is there a problem?

tim smith

Do you think that the airflow is not going through the coil??? That is a poor installation at best. I will be polite as this may go to the homeowner but I would not be so polite with the installer. This type of work is embarrasing to our industry and reflects on the rest of us. Shame on them! Tim

Jeff Lawrence_25

Opinions

I was called out by the homeowner because the refrigerant lines were freezing and there was water leaking all over the floor after another contractor installed a new coil. I opened up the evaporator coil and saw this.

Pictures 2 and 3 tell the whole story.

Once there are a few responses, I'm going to forward this entire thread to the homeowner. Be professional and nice.

Thanks.

John Mills_5

Furnace

Is that by any chance a GMP? If so look for popped crimp rings.

Hard start kit or scroll in the A/C to work with that TXV?

Empire_2

I echo Tim's response!!!

How in the world could the installer be happy and content with this kind of workmanship? If I were the home owner, I would be in court so fast it would make the person whom installed this, head spin. This is the main difference between a Professional and a Hack,....Period. Price is irrelevant.

Mike T.

Jeff Lawrence_25

The Furnace

is a Lennox from about 1993 as I recall. The condenser is the same age with a recip compressor.

As I recall, the installer made at least 4 trips out. First was the diagnosis and sale, second was to install the coil and the third was for hard start kit and the 4th was to install a sight glass(?). Why the sight glass was installed is a mystery to me.

Empire_2

Hi John,

Do you mean ICP,...Inner City Products, which are Heil AirQuest Temp Star? They to had problems with the Eyelet's which is what they call them.... Just curious.

Mike T.

Tony_23

Hey

You mean the air's supposed to go THROUGH the coil, not just near it ? Kinda like a residential "ice bank" system

Weezbo

it is sad to look at this....

i wonder how it is possible for people governed by so many rules and regulations to not get things right.

our :licensing, insurance, bonding, permits ,education, tools,....and that is what comes out ? these pics make me wonder if all these dollars we have invested in our livelihood even are considered when the homeowner makes these decisions to take the lowest bid that they can find...

How the contractor can do this without some degree of 'What dont look right ,in THIS picture?' baffels me.

i would say that i would definitely consider a second opinion and look futher afield because if this is like this 'does the furnace exhaust tie into the intake air? 'crosses my mind..

don_185

Nice pics Jeff

Nothing like a picture getting to the heart of the matter.

I would give the guy some credit it appears he more knowing on the refrigerant side then he is on the airside.Txv.drier,returning with a hard start kit all good thing no matter it took him four trips.The customer i'm sure still pay the same.

I'll bet that coil would never ice up even with the air bypassing on a very hot day.Its not until the sun goes down
when the problem would show up.

Great catch..Jeff.

Jeff Lawrence_25

It ices

All the time. Thinking it was a blower motor cutting in and out, I put a FPC (from honeywell zoning) on it. That's kept it from being worse than it actually is.

The installer had NO CLUE. If a tech with a brain had done the job from the start, he would have installed a proper width coil and the hard start kit from the start. Based on what I saw, I'm surprised that he bothered to put a drier on. Do you think he pulled a proper (~500 micron) vacuum on it? I doubt it. Think the gent even has nitrogen on his truck?

The customer's not happy. He's writing a letter to the contractor today and may copy our licensing board.

In my opinion, there's no excuse for this kind of an install. Period. One trip or 17 trips. No excuse.

steve_29

Come on guys... I'll bet lowest price was the determining factor on the awarding of this contract.

I see this all the time... bet nitrogen wasn't used and it was purged rather that evacuated properly.

Helps keeps the cost down and assures you to win the bid...

I lose bids to hacks all the time!!!

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Jeff Lawrence_25

I don't think

This was out out to bid.

steve_29

Jeff I'm curious about something... why did the homeowner want a new coil installed on such old equipment?

If I read this right the only thing installed was a coil?

That doesn't make any sense! There has to be more to the story.

Jeff Lawrence_25

As I understand

The old coil had a leak in the drain pan. It's common to replace the entire coil in such an instance because it's at least a week to get a new pan from the manufacturer, even if they have one available.

Another option is to have one fabricated, but with the back logs that the metal fabricators have, it's longer than getting one from the manufacturer.

The third option I've heard of is to coat the pan with a sealant like what is supposed to be available at the supply houses. I've seen the sealant at a counter day, but have never used it or spoken with anyone that has.

The evaporator coil was replaced and nothing else, except for the necessary material for proper operation.

Most drain pans now-a-days are some kind of plastic as opposed to metal. The plastic pans will last longer, but the do get brittle over time with the constant heat up and cool down of the furnaces right below them. Average age of a cooling system around here is about 14-16 years and I see this one as needing replacement in the next 3-4 years, if not sooner.

What the customer did is a common occurance around here.

steve_29

Jeff thanks for the clarification...

That certainly makes some sense why just the coil.

Jeff Lawrence_25

Resolution!

I received a call from the homeowner this morning.

The owner came out with the 2 techs that had been out to the house. Someone removed the cover to the evaporator and the owner saw the block of Ice that was the evaporator coil. The owner excused himself from the basement with the two techs and they all walked outside.

The homeowner looked out the window and watched the owner chew on the techs for about 15 minutes. He then got into his truck and drove off fast. The senior of the techs came back inside and told the owner that he's be back the next day to take care of the problem....

The homeowner was disappointed that the contractor didn't come in and talk to him. Some way to run a business.

lee_7

He was probably too embarassed to come back in. I know I would be if someone working for me did this kind of work.