TRANE

rhw

Is there a link somewhere online to view their manuals including specs, for A/C equipment?

HVACNUT

If I can't get a pdf from a specific manufacturer, I try,
www.manualagent.com

rhw

Thanks. But I could not find unit specs. for Trane. Most other A/C condensers you can find but for some reason I can't find specs. for Trane.

newagedawn

call them, they have a special site, good luck with that trane, im not a fan, they are the only manufacture that does everything different

EBEBRATT-Ed

Trane is miles ahead of the blue oval which is junk. Talk about doing things different the blue oval invented that.

rhw

Which company for an A/C condenser would you recommend, given the installation is top notch?

ChrisJ

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

Trane is miles ahead of the blue oval which is junk. Talk about doing things different the blue oval invented that.

If that's how you feel about Carrier, I'd hate to hear what you think about Goodman.

rhw, you're going to get a ton of opinions on that. Each guy likes "their brand". Personally, I hate Trane/American Standard's spine fin condensers, in my opinion they're garbage. However, they do seem to work good.

The Trane / American Standard TAM7 air handler is pretty much the best you can get, period. It's A LOT better than everyone else's air handler, except it's also a lot more money.

They all use pretty much all of the same parts made by the same companies. This is why I went with Goodman for my own system. Sadly..........I'm still fighting to get an issue fixed. If I could do it over, I'd likely either go with American Standard (same as Trane, but cheaper) or Tempstar, which is Carrier.

Like you said, the install is what's most important by far. Make sure they flow nitrogen while brazing. If they don't braze and use Straybrite 8 instead, that's a personal preference and doesn't need nitrogen. A lot of guys swear by it.

hvacfreak2

I think Trane and Carrier should merge. Trane would drop their residential products and Carrier drop it's commercial line. That sure would make my life easier at least.

bob_46

American Standard/Trane is the old General Electric residential line. That's where the christmas tree garland condenser came from. Trane bought GE and then A.S. bought Trane . Years ago A.S. had their own residential line that was pure junk so they got out of HVAC.

ChrisJ

bob said:

American Standard/Trane is the old General Electric residential line. That's where the christmas tree garland condenser came from. Trane bought GE and then A.S. bought Trane . Years ago A.S. had their own residential line that was pure junk so they got out of HVAC.

Yep.
I'm pretty sure a 1920s GE Monitor Top prototype used spine fin, or something similar. Also, the really cheap all plastic GE Carry Cool air conditioners in the 1970s-80s used all spine fin, for the evap and condenser.







They worked, and they were dirt cheap but impossible to clean and very easy to damage mechanically.

bob_46

GE also made a full line of residential gas and oil furnaces , some unique they even made their own controls .

hvacfreak2

When I started there were still quite a few old GE , Westinghouse , and Coleman. Man that stuff used to scare me when I had to work on those , lol. I was at a counter at a supply house one day and a guy gave me a book , he had compiled wiring diagrams for all of the old stuff ( he said he was getting out of the industry ). HiReLi , WAT , no problem sir.

rhw1

Thoughts on Amana ?

ChrisJ

rhw1 said:

Thoughts on Amana ?

Identical to Goodman.
Depends on who you ask, some guys say they're great, others hate them.

Best I can tell, they use all the same parts the others guys do, same Copeland compressor, same electronics etc.

EBEBRATT-Ed

I like Trane/American Standard. I think their quality is pretty good (compared to other stuff) but every product line can have there dogs. But I don't like the spiny coils

One of the distributors here sells Nordyne (called Nortek now) which brands the stuff as "Gibson", Fridgidaire", "Westinghouse" etc
they also own Miller mobil home furnaces and Reznor.

All the techs around here use it for side jobs (the distributor usually gives the techs better prices than their company gets that's how they keep techs shopping their...pretty neat trick)

I have it in my house, the stuff is pretty decent, good warrenty on there furnaces. I just replaced a heat exchanger on an 8 year old Gibson furnace for my niece, the installer way undersized the duct work. Got the HX for free, only had to pay shipping.

I have put a bit of their stuff in, I think it's pretty good.

Everybody has their favorites. as far as ac goes, not a lot of difference

HVACNUT

> @ChrisJ said:
> Thoughts on Amana ?
>
> Identical to Goodman.
> Depends on who you ask, some guys say they're great, others hate them.
>
> Best I can tell, they use all the same parts the others guys do, same Copeland compressor, same electronics etc.

>>Agreed. Years ago, Goodman/Janitrol (Janijunk) used Bristol compressors and inferior parts. Now they are a decent lower tier choice.

rhw1

Thanks for all the info. We found a highly recommended and hopefully highly qualified HVAC contractor. He will be installing a Trane 4TTR3030 2.5 ton 13 SEER condenser with a Trane 2.5 ton blower.

John Mills_5

For info, check with your distributor about access to comfortsite.com or asdealernet.com

Tons of info, Trane here has online ordering, warranty claims done online for parts and extended warranty.

zmcgarvey

I know next to zero about forced air furnaces, but I maintain several Goodman straight-cool units and they work just fine, with no deficiencies in quality that I can see. They are simple (low SEER) and easy to fix, and parts are available almost anywhere. I'd say Goodman has probably 60% of the market around here, so supply houses stock their stuff. I don't believe in the high SEER/ variable speed stuff-- the payback period is probably a decade or more unless you live someplace really hot.

It's like Ford, Chevy, Toyota, Honda-- buy a simple and cheap car or truck without the bells and whistles, and it probably will never break (unless it's a Chrysler or Hyundai/Kia- they're just POSs.) . It's all the add-ons that break- the touch screens, power seats, blind spot monitors, etc. All the manufacturers have the basics down pat so stick to the basics and you'll be fine. I firmly believe it's the same with HVAC, or anything mechanical.

Just like with cars where they make hybrid and turbocharged ones for the gadget-lover crowd, they make the high efficiency equipment for people who like to think they're making an investment in something really great- but in reality there's no more comfort to be gained for all the extra money spent. And only the lucky ones will, after many years, realize a net cost savings-- the rest will see it eaten up by increased repair bills.

rhw1

Great explanation. Thanks!