Some time that night, there was a bang from inside the system - and in the morning, we realized the house was not getting cooled. The breaker had tripped. We flipped it back on, but no cooling, and there seemed to be a crackling sound - plus a household member went into the furnace room… and thought she saw SMOKE.
A call to 911, garnering a bit of an excess response (5 fire trucks! the battalion chief! And I think an ambulance)… and there was no fire.
We got the HVAC company out that same afternoon - and the tech said that it looked like there was some kind of surge that basically fried the motor. which I guess would explain the bang. And that wiring was damaged - I guess the insulation melting / burning would have triggered the fog?
I pointed out that it was frankly quite odd timing that this happened just a few hours after they’d been there. The tech said that from what he saw, there’s no way they could have caused it even if they wanted to; if they’d been intent on mischief, there are other things they could have done, but not this.
We’re now up for an expensive repair (the thing is still under some warranty but the motor replacement is prorated. and it’s 8 years old). 1300 bucks. Ouch.
And of course in the meantime, we’re all steaming in our own juices, as they have to order the part.
Yeah, my guess is not deliberate sabotage, but the tech screwed up and then they lied about it. In retrospect, it might have been better to have a different HVAC company come out for the evaluation.
The HVAC guy would have had to be the one to introduce such an object, however…
30+ years ago, we were living in a fairly new townhouse. The first time we turned on the furnace, we heard banging from inside it.
We called an HVAC company, to schedule a visit - and to ask whether it was safe to use the thing in the meantime. The receptionist put me on hold, and chatted with a tech - then came back and said “Sometimes construction workers deliberately leave soda cans inside a furnace, in a new house”.
They came out a day or so later, and it wasn’t a soda can.
It was a 16 ounce plastic jug!
I think we will try to get a different HVAC company out for a second opinion.
Electrical stuff shorts out sometimes. Possibly something the techs did but kind of absurd for them to sabotage the unit after a service call. It could have been triggered by properly servicing the unit. Closing the unit after the standard testing and cleaning process could have led to a wire shorting out by penetrating it’s insulation, a condition that could not have been seen before. It could also be caused by improper service. It probably can’t be proved one way or the other, which leaves you holding the short end of the stick.
That’s what it sounds like in my unprofessional opinion as well, and if that is the case, then the repair should be 30-40 bucks for a new capacitor, plus labour.
About 20 years ago I was living in a rented house with friends and come winter we turned the heat on. Gas furnace, everything was fine for a few days, then one day one of my friends was doing laundry (the machines were right next to the furnace), turned around to grab something from the kitchen and BOOM giant fireball out of the furnace, right where he had been standing moments earlier. Called the landlord who sent someone out to fix it.
Never found out exactly what the issue was, but it was clearly a delayed ignition problem. It was a small house and the laundry/utility room was just in the little nook from the kitchen going out the back door. In hindsight, I’m guessing one of us opening and closing the back door blew out the pilot light shortly before the furnace was going to turn on.
The capacitor should be replaceable but continuing any warranty service may require replacing the motor. The company seems to be saying there was further damage to the controller also. Still sucks.
@Mama_Zappa do you have a service contract on the unit? With many of them you might not even save any money except for lowering labor costs.
Replacing them is an extremely easy and common fix. Techs call it Cap and Go. They should charge their basic service call fee and the part. It should be left to the pros because there’s high voltage in there.
Hopefully its not the motor. Most techs will replace the motor and cap together. A bad cap can harm the motor. Definitely want to protect a brand new $150 to $200 motor.
If it’s just the cap they’ll replace it and warn the customer the motor could go out in the future. That could be a week, a month or 3 years later. No one can predict it for sure. The disclaimer is CYA.
Ice can also can cause a bang. Units low on refrigerant gas will ice up. A loose piece can hit the fan. Usually adding refrigerant fixes the problem. The ice melts after the unit is turned off for awhile.
Checking the unit with gauges is a standard part of any annual service call. That’s one of the things you paid for. They hose off the coil, visually inspect wiring and check the refrigerant pressure.
We do have a service contract - gets us an annual inspection of the whole system, and priority booking for repair appointments etc.
They do claim they need to replace the motor. Supposedly that’s a 2,000 dollar part, though since it’s less than 10 years old (about 7.5, actually) the cost is prorated. I think we were quoted about 1,400.
The part should be in by Monday. I did call another HVAC company to come out to give an opinion, unfortunately they can’t come until Tuesday.
The tech said the control board MIGHT need to be replaced, but he did not think it would be necessary.
googling “furnace motor replacement” suggests a much lower figure. I’m glad we’re getting a second opinion, even if it means another day or two of no AC. The second opinion is coming from the place that installed the air conditioner itself 2 years back, and charged noticeably less than the first place had quoted.
Yeah, you should get that second opinion. $1300 for a repair under a service contract is very high. Maybe that other company offers a better contract also. $1300 sounds like there’s a lot of labor cost included, which shouldn’t be much under a good service contract. Unfortunately I think good service contracts at reasonable prices are becoming difficult to find now. They know stuff breaks sooner and everything including their labor costs more.
To be fair, it’s not a “home-warranty”-type service contract, it’s just for the annual inspection and priority repair booking.
I won’t go near the “warranty” type. Too many horror stories. Friends of ours had to have their HVAC system replaced about 5 years back, and it took many weeks before the company even agreed to it. Then they had major issues with it a couple years ago. It’s in the warrantor’s best interest to deny as much as possible under these contracts.
though the bit about the warranty is a bit screwy: I had always thought that you were NOT required to fill out warranty cards to have it covered. I think the company is not charging for the installation.
The service contract on our HVAC equipment includes a some guaranteed parts and then reduced labor and parts replacement costs. They are actually reduced from inflated prices, so not that much in savings, but I think it gives them an incentive to avoid unnecessary parts replacement and to get the work done quickly. They provide us with excellent service anyway. It keeps getting more expensive like everything else, but this company has been improving at the same time. Hope you get this settled quickly, I don’t know how I ever survived summer without A/C, not sure I could do it now.
The price range just for the motor is crazy high. I feel the OP’s pain. Our high today is forecast at 101. AC is an absolute must. We would have to live in a motel until it’s fixed.
Wow! And that’s just for the blower motor, not the compressor motor. I think the electronically controlled and more expensive motor are more common for the blower, but that’s pretty steep. OTOH that could be close to what it would cost me to replace a head on our split system out of warranty.
