Hvac work

[Dan 177]

Trouble with my central air. Anyone here in central Nj have a hvac company?

[alec.mc 180]

i do commerical hvac operation/maintenance.

 

what's the issue?

[Dan 177]

Thanks for responding!

 

I'm getting water leaking out of the cooling coil box that sits on top of the furnace. It appears all sealed up and would require some know how to get into to see what's up. Needless to say the water is ruining the furnace.

[grumpy3132 0]

Sounds like the drain tube is blocked !

[alec.mc 180]

Like grumpy said, most likely the drain line for the condensate is blocked.

 

Snake it clean, or blow it out with compressed air/nitrogen

 

Keep us updated

[Dan 177]

Makes sense, I'll try blowing it out. Thanks guys

[Dan 177]

OK, I used my compressor to blow out the line, both ways. One towards the drain, the other time towards the unit. No resistance was felt, the air just blew through on both cases.

 

The unit is still leaking water, even though I had the system shut off since 10pm last night (it is now 10am). The top circle shows the leak area on the box where the cooling coil is. The water travels along the furnace top, and drips down where I have the arrow. It lands on electrical crap under that which is bad. The fan relay is going bad due to it. I have some rags there now to protect it.

 

The bottom circle is where I dicsonnected the drain line and blew it out.

 

The whole cooling coil box is sealed on all sides. One side has some sheet metal panels screwed on and sealed with caulk, I could problably get to those, but it doesn't provide full access in there. To me this thing looks like it was a shoddy retrofit on top of an old-a** furnace. We bought this house 4 years ago, so I have no history with this unit. All I know is that it looks old, and is an oil burner. My service company already replaced the oil pump once.

 

I'm truley concerned over what may be growing inside the cooling coil unit. I have fears of fungus and other organic gunk growing inside. The air smells funny when I turn it on, like dirty socks, so I know that can't be good.

 

At this point I think I want a new unit, any suggestions on places that are good, suggestions on equipment, etc would be helpful!

 

[dtown223 12]

Could be a crack/rusty drain pan, do you see any ice or frost on the lineset that connects to the condenser?

cause that's an indication of poor airflow over the evaporator, due to possibly, a clogged filter-icing can be caused by a low refrigerant charge also.

If you plan on staying in the home, and you have the means, it'll make alot of sense to replace equipment

you'll stand to gain efficiency and have newer, up to date equipment.

As far as brands go, most of the bigger manufacturers should be fine.

Make sure whoever quotes your replacement does a load calculation to be sure it's the proper size replacement, just because it was installed, doesnt mean it was right to begin with.

Also a good time to address any duct issues you may have, it's very common to see airflow issues when an AC evaporator is retrofitted to an existing furnace.

Feel free to PM me with questions when you get the ball rolling

I've done HVAC service repair and install for 10 years, this is pretty standard stuff

[Dan 177]

Thanks for the info dtown.

[TheLugNutZ 21]

My cousin owns an HVAC business and has been in business for over 10 years. PM me and i can give you the info if interested. He is located in Belmar/Wall area.

[Jon 264]

I had the exact same thing happen to my setup, wound up being a rusted-through drip pan. My HVAC was original to the home so I replaced everything with modern high-efficiancy stuff. I can recommend a friend if you can't find someone through the forum.

[Dan 177]

Thanks Jon. Including Wayne's guy, I have 4 estimates incomming, unless I'm not happy with any of them I'm going to limit it at that for now.

 

I'm in the same position. The unit looks like a large turd, with no access to the cooling coils to even clean or inspect. The rest of the system looks to be mid 80's vintage K-Car equivalent of HVAC... so no thanks on that! So I think at this time a full replacement is the way to go, just as you did. First quote in is 12K for full replacement, duct modification, and new zoning. That's including converting from oil to gas, with 95% efficient furnace, and 16 SEER A/C. That's a lot of guns worth of HVAC!

[Jon 264]

Yowza! My furnace was original to the house(1960s) and the AC unit looked like it was from whenever AC units started becoming popular Luckily I already had gas and did not need to change any of the zoning, so I came in around 8-9k. I also went with a 95% unit.

[heaterbob 53]

you pans rusted out, and it time for a new furnace btw 12k is very steep.

[Dan 177]

Yea, I thought 12K was steep also. Have 3 more guys coming for estimates.

[NJDrew1 0]

Get somebody to replace the pan. What's it gonna cost -- maybe $500-600? Far cry from $12,000 if it's functioning fine otherwise.

[Dan 177]

Thought about that, but if I can get a ROI in 10 years on energy savings, its worth putting in a new modern system, and converting to gas from oil at the same time. Technology in terms of efficiency seems to have gone a long way in the past 25 years.

[heaterbob 53]

dont get oversold on 16 seer it is only about 5% more efficient than 14 seer but it costs a lot more there is really no payback seeing how we only have a 3 month cooling season. converting from oil to gas you cant go wrong that will be your best savings.

[coldsolderjoint 84]

Don't be knocking the k-car bro

[dtown223 12]

dont get oversold on 16 seer it is only about 5% more efficient than 14 seer but it costs a lot more there is really no payback seeing how we only have a 3 month cooling season. converting from oil to gas you cant go wrong that will be your best savings.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

100% correct

[NJDrew1 0]

Thought about that, but if I can get a ROI in 10 years on energy savings, its worth putting in a new modern system, and converting to gas from oil at the same time. Technology in terms of efficiency seems to have gone a long way in the past 25 years.

 

LOL. It helps to think it out. You'll also probably be eligible for some manufacturer's rebates, utility rebates and maybe even something from the State. If the simple payback is 10 years, then I guess it's a wise investment.

[Dan 177]

Thanks for the heads up on the 16SEER versus 14. First guy told me there was some $500 energy rebate for 16, but if it is $1000 more than the 14, I will pass.

 

Most savings as others said will be on the K-Car (knockin' on it again!! ) oil furnace to a modern 96-98% efficient gas furnace.

 

Tuesday will be estimate marathon, hopefully I will be happy with one of them.

[TheLugNutZ 21]

The state has a 5yr $5000 int free loan and a 10yr $10,000 loan int free as well if you comply/install/update with other "green" and "high efficient" products.

 

google it

 

We were considering doing this, the house were buying has older a older HVAC system. Either save up or take the 0% loan from the state.

Only issue with that from what i understand is you may have to spend more because you have to comply with the other energy efficient things. Insulation, windows, etc. So if your house is older and all that is original or hasnt been updated in a while, you can bet on having to spend money on that as well to qualify for the loan.

 

You have to bring an energy auditing company in. Dan, my cousin should also be able to give you a lot more info.

[Dan 177]

Wayne, that sounds pretty good, your cousin will be here tomorrow I'll ask him about it. The windows in the home were definately replaced, all double pane, and the attic has new insulation, hopefully that will do it. I won't turn down a 0% loan so I can keep my money in savings/investments gaining at least some interest.

[TheLugNutZ 21]

Exactly what i was thinking. Droping $20k+ to get into the house and i would rather not have to come up with more cash for the HVAC system. My home inspector originally told me about it, i almost couldnt believe it, but after a little research its definitally the case. Figure 10yrs, 10k is ~$83/m so as long as you plan on staying in the home, it prob makes sense. Plus like you said, keep the money working for you in your bank, free money is good money.

[Maksim 1,504]

Message "Brisco" here on the forum. He is in the business in your area Dan.

[Dan 177]

Will do Maks, thanks

[civictuner04 6]

the 14 to 16 seer is a useless analogy. i can attest to the difference between single stage and 2 stage cooling. i have been in homes where there is a 9-15 degree temperature difference from upstairs to down stairs. installing 2 stage equipment narrow the gap to 3 degrees. sorry but i would spend 20k to not have the wife complain about its hot up stairs. i am in the industry for improving peoples live not to just heat or cool the air. i sold a residential system to a lady for 49k yeah 49k and a month after install i called her up and asked to you regret spending the money and she said absolutely not not that was the best lennox system with zoning on all 3 zones but it really works. imho if you spend 8k and get no improvement you wasted your money. but spend 4k more and get something that you can feel the difference and your life is better you can justify spending the money. This is a purchase you make every 15 to 20 years why go cheap route when its something you utilize EVERYDAY. i dont sell off of roi because will it pay for it over x amount of years no but we gaurantee that you will be happy if not we will take the system back and refund money. You 100% get what you pay for......good luck if you have questions i would be more than happy to help you out decide between the estimates you get.