No Hot Water Heaters over 50 gallons now at Lowes or Home Depot

JRobyn · Mar 16, 2016

At least she had the correct motor on the truck.

Last time I had A/C trouble, I got out the meter and confirmed that the contactor in the compressor was bad (again). I had been having some medical issues, so wife says, "let them come fix it". Called the service guys ("call center") and give them the make and model of the compressor, tell them it needs to have the contactor replaced. Service guy shows up - spends 20-30 minutes troubleshooting and comes to tell me, "the contactor is bad, but I don't have one on the truck, so I'll have to come back tomorrow to finish up."

:mur: :fiery:

ultrarunner · Mar 16, 2016

I had some old pumps and boilers with mercury switches... you know not one ever went bad... some are from the 1950's

The new contractors seem to last a few years and toast.

LD1 · Mar 16, 2016

Not defending the company, but motor not working could have been a number of things. Wiring, capacitor, etc. And if its a multi-speed blower, perhaps only 1 speed was dead. And in a pinch you might have been able to get by wiring another speed. Most blowers I have seen have 4 or 5 speeds. In theory, running it at its fastest is gonna be the most efficient. The logic is it will me most efficient if you think in terms of wanting to cool (in heat mode) or heat (in AC mode) the A-coil. Nevermind about register temps. But thats what they design for.....a comfortable register temp and not too much noise from air movement.

Back on topic, yea, I think $350 for a 1-hour service call + their markup on the blower is a bit excessive. I know they have overhead and travel time. But unless you called a company that was a few hours away, I think they stuck it to you.

murphy1244 · Mar 16, 2016

LD, I think he was posting about his condenser fan.

LD1 · Mar 16, 2016

Maybe. When I hear blower I think the inside furnace. And fan is outside

cat fever · Mar 16, 2016

murphy1244 said:
LD, I think he was posting about his condenser fan.

Yes, it was the condenser fan motor.
They did stick it to me.
They will not get called again.
Only good thing, it was 100 ish degrees and I just wanted the house cooler. It worked when she left.

murphy1244 · Mar 16, 2016

cat fever said:
Last summer the fan on my central air condenser seized up. First I tried to buy one, no one would sell me one. So I call a local HVAC repair shop. I tell them its seized and I need a new one installed. They tell me they will diagnose it. So the tech shows up, I tell HER it's seized up, just install a new one. Well she gives me the same line about checking it out herself. After a 1/2 hour she comes knocking on the door to tell me I need a new fan that mine is seized up. So I had to pay for something I already new and could have done myself. It was over 500 bucks. What a SCAM!!

This one LD.

LD1 · Mar 16, 2016

I guess I need to learn to read:mur:

Was reading one thing.....and the brain registering something different. Almost as bad as autocorrect

murphy1244 · Mar 17, 2016

LD1 said:
I guess I need to learn to read:mur:

Was reading one thing.....and the brain registering something different. Almost as bad as autocorrect

Crap happens.

KYErik · Mar 17, 2016

I built and plumbed/wired my own house in Hopkinsville KY in 1999. Plumbing inspector was easy to work with and the homeowner permit for doing the whole house (supply and sewer) was just $50 or so. Even if you need a permit for a water heater replacement, you can get one as a KY homeowner. The inspector will just look it over to be sure it was done correctly and then will put a green sticker on it.