Here it is mid July, temps are staying in the
mid 90s here in the Carolinas, and wouldn't you
know that one of our AC units decides to die.
It started last Saturday, I came home from a hamfest
and noted that it was very cool downstairs.
I checked the compressor to see if it was tripped
and it wasn't, the system just wasn't blowing
any cool air.
We have a home warranty we bought when we bought this
house 22 years ago.
I called them to report the problem, of course
it was the weekend so it would be Monday before
we could expect and help.
Monday the repair folks called and said they were
booked up and it would be Tuesday before anyone could come out.
He showed up about noon Tuesday, quickly found a
bad starting cap on the compressor motor.
Didn't have the exact part so he had to go the
the parts house and get one. About 3pm he had
it fixed and it was blowing cool air again.

28 hours later I come in from the work shop and
it's hot downstairs, I go out and the downstairs
unit isn't running at all.
I call the home warranty company again to report
the new failure, the service shop finally calls to
tell me it'll be late Thursday afternoon between 5 & 7 pm before anyone can be here.
7 o'clock comes and no one's here, 7:30 and I'm on the phone again to the home warranty
company. Someone finally shows up at 9:05pm,
takes him about 10 minutes to find out the
compressor motor in now shorted to ground.
The condenser unit is more than 30 years old
so the entire thing will have to be replaced.
Now it's mid day on Friday and I'm waiting
for a call back to tell me what they're going to
be able to do. With the weekend coming up
I just know it'll be next before anything gets
done.

GREAT TIMING ! ! !

Sorry for the long winded rant.

My AC went out last Sunday I think. It feels longer. Naturally it got up into the nineties and record dew points.
Hopefully it will be fixed today - appears to be a burned out fan motor. If not for the bed in the basement I would
be in a hotel. The fan just doesn't do it once you have been spoiled by central air. I can't believe I spent 15
sweltering years without it in my first house. Think frosty thoughts.


-Phil

Yep, that's when they go out,... when you put an extended load on them. Which, of course, is when you really need the darn things. They do make stand alone inside units. I know a guy that keeps one around just for his shack. Just in case ! I think any major chain hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes would carry them.

Ah Feel Your Pain.

The store cooler went down a couple of days ago. It had been tripping the breaker periodically for weeks. Finally burned out completely. Repair guy said he had to let it burn out before the warranty would be honored. Waiting for a new compressor now. Darn thing is only 2 years old.

I'm compfy here at home without air. Opened the windows and doors last night, and shut things down in the morning. Put a slow cooker out on the porch and doing supper. Don't wanna loose my "Cool", so Sandi has a place to chill out tonight.

I have a Trane unit that is 23 yrs old and still going. The last couple weeks have been bad here and it's going all the time. A couple yrs ago I had it apart for cleaning and noticed some crud on the seal of one of the caps. I checked it with my ESR meter and it was bad. Cost only $10 for a new one. Last night the blower in the furnace started making a loud noise. I have not oiled it in a few years So this morning I pumped some good quality oil into the oil ports and she's still going good, fingers crossed. I have a back-up on stand by from my old furnace that I saved just in case. I hate this humid 95 deg weather, can't wait for fall. Ron, what is a house warranty? Never heard of it before but I do mostly all the repairs here including installing a complete gas heat and hot water system gas pipe and all. don't miss that old oil heater from 1950 at all.

When I woke up here, it was 8*C (45*f for you imperialists). So, I don't really think I'll need aircon anytime soon.

But when summer comes, and I'm sweltering in the heat, I plan to build an air conditioner of my own - basically, a bigger version of this.

Well Chirpy, that unit looks like heaven... if you are a hamster. My AC is running again as of an hour ago. Just a fan motor,
but anything else goes kaput and I replace the whole 25 yr old shebang.


-Phil

"Ron, what is a house warranty? Never heard of it before"

It's basically an insurance policy of the house
systems.
When we bought the house 22 years ago it covered
everything,
since then we've had them remove some things
from the covered list.
Now it's just the 2 HVAC systems, water heater,
and electrical.
One yearly premium, and $60 deductible and
they'll fix anything else that's broken.

One 800 number to call to report problems and
they dispatch a repairman.