Hello, from Florida here! Just bought a place a few months ago, haven't moved in yet due to other issues (don't even ask!), but have been there daily working inside and outside the house. Trane system installed in 2016 (model no's at end of post) and supposedly no problems, til now. Was working seemingly fine, cooling and heating. Last time used was heat on and off for about a week during the bit of cold snap we had, and then the system was totally off for a few days. This past week I went to turn on the cooling, and the fan was running but cold air not blowing, just room temperature air. Condenser outside not running at all, and the air handler throwing error lights. Called the company that installed the system for the original owners, guy tells me there's zero R410 left in the system, and performs a leak check, telling me it's the evap coils in the air handler leaking. He did not leak test inside the condenser. While he seemed very confident, I thought it best to get a second opinion.
Second company with two guys comes today. I don't tell them about guy #1. First, they kind of groan when they see the air handler. Their company used to be an authorized dealer but they said they had too many problems with Trane and decided to stop installing them. They figure out there's no R410A/pressure as well, and they ask if I want to pay $XXX and they'll do a leak detection, put a pound of nitrogen/refrigerant in the system to test, yadda yadda. As much as I wanted to pay the base service call fee and just agree that guy #1 was right (who didn't charge extra for the leak test), I said okay, might as well be sure. Well, they say there's absolutely NO leak at the evap coils, but there IS a leak in the condenser coil. They cringe and tell me that the condenser coil failing is a pretty rare thing, and a very expensive fix labor wise (I am covered with part warranty through Trane through 2026). They also say they're 100% sure that's my problem, even after I come clean and tell them about guy #1. They asked if the guy kind of made a beeline to the evap coils and acted like he knew it was that before he even did the test, and I agreed that he kinda did. They said they got zero leak readings off the evap coils (I watched them hold the sensor up to them and it read 0 ppm everywhere they put it) and that there's no way it's those (but agreed they do often go bad and I should consider that will probably be a future issue). I already know the cost to change out the evap coils, and it's pretty steep as well. I asked them the price range of a brand new, non-Trane system which they told me, and they offer a 10 yr parts and 10 yr labor warranty on their systems. I actually have a Daikin in my current home that they installed about 5-6 years ago that's been going strong, with the same warranty.
While buying a brand new system for a house that I just bought with all sorts of other problems is the last thing I really want to do, it seems like it *may* be the smarter choice here, instead of throwing money at this thing which may or may not last another 5 years without another major hiccup. Honestly when I bought this place I thought, okay, older home but the HVAC is only 5 years old and I think Trane is supposed to be a good/expensive brand! So I'm set for a while! Whoops. And reading some stuff online about Trane's decline in recent years has me worried, but isn't everything not being made as well these days?
What do you think? Am I stupid for considering a new system at possibly ~3x the cost of fixing this one? Or is that the way to go at this point? I realize I *could* go another 5 years without having another major problem, but with my luck... I'm not sure I should risk it? Also, I'm pretty upset that I have two companies diagnosing this as two totally different issues, it really doesn't instill much faith when I really do want to trust the professionals (and don't have a choice!). Thanks for reading and for your opinions!
TL;DR: Condenser coil leaking, no R410A left, expensive fix. Bite the bullet and fix and hope for the best, or consider putting in a brand new system?
Condenser Model# 4TWR7036B1000
AH Model# TAM7A0C36H31EAA
Second company with two guys comes today. I don't tell them about guy #1. First, they kind of groan when they see the air handler. Their company used to be an authorized dealer but they said they had too many problems with Trane and decided to stop installing them. They figure out there's no R410A/pressure as well, and they ask if I want to pay $XXX and they'll do a leak detection, put a pound of nitrogen/refrigerant in the system to test, yadda yadda. As much as I wanted to pay the base service call fee and just agree that guy #1 was right (who didn't charge extra for the leak test), I said okay, might as well be sure. Well, they say there's absolutely NO leak at the evap coils, but there IS a leak in the condenser coil. They cringe and tell me that the condenser coil failing is a pretty rare thing, and a very expensive fix labor wise (I am covered with part warranty through Trane through 2026). They also say they're 100% sure that's my problem, even after I come clean and tell them about guy #1. They asked if the guy kind of made a beeline to the evap coils and acted like he knew it was that before he even did the test, and I agreed that he kinda did. They said they got zero leak readings off the evap coils (I watched them hold the sensor up to them and it read 0 ppm everywhere they put it) and that there's no way it's those (but agreed they do often go bad and I should consider that will probably be a future issue). I already know the cost to change out the evap coils, and it's pretty steep as well. I asked them the price range of a brand new, non-Trane system which they told me, and they offer a 10 yr parts and 10 yr labor warranty on their systems. I actually have a Daikin in my current home that they installed about 5-6 years ago that's been going strong, with the same warranty.
While buying a brand new system for a house that I just bought with all sorts of other problems is the last thing I really want to do, it seems like it *may* be the smarter choice here, instead of throwing money at this thing which may or may not last another 5 years without another major hiccup. Honestly when I bought this place I thought, okay, older home but the HVAC is only 5 years old and I think Trane is supposed to be a good/expensive brand! So I'm set for a while! Whoops. And reading some stuff online about Trane's decline in recent years has me worried, but isn't everything not being made as well these days?
What do you think? Am I stupid for considering a new system at possibly ~3x the cost of fixing this one? Or is that the way to go at this point? I realize I *could* go another 5 years without having another major problem, but with my luck... I'm not sure I should risk it? Also, I'm pretty upset that I have two companies diagnosing this as two totally different issues, it really doesn't instill much faith when I really do want to trust the professionals (and don't have a choice!). Thanks for reading and for your opinions!
TL;DR: Condenser coil leaking, no R410A left, expensive fix. Bite the bullet and fix and hope for the best, or consider putting in a brand new system?
Condenser Model# 4TWR7036B1000
AH Model# TAM7A0C36H31EAA
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/2227074-Condenser-coil-leak-Fix-or-buy-a-new-system!?goto=newpost
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