
there is no a/c vent in attic. then i found out there was cold blow of
air coming from joints around the coil system box. is it normal to get
cool air blowing out from coil system? I taped all those joint
openings. i also hear some hoarse/dry noise coming out of the coil in
the attic that i do not hear from another coil system in the first
floor (we have two a/c system, one for each floor). Eveytime a/c guys
show up they fill up the freon, clean the shrubs around compressor,
tightens the valves, but the problem does not go away. i wanted to put
this problem here before calling a/c guy for the fifth time. what
should i ask him? why they can not fix the leak which is the obvious
problem? How do i find out the leak and fix it?


Yes, plenum leaks tend to occur over time as do leaks in the duct
distribution system. Go through the whole thing and check and tape
all. When you do be sure to not compress or remove the insulation or
you will potentially get condensation that will leak onto your ceiling
and stain or ruin it (assuming you have attic duct work).

Depending on the size of the unit $3000 is a little strong for
replacing the evap coil. If it is an old unit you might want to
replace the whole thing with a high efficiency unit, take the tax
credit and let the energy savings pay for the balance. I just
replaced a whole 5 ton packaged heat pump for $3900.

At the very least, get a second opinion from some one else if your AC
guy is not getting the job done.

Frank

Frank .. could you please little bit more on tax credit. Kone nothing
about tax credit. will we get tax credit replacing compressor too?

On 3 Mar 2006 08:25:28 -0800, wrote:

Frank .. could you please little bit more on tax credit. Kone nothing
about tax credit. will we get tax credit replacing compressor too?


Go to:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...pr_tax_credits

read carefully. Some rather odd configurations.

Frank