New, New Chat Thread

[392cobra]

That is really lousy Joe !

I have had my unit,all electric,go down once in the winter (heat) and once in the summer (a/c). In both cases it was the capacitor in the outside unit.
Now I have them replaced during the biannual checkup if they show 10% low.
,period.

[4RE KLR]

I tell you Fred, Those ants will play hell on those all summer long. Especially on the newer homes since the homes has invaded their land in th efirst place. No one knows why the ants are drawn to the electric like that but they are. They are instantly fried and that stops the unit from working in a matter of seconds.

I have always hosed the units down and made sure they are clean but have a father in law that owns a pest control company he is always sparying for ants this time of year.

[392cobra]

Yep, I remember you telling me to watch out for ants some time ago. I do look.

[392cobra]

Question for you Steve...

Seeing as how these people don't want to move on Joe's big time problem....why can't he get another business to fix it and then present the bill to the builder for reimburement ??
If they don't repay him,Small Claims is an easy option.

What do you think ???

He needs it fixed NOW.

[392cobra]

Warren,
I ran across a relative of Turtle this afternoon after the Indy 500..

[4RE KLR]

Originally Posted by 392cobra

Question for you Steve...

Seeing as how these people don't want to move on Joe's big time problem....why can't he get another business to fix it and then present the bill to the builder for reimbursement ??
If they don't repay him,Small Claims is an easy option.

What do you think ???

He needs it fixed NOW.

Joe
You should have an emergency number that is answered 24-7 for major issues such as this. I would be on the SOB phone every second. If they said they would call back I would call then in two minutes and say I have not heard anything.

Yes Fred,
That is a viable option and it will stand up in court. Especially here in Texas if there is an elderly or children in the home. This kind of crap is the reason builders have bad names.

What really burns my a$$ is it is the big builders that do this sort of stuff and the smaller ones pay the price for it. never ever have a volume builder build your home folks this is the type of service you get! This is not an isolated case by any means.


Joe,
There is also a little known clause in Texas that says if, in this very type of situation you may go to a hotel and present the builder with a bill. I would be there RIGHT NOW and screaming every second. It is way too damn hot to not have A/C right now.

Keep in touch.

[Ron61]

Just been catching up on reading this post. Joe that really sucks. I have an all electric heat/air conditioning unit and it has failed once several years ago for the same reason Fred's did. A big capacitor blew. I have had a contract with a company here for years that they come once in the Fall and once in the Spring and do a complete check on everything. Plus having the contract moves me ahead of anyone who doesn't have on in case of an emergency. All of my duct work goes through the attic and the air mover is in it's own small room in the house. I have had good luck with this one as I had it installed in 1976 and have replaced the Heat Pump once about 15 years ago.

Ron

[392cobra]

Joe,
With the heat index sitting at 100-101 right now,I sure hope you have been able to get your a/c fixed.

Or got out of the heat and into a hotel & pool.

This sure isn't right.

[wtm442]

Fred
Just send your avatar over to Joe's house. The breeze from the constant flapping would keep his wife and kids cool. Joe, on the other hand, might need a cold shower.

Got up to 82°F today, but its dropped 10 degrees in the last hour due to a sea breeze.

I just sent you an e-mail with a movie that includes your avatar. I copied Ron. I did not copy anyone else because I not sure who has access to their e-mail (maybe their wife or kids?). Its only a mild R movie.

[Joe Wicked]

Well, it got temporarily fixed yesterday at about 7. It was cooler outside, so we had a BBQ with the whole neighborhood. I had had enough yesterday and let the sales manager know that. I informed him that I was filing a complaint with the BBB. About an hour after that, a different AC company than I was told called me and asked for directions from downtown Dallas (about 45 min drive). He added 2lbs of freon to the system to "Fix" it and left. I personally believe that after 1 year and it was 2lbs low, then I have a leak. I am not yet satisfied as even if it lasts for this year as it did last year, this time next year will be the same problem and it will be over the 2 year warranty. I am going to try and make them do a leak test.

I was checking everything out and found the system completely frozen over. I put a new filter in, even though it was not very dirty, and it still froze over again. I figured it was low and I still think I have a leak somewhere.

Steve,
The 24/7 emergency line is a voice pager, and the guy calling me back was the one lying to me. I think maybe my next house will be on my land and have someone build it.

[4RE KLR]

OK here we go again. I typed this in once and it did not post. Grrrrr

OK, If you had to put two pounds of freon in the system you definitely have a leak. They cannot deny this as the system will not hold much more than that depending on the system of coarse and how far the compressor is from the furnace.

You need to follow through with the complaint the the BBB. They will have to respond to the BBB and answer for the misgivings in your case. If you do not your file will be marked as one who threatens this to get action. It sucks, but that is they way it works. File the complaint. You will need to mention NAMES and times you called and who you spoke with, what they said and promised and when they came out.

You should also receive a customer satisfaction survey from the builder. Make sure you do not put that you are happy with the service OR the work done. If you do they will make it off as corrected and go to the next one. You need to stay on this.

You need to get a water spray bottle and put some dish washing soap in it and shake it up. Go out side and pull back the black foam insulation on the freon lines and spray that lne with the soapy water. If you see bubbles there is your leak. Do the same thing in the attic. Make sure to replace the foam insulation when done.

Turn off the electric at the panel and get you water hose with a sprayer on the end. Wash the outside compressor real good. make sure you can see all the way through the grills. The object is to get the dust and crap out from the winter. I have even set a water sprinkler out by my A/C units on hot days to keep them cool while they are running. It will not hurt anything, it is the same as if it were raining.

If the units set under trees yo need to get a screwdriver and take the top grill off the units and get all the leaves out of the inside. The cleaner the system is the better it will work.

I would also write a complaint letter to the corporate office. PUT IT IN WRITTING! They will respond and the service person will have to answer for not taking care of you in a timely manner. You should CC the local office and the A/C company that was supposed to come fix your system.

Joe,
You need to stay on this like stink on ****. If you don't I promise you, you will have the same problem every year from now until it is fixed right. The longer the system runs on low freon the harder it is for the compressor to do its job, thus its life will be shorter than it should be. This can get DAMNED expensive to fix if not fixed correctly. YES, they are waiting until the warranty is out, believe me they are counting the days.

Just putting freon in when the system is that low is like putting a band aid on a broken leg.

[Ron61]

Joe,

Steve knows far more about these things than I do but that freezing over isn't right either. We had one small unit burn up in one of the computer offices because of that and mine here at home never has any ice on the coils as it has some kind of electronic detector that keeps it off. Same when it is on the heat cycle in the Winter. When the detector sees ice forming, it shuts the unit off and runs off the heat strips while it defrosts the unit. And as for the adding freon, mine is about 15 years old and in all that time they have topped it off twice with just about 1/4 pound.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by 4RE KLR

OK here we go again. I typed this in once and it did not post. Grrrrr

OK, If you had to put two pounds of freon in the system you definitely have a leak. They cannot deny this as the system will not hold much more than that depending on the system of coarse and how far the compressor is from the furnace.

You need to follow through with the complaint the the BBB. They will have to respond to the BBB and answer for the misgivings in your case. If you do not your file will be marked as one who threatens this to get action. It sucks, but that is they way it works. File the complaint. You will need to mention NAMES and times you called and who you spoke with, what they said and promised and when they came out.

You should also receive a customer satisfaction survey from the builder. Make sure you do not put that you are happy with the service OR the work done. If you do they will make it off as corrected and go to the next one. You need to stay on this.

You need to get a water spray bottle and put some dish washing soap in it and shake it up. Go out side and pull back the black foam insulation on the freon lines and spray that lne with the soapy water. If you see bubbles there is your leak. Do the same thing in the attic. Make sure to replace the foam insulation when done.

Turn off the electric at the panel and get you water hose with a sprayer on the end. Wash the outside compressor real good. make sure you can see all the way through the grills. The object is to get the dust and crap out from the winter. I have even set a water sprinkler out by my A/C units on hot days to keep them cool while they are running. It will not hurt anything, it is the same as if it were raining.

If the units set under trees yo need to get a screwdriver and take the top grill off the units and get all the leaves out of the inside. The cleaner the system is the better it will work.

I would also write a complaint letter to the corporate office. PUT IT IN WRITTING! They will respond and the service person will have to answer for not taking care of you in a timely manner. You should CC the local office and the A/C company that was supposed to come fix your system.

Joe,
You need to stay on this like stink on ****. If you don't I promise you, you will have the same problem every year from now until it is fixed right. The longer the system runs on low freon the harder it is for the compressor to do its job, thus its life will be shorter than it should be. This can get DAMNED expensive to fix if not fixed correctly. YES, they are waiting until the warranty is out, believe me they are counting the days.

Just putting freon in when the system is that low is like putting a band aid on a broken leg.

Thanks for the Info Steve. I had put the complaint in on Sunday before the Sales Manager called me back. I did put names, but I only used relative times (Morning, afternoon, evening).
I have a single story house and the inside unit is actually not in the attic, but in a small closet off of my pantry. I got my JDPower and associates survey a little while back, but have not yet filled it out. I can tell you what kind of score they are getting. I would have given them a good score because I have not had any major issues. Only time I have ever had to call is last year, I had some debris in my sewage line. They sent out a plumber to snake the line and all was good. I will also do the letter to the corporate office.

As I got to thinking last night, I realized that with all the rain we got last year, it did not hit these hot days until July/August, and then the heat broke real quick after that and cooled down. I did not run my AC much at all last year, but it did not freeze up.

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by wtm442

Fred
Just send your avatar over to Joe's house. The breeze from the constant flapping would keep his wife and kids cool. Joe, on the other hand, might need a cold shower.

Got up to 82°F today, but its dropped 10 degrees in the last hour due to a sea breeze.

I just sent you an e-mail with a movie that includes your avatar. I copied Ron. I did not copy anyone else because I not sure who has access to their e-mail (maybe their wife or kids?). Its only a mild R movie.

What movie is it from? you could send it to me. joewicked@gmail.com

[wtm442]

GMW

Well, it looks like summer is here. I had to use my window fans. Got all the way up to 79°F inside the house yesterday. But it was fantastic Cobra driving weather.

Hope everybody had a nice holiday, especially all of our brave military members.

[Ron61]

It is really nice here this morning. We had a light rain last night. Just enough to clear the air of dust and this morning everything smells so much better. But I see the clouds are starting to break up and I fear that we will be heading back into the triple digits very soon..

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Too bad the rain didn't last for you Ron. We have heavy storms in the forecast and the sky is really dark right now. I meant to water my lawn last night but forgot, now I am kinda glad I didn't waste the water. If we get a good rain today, I will be happy.

[Ron61]

Joe,

We need rain worse than you can imagine. That mini heat wave we had has the snow pack way below normal now and the lake is really getting low. And we still have the real heat ahead of us, and they are saying this is going to be a long and really hot Summer. We had over a week of 118 plus days last summer so I really dread this one if they are correct. Also for some reason the past few years we are having more humidity up here than in the past. We used to have really hot summers, 120+, but it was a dry heat more like Arizona. Now some of the 118 degree days with the humidity had a heat index of 128 last Summer. And we also have a problem with enough power as several of the businesses in Redding had to shut down due to lack of power on the really hot days. If the lake gets so low they have to shut off another generator, things are going to be bad all over.

Ron

[wtm442]

Oh boy, triple digit temps in Kalifornicator and Mexas in May makes me want to move there.

NOT !

Looks like on and off showers today with temps in the low 70's.

Just finished breakfast ... french toast using Irish soda bread. OMG good

[trularin]

Detroit is up 2 in the series!!!!

I have a shade of green as if the grass seed is sprouting!

I was surprised at the amount of sun I got out in the Cobra.