How many service own A/C ?

[Pirate]

Wondering how many of you "service" their own ac?
I replace the filter every 2-3 months, and clean condenser fins, and suck out condensate line every 6 months.
If all runs fine, thats it.
Don't see any reason to have a hvac co. come and check this and that, when it runs fine. Also have them let out a bit of refrigerant, when they hook their gauges up. "Sir, you need some refrigerant" Maybe it's because every time you come you let some escape!
Am I missing something by doing it myself?

[DieselDennis]

In addition to doing what you do, I can also swap a capacitor and a contactor on an outside unit.

We heat with natural gas. I can also clean an air movement sensor and change that thermocouple. I believe I could swap out a fan motor, but have let the pros do the last two.

I don't have gauges. Don't really desire to have any. If I think it's freon related, I call in the pros. Lack of freon should just point to a leak somewhere else.

I just bought a complete new unit last summer with a 10 year warranty. I'm not planning on doing much very soon.

[daddo]

Completely up to you.
A capacitor can be weak and cause damage as much as a failed one. Without the right meter, you can't test it (There is a way with an amp meter and volt meter while it is running).
The run capacitor can also go bad and if you have a compressor start assist, you may never know it until the compressor fails or the weather gets very hot.
 Was on a call last week- the run cap for the compressor was weak. The customer mentioned xy company replaced it 3 times in the last few months. I found the electrical disconnect had bad connections (burned wires as a result) and was dropping the voltage on one leg causing this. Caps fail 90% of the time due to heat.
 If you have a double outside condensing coil, just washing with a hose may not get it clean between the coils.


Refrigerant keeps that compressor cool. Run a little low for too long and the compressor fails.

Some compressors have a crankcase heater. Is the crankcase heater working?

A lot of it is visual- checking for connections getting hot, contacts discolored (Heat), seeing oily spots (Leaks), cracks in fan blades, discolored band around motor (Overheating), copper tubes rubbing together (Future leak), start cap- blown plug, bare wires.................The sound of the compressor. The sound of the motor- worn bearings, how well the compressor quick starts....
You could be fine on charge and seems to be cooling fine, but the metering device (TXV) could be under or over feeding and costing you money or damage.
Indoor coil or blower dirty. and more............

Get the wrong tech and he won't do a good job and you might as well do it yourself. Get the wrong tech and he will find problems that don't exist and want to sell you stuff you may not need. Get a good tech and you'll be in good honest hands. Roll the dice.  

 Did I help you or depress you?

[EightFingers]

I did all my own - replaced a blower motor, circuit boards,an inducer fan and a couple caps, along with the normal maintenance.

Now, my service is just cleaning ceiling fan blades.

[Pirate]

Just curious what would cause a pinhole in a wire in the outside unit?
Had a new unit installed and 2 years later it quit. I found a wire with a pinhole, that had eventually corroded and lost conductivity. Wire splice and I was back in business.
Also, why would a system 9 years old, that always worked fine, require more return ducting?
AC tech told me this when outside unit froze up.
I researched and put in a $30 fan relay and all was well.
More return ducts! Lol

[Cub_Cadet_GT]

Wondering how many of you "service" their own ac?
I replace the filter every 2-3 months, and clean condenser fins, and suck out condensate line every 6 months.
If all runs fine, thats it.
Don't see any reason to have a hvac co. come and check this and that, when it runs fine. Also have them let out a bit of refrigerant, when they hook their gauges up. "Sir, you need some refrigerant" Maybe it's because every time you come you let some escape!
Am I missing something by doing it myself?

I do everything on mine. I have a 30lb jug of 410A and gauges and check my charge once in fall and once in the spring. Its really not that hard to do once you understand a few basic principles.

Now this spring I did have an inside coil leak and I brought in a company to replace whole unit. I don't have vacuum pump or tools to do a full install, but once its installed I can maintain it.

[daddo]

I do everything on mine. I have a 30lb jug of 410A and gauges and check my charge once in fall and once in the spring. Its really not that hard to do once you understand a few basic principles.

Now this spring I did have an inside coil leak and I brought in a company to replace whole unit. I don't have vacuum pump or tools to do a full install, but once its installed I can maintain it.

 Do you check the superheat and subcooling? Do you know what those targets are?
 Can you recognize a restriction or malfunction in a TXV metering device that will cause problems?
 If you are adding refrigerant, are you sure the refrigerant is low or is there a restriction in the metering device and you are adding refrigerant for no reason and causing a worse problem? The TXV could be opening too much and making you think the charge is good, when in fact you are low or overfeeding.
 You cannot properly charge or check a charge on a system without the ability to do both the superheat and subcooling and the knowledge of what they tell you.
If you don't purge your refrigerant hoses properly, you'll introduce air/moisture/non-condensates into the system which will cause leaks and corrosion and other problems.
  Again- it's up to you- just FYI.

[Cub_Cadet_GT]

 Do you check the superheat and subcooling? Do you know what those targets are?
 Can you recognize a restriction or malfunction in a TXV metering device that will cause problems?
 If you are adding refrigerant, are you sure the refrigerant is low or is there a restriction in the metering device and you are adding refrigerant for no reason and causing a worse problem? The TXV could be opening too much and making you think the charge is good, when in fact you are low or overfeeding.
 You cannot properly charge or check a charge on a system without the ability to do both the superheat and subcooling and the knowledge of what they tell you.
If you don't purge your refrigerant hoses properly, you'll introduce air/moisture/non-condensates into the system which will cause leaks and corrosion and other problems.
  Again- it's up to you- just FYI.

Yes, I do charge by superheat and subcooling. I do purge my hoses correctly. 

Like I said, its not rocket science if you know some basics and understand your systems and have the right tools. I have two that each require different subcooling targets.

[Robert Adams]

I do everything on mine. I have a 30lb jug of 410A and gauges and check my charge once in fall and once in the spring. Its really not that hard to do once you understand a few basic principles.

Now this spring I did have an inside coil leak and I brought in a company to replace whole unit. I don't have vacuum pump or tools to do a full install, but once its installed I can maintain it.

     Evap coil leaks are a really common failure these days with the super thin aluminum tubing in them. My parents have a 10 YO Rheem that has a leaky coil. I am debating on weather to replace the air handler or just do a whole new system. 10 years is when you start looking at replacing units here since they run so much. It's also a heat pump and he wants to go back to resistance heat since it heats much faster than the heat pump. The heat pump never worked well in the 30s or less anyway. 
 
        I have most all my tools still but don't have a recovery machine anymore. Need to find a deal on one at a pawn shop... Oh and the digital gauges are so much nicer these days since they do the math for you.

[daddo]

Yes, I do charge by superheat and subcooling. I do purge my hoses correctly. 

Like I said, its not rocket science if you know some basics and understand your systems and have the right tools. I have two that each require different subcooling targets.

 That's good to know. You're way ahead of most.

There are techs out of school (Even some experienced ones) that have a hard time diagnosing systems with odd readings.