Maybe someone can shed some light on an air condition problem. My son bought a house with an older unit, (orig) He called out someone who said the unit is leaking oil. Does anyone know what would leak oil besides the Motor? and the bearings are bad. hm, again sounds like the Motor. He does have a policy that went with the house, for repairs, but so far they seem to wiggle out of paying. We hope they will help with this. I told him to call in their contractor, and hope they will repair or replace it since its 15 years old.
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the refrigerant (freon) has oil in it to lubricate the compressor (motor). under the “wrong” conditions, the oil will migrate out of the compressor and into the inside unit. if you have a leak in the system, one indication is an accumulation of oil near the leak; the refrigerant evaporates and leaves the oil stain behind.
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It was not stated whether the unit was cooling or not. If there is oil that came from the compressor then it is a sure bet it is not cooling. The oil could be from a past service effort to oil the fan, or it could be the ruse of someone wanting to sell a new unit. Yes a new unit will be more efficient but at 15 years old, will a new furnace also be needed as well? Keep in mind that this winding road can easily lead to a $5,000.00 plus expense that might not have even been necessary. My AC is closer to 30 years old and while I did put in a new furnace and A-coil when changing over from hot-water heat that used a converted coal furnace, the condenser is still the original and other than a couple of burned connections which I replaced it is still working fine. The bottom line is, how many summers will it take to pay for a new unit based of the electrical savings I would realize over a typical 2 month summer heat cycle.
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I agree Dale, living in Kansas and similar climates it would take some time to recoup the investment. BUT, I don’t see that Joan included her location and if she’s in my climate type, that money spent on a new more efficient system could be realized in savings in far less time than you or other 4 season folk. January, February and possibly March are the only months you can expect to definitely not run the A/C at all. From mid-May to mid-October it’s pretty much going to be on every day, you could count the days in this time-frame that it’s not on one hand. So locale is an important issue when deciding. All this means nothing if you in fact like the sheets to stick to you when you turn over.
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One of my pet peeves and the primary reason I seldom respond to many of these DIY issues is that many fail to give all the details or I fear they are likely to get in way over their heads. Perhaps I’ve been with this list for too many years, “Ever Since it started” or I weary of answering the same line of questions for the umpteenth time.
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I hear you Dale. You give sound advice time after time and this post too was good advice. I just thought bout how it would pertain to my own situation and added those thoughts. Didn’t you tell me once that you lived down here once upon another life?
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Well, let’s see, I’ve lived in quite a few places but I can’t recall where you live exactly, though I did live in Charleston for 4 years in the late 60’s. I turned down a dream job in Titusville, FL because of the heat and humidity, I would have been one of the electrical, mechanical foreman at the beginning of the construction of Disney World had I taken the position, but believe me, money is not everything.