Lennox Central AC Condenser Unit still trips 30 Amp Breaker after Cleaning Condeser and Evaperator?

[ROVERT]

Hi Smokey

It was working fine for about a week, now the compressor is making some nasty noises.
Does anyone know if the compressor can be fixed for a low price?

All the Central AC techs in this area do not want to mess with an older R22 system. They all want from 3 - 5k to replace the compressor and evaporator and use the newer freon!

To answer the first question, not really. Unless you have your EPA cert., a reclaimer, refrigeration scales, a gauge set, vacuum pump, brazing tools/supplies, a cylinder of R-22, and a little bit of know how your going to have to pay somebody with all of those things to do it. There is a considerable amount of time, skill, and equipment involved in swapping out a compressor and you're going to have to pay for it.

The reason nobody wants to replace the compressor is not because they don't want to mess with R-22, it is because it is a repair that doesn't typically make sense. There's too much labor involved to replace a part on a 10+ year old system that will likely encounter more problems not so far down the road. FWIW, if you find someone to do the compressor replacement, you'll be looking at a bare minimum of a $1000 and quite likely somewhere between $1200 and $1800, maybe more. If a new system can be had for $3000 (which I doubt) that would be the way to go. $5000 sounds a little closer to reality.

 

[ROVERT]

Can you buy a replacement heat pump that's good in cold weather?
It could at least take care of the shoulder seasons, maybe cheaper than pellets.
How about something like this?:
http://www.carriergreenspeed.com/

If this is an AC only unit (not a coil on top of a furnace) the ductwork is likely only set up for AC. Installing a heat pump with only ceiling returns (probably only one ceiling return) is kind of a waste of money. The air is not going to circulate properly. For a heat pump you need high/low returns, ideally in every room (except kitchens and bathrooms). The high returns bring the hot air back to the system in cooling mode and the low returns bring the cold air back to the system in heating mode.

If this is a coil on top of a furnace and there is proper ductwork, a heat pump may be worth considering. It depends on what the primary heat source is and the climate. With natural gas heat, a heat pump doesn't really make sense. If it's oil, propane, or electric a heat pump may be a good idea.

 

[blades]

Have you had the amount of freon in the unit checked? If it has an extremely small leak over time so that the feon level is quite low it could cause this these symptoms. Especially if most other things are checking ok. I replaced my AC system 3 years ago as this was the case of the unit, It was down to about 1/2 lb, still operating, but current consumption was off the charts ( I had installed that unit in 1972, i do not expect to see more than 10 years out of the current crop of equipment) One other area that I did not see mentioned in either thread is a bad ground/ neutral, not necessarily in your homes wiring but from the main line house connection to the pole transformer supplying your home. This is a somewhat rare problem but does exist and getting your utility to check/repair is a pia ( got the t-shirt). creates all sorts of weird problems, but breakers popping on startups for no apparent reason is a classic.