[recycled sixtie]

From what I remember the a/c is Fujitsu. The technician came over yesterday and I had to have the outside unit(the coil) removed from the balcony before May 13th as they start to replace the balcony membranes then.

He came over and tested the coil. He said the freon level was low and air blown out was ambient temperature. Last year the inside unit had a bearing noise but not now because the temperature was only 15C or 59F. So replacing the outside unit only made no sense.

So we came to the conclusion that a new mini split (both units) would make sense.
I checked the company for appraisals and they were good. But yesterday's work just removing the outside unit was $425 cdn or about $300 US! I expressed that was a lot of money and asked him if they charge by the hour or by the job. He said they charged by the job. He was there only an hour!

Anyway I have asked him to send me two quotes for new a/c and he recommended a Japanese one and an American one. He liked the latter because it came with a three year warranty.

I asked him about the company he works for and he said they have 17 technicians and 3 secretaries. No wonder their rates are so high as they have high overhead.
The one man operations may be cheaper because you leave a message on the answering machine and they get back to you. I will get some more quotes from one or two more a/c outfits. I thank you all for your opinions and help.Will let you know what I come up with.
Cheers, Guy