[A930Rocket]

A couple of months ago, our AC was not working at home. I replaced the compressor motor and capacitor. Then replaced the air handler motor and capacitor. The AC worked well.

For the past week, it’s not working as it should. The compressor and air handler are working. With two different infrared thermometers, I’m getting 66° out of the vents, but the house is not getting cooler.

When I hold my hand up to the vents, I can barely feel the cold air coming out. I’ve ordered an anemometer, to help me determine CFM. Looking online, a rule of thumb is to multiply 400 by the tons, to get CFM. In my case, it should be 400 x 2.5 = 1,000. Maybe this will tell me if the air handler blower motor is deficient.

I had a guy come out and he said the Freon level and pressures were good, but that my compressor condenser fins were worn out, falling apart and clogging the airflow. In several places, the aluminum fins were turning to dust. it’s not losing the heat as it should. It’s a 13-year-old carrier system.

He’s going to let me know what it would cost to replace the compressor/condensor and evaporator at the air handler, but he said it’s probably in the $6-7k range.

I had gotten a price a couple months ago from the HVAC company I use at work for $7k. With my choice of Lennox, Carrier, or Trane.

What are your experiences with the three choices above?

On another note, the amount of money I saved by replacing the electrical motors and capacitors myself was significant. It made me wonder if I could replace the compressor/condenser and evaporator at the air handler myself, then have somebody else evacuate it, pressure test it, and fill it with Freon. I think I can do it, but looking online, the only make I could find was Goodman. It seems they will sell to anybody, but have a bad reputation. Of course, then I would have to wonder about any kind of warranty.