Residential hvac parts

[65CopCar]

All I gotta say is the industry caused me to learn how to do it all myself about 25 years ago. I now have everything I need including nitrogen to work on the systems and am pretty competent with it. Has saved me a ton of money over the years. I buy my stuff online most of the time.

At my new house I had the Goodman repaired under warranty. When I told the guy that my target was 50 microns with 410A he laughed. He said their target was 500 microns. Wonder why I work on them myself?

My Goodman holds 20 lbs of 410A - crazy. One outfit wanted $2500 in freon to fix it! I said what about just reclaiming the old stuff and reusing it? Had a bad valve so system was clean - he said our tanks are dirty. I said for $2500 go get a new $130 tank. He didn't get the job, and ultimately got fixed under warranty with new freon. If I did it I would have reused the old freon.

These systems are getting so complicated they are stupid. My Goodman is very high end and the thermostat was not compatible with the unit even though it was bought as a system. They went to a 2 wire thermostat and my guess is that they had problems so went to a 3 wire. Mine is a 3 wire unit. It still kinda worked with a 2 wire very expensive thermostat but not really. Had to get one that worked as a 3 wire. None of the HVAC techs could figure that out - I finally did with the help of an HVAC friend that got a hold of the right guy at Goodman.

Enough ranting for today..............

 

[kiwigtx]

"Save the planet" but we should buy an entire new system instead of spending $600 on replacing one component in an otherwise working system.

It never has been about saving the Planet. That is just the cover story pushing different agendas through to legislation.

 

[F4R/T]

Spot on Kiwi! Spot on!

 

[beanhead]

Why is this a business that is so locked down to buying over the counter parts? Is this all about job security? I needed a constant torque blower motor and had to pull teeth to get one, the worst part is it was on a Saturday so getting folks to answer the phone was scarce. I know things are different after the plandemic but seriously I worked hvac for a living and the counter guys can’t sell to me no matter what. If you have a good supply house always keep them handy...My have times changed... I was always grumbling about selling a 5$ capacitor for 75 on top of the service call and everything else I couldn’t deal with shafting the customer in my mind. It seemed I was expected to sell at every single stop.. I hated it!

I went through this exact same thing just a few years back.

Based on that experience....I think this has to do more with business and the supply guys not wanting to side-step their contractors by selling direct. Places that have those parts readily available here like Ferguson, Johnson Controls etc, even the "mom-n-pop's hvac supply", their bread and butter is their contractor accounts.

The electrical supply houses that we have accounts with didn't sell those types of motors, so one of them referred me to Grainger and they were like "shoot yeah, we'll sell you one, we don't care!"
So give them a try if you haven't got it handled yet.

 

[68-500]

Just like most things. You can do the work yourself, heck most of us can rebuild an engine. You can dang sure remove an old HVAC and install a new like sized unit. There’s really not that much to it. My son was during right out of high school less than 2 years ago. The tools are available as is some tutorials on YouTube.

 

[Detective D]

It never has been about saving the Planet. That is just the cover story pushing different agendas through to legislation.

I know this but if I say it the thread goes to neverland PF lol

 

[kiwigtx]

I know this but if I say it the thread goes to neverland PF lol

It's all about the wording.

 

[Krooser]

No need to apologize! Well your fellows in the industry don't share your mindset it seems. They do seem to share the notion they have not heard of the coolant.
It's not new though, been on the market since 2013.
Feel free to drop by next time you are in Waupaca county to repair mine! The contractors around here don't want my money it seems like.

Sounds like some if you need to buy a set of gauges and a vacuum pump.

Guelzow from WI Rapids replaced my 30+ year old furnace and did a great job. They service Waupaca county.

I qualified for a subsidized deal because of my income and the fact that my wife is disabled.

Sunshine replaced the 1954 furnace for me in '88. But they don't participate in that county program.

For some reason I watch a few different different HVAC contractors on their YouTube channels. I have always been interested in all things mechanical.

One thing I seem to have learned is today's high dollar HVAC are way too complex. Just like new cars they are a ticking $20,000 time bomb.

I have a friend in TN that installed an in ground heating/cooling system when he bought his new home ten years ago. He now needs a new main unit replaced for $20,000!

So much for lower monthly costs!

Back in '68/'69 I lived in a pretty neat old house that had an ancient oil furnace. The landlord was a grumpy old bastard like I am now. That furnace would routinely quit on the coldest fricken nights. He would never repair it....he always told me it was my responsibility!

So I learned to do routine maintenance and a few simple repairs.

My starter wife and I lived in a very nicely remodeled former blacksmith shop in SE Wisconsin 40 years ago. It was beautifully redone with all high end finishes. Well insulated, too.

But the heating bills were killing me....$800 per month in 1983!!!!

The homes owner got a "deal" on an oil fired boiler that was designed for an eight family home....way oversized.

We moved after one winter.

Today I cool my 1300 sq. ft 1895-built dump with two 5000 btu window units. Both are over 10 years old. I would love to install central air but the ducting system was setup for a coal furnace with convection air flow...no blower. The house has been remodeled a few times, walls moved and door locations changed. Air flow is an issue that really needs to be addressed even in the heating system. We have two rooms heated with electric baseboards the rest relies in forced air .

I cool my 1500 sq. ft shop with a 1966 Fedders window unit I got donated by my late father-in-law. This week we have 90F ambient temps but my shop is a comfy 68!

I heat the shop with a radiant tube heater fuels by NG.

I heated my home with wood pellets for 22 years but can't handle 40lb bags anymore so we rely on the forced air heating system.

In typical government fashion the people of the US and Canada are getting the proverbial middle finger from Washington and Ottawa. A shameful deal....

 

[Detective D]

Sounds like some if you need to buy a set of gauges and a vacuum pump.

Guelzow from WI Rapids replaced my 30+ year old furnace and did a great job. They service Waupaca county.

I qualified for a subsidized deal because of my income and the fact that my wife is disabled.

Sunshine replaced the 1954 furnace for me in '88. But they don't participate in that county program.

For some reason I watch a few different different HVAC contractors on their YouTube channels. I have always been interested in all things mechanical.

One thing I seem to have learned is today's high dollar HVAC are way too complex. Just like new cars they are a ticking $20,000 time bomb.

I have a friend in TN that installed an in ground heating/cooling system when he bought his new home ten years ago. He now needs a new main unit replaced for $20,000!

So much for lower monthly costs!

Back in '68/'69 I lived in a pretty neat old house that had an ancient oil furnace. The landlord was a grumpy old bastard like I am now. That furnace would routinely quit on the coldest fricken nights. He would never repair it....he always told me it was my responsibility!

So I learned to do routine maintenance and a few simple repairs.

My starter wife and I lived in a very nicely remodeled former blacksmith shop in SE Wisconsin 40 years ago. It was beautifully redone with all high end finishes. Well insulated, too.

But the heating bills were killing me....$800 per month in 1983!!!!

The homes owner got a "deal" on an oil fired boiler that was designed for an eight family home....way oversized.

We moved after one winter.

Today I cool my 1300 sq. ft 1895-built dump with two 5000 btu window units. Both are over 10 years old. I would love to install central air but the ducting system was setup for a coal furnace with convection air flow...no blower. The house has been remodeled a few times, walls moved and door locations changed. Air flow is an issue that really needs to be addressed even in the heating system. We have two rooms heated with electric baseboards the rest relies in forced air .

I cool my 1500 sq. ft shop with a 1966 Fedders window unit I got donated by my late father-in-law. This week we have 90F ambient temps but my shop is a comfy 68!

I heat the shop with a radiant tube heater fuels by NG.

I heated my home with wood pellets for 22 years but can't handle 40lb bags anymore so we rely on the forced air heating system.

In typical government fashion the people of the US and Canada are getting the proverbial middle finger from Washington and Ottawa. A shameful deal....

Guelzow... I may try to call them. But I don;t want to replace my 30 year old central air. I want someone to fix it. Because, as you say, new stuff is a computer infested expensive over complicated time bomb. new coolant is flammable starting Jan1 (thanks current admin!) so it may actually be a bomb.

My current set up is basically a couple electrical contactors, a capacitor to start the fan spinning, and gets a signal from a 2 wire thermostat. Why in the world would I want to change that? Why not buy the parts, even if it is actually ALL of the parts, for like 3 grand, pay 1500 bucks in labor, and watch this unit last another 30+ years? I see people here getting quotes of 10 G's and more, WTF is that?

All I want is someone that actually wants my money to come replace a piece if there is actually a leak(used to be they were patient enough to leave the vacuum on it for a while to see if it held or not) and charge it back up with the replacement stuff I found on my own so my AC works proper again. Why is it so hard to find a contractor that wants my money for honest work and not a brand new install?

 

[Budnicks]

The electrical supply houses that we have accounts with didn't sell those types of motors, so one of them referred me to Grainger and they were like "shoot yeah, we'll sell you one, we don't care!"
So give them a try if you haven't got it handled yet.

I was going to say go to Grainger's
you said it better & sooner than I