Honest & Simple AC Repair Saved Customer Thousands of Dollars in Gray, TN

Received a call from a new customer in Gray, TN in need of an AC repair. He was referred to us by an existing customer of ours. His Trane AC outside was not turning on, but the indoor blower motor was moving room temperature air inside the home. He stated that it was in the upper 80s inside his home. The previous company this customer was using told him that he needed to replace the system since it was already 14 years old.

When we arrived, we opened up the outdoor AC unit’s service panel to see if anything looked obvious as to why the outdoor AC unit had quit working. We noticed that the dual run capacitor was swollen. We honestly thought we would be looking at a machine that was completely out of refrigerant or had a failed compressor being that another company was recommending a completely new system. We went ahead and tested the capacitor’s microfarad rating and the dual run capacitor was completely dead. Since we were right there, we went ahead and tested the start capacitor for the compressor as well and it was just under its rated microfarad rating, but would still help start the compressor. We also tested the ohm rating on the contactor coil and it tested within factory specifications.

We let the customer know that the dual run capacitor had failed and that we needed to replace it in order to try and get the outdoor AC unit to run. We also let him know that the start capacitor was just below its rated range, but it would still help the compressor start. Since we were there, we gave him a discounted price for replacement of the start capacitor as well because it was below its rated range of 88-108 mfd. The customer wanted us to replace the dual run capacitor and the start capacitor as well.

We replaced the dual run capacitor and start capacitor from our van stock and retightened each stake-on connection to make sure the connections were holding good. We cleaned up all of the cob webs and dead bugs from inside the panel as well. We lubed the outdoor disconnect pullout with di-electric grease because it was tight to pull out and it had never been greased in the past. We restored high voltage to the outdoor unit and restored the cooling call on the thermostat.

We took an inrush amp reading on the compressor at startup to confirm that we were falling within factory specifications. We took amp draws on the compressor and outdoor fan motor while the outdoor AC unit was running as well. Everything looked good with our amp draws, the system sounded fine, we were discharging heat out of the top of the machine, and the suction line was nice and cold. We offered to hook up our probes to the system to analyze the refrigerant circuit in order to confirm how the system was running, but the customer stated that it was cooling fine before it all of the sudden quit and did not want to pay for additional services if they weren't needed. So, we measured the temperature split at the return grille and supply registers to confirm that we had an adequate temperature split between the return and supply air to adequately cool the home. We were getting a 17.8-degree temperature split and the AC was already beginning to drop the temperature within the home. This system was a R410A refrigerant system and only had a small electrical failure, so there was no reason to replace this system like the other larger company had advised. Age is not an indicator in our opinion for a system replacement. The type of repair needed, the availability of the parts, the refrigerant your system uses, condition of the system, and the overall cost of the repair should be considered when trying to figure out whether or not to replace a system.

If you live within our service area of Northeast Tennessee and are in need of an AC repair, please feel free to reach out to us if you are tired of shady business practices. We will provide you with the facts and allow you to make an informed decision based upon those facts. We provide quality repairs at reasonable rates. Don’t be pushed around by these larger companies that have to sell new systems in order to pay for their high marketing budgets, high operating overhead, and overinflated gross margins. This customer was back up and cooling again for a few hundred dollars versus having to spend thousands on a completely new system. All HVAC companies are not created equal. Just because a company has billboards all across town, has multiple TV & radio commercials, and is paying for sponsored ads on multiple search engine platforms does not mean that they will have your best interests in mind. Those ads cost lots of money, their overhead is high, and their customers are paying for it each and every time they show up to their door. Stay safe and best wishes.

Location: Gray, TN