Yep, he’s awesome, but there were plenty of scammers back in the day too. I grew up in the Paleolithic Era, and a lot of the spears and clubs they sold back then were total shite.
Neighbor just had his run capacitor go out. HVAC guy charged him hundreds. Wish he had talked to me. Anyway, it prompted me to go ahead and order my dual run cap and change it out ahead of time (10 years old unit). Cost: $30. I did check the dual capacitance levels on the old part with my fluke meter (measures capacitance). The measurement was within tolerance on the first half, the other capacitance half was already half value. Probably would have failed soon, as my house was built within a year of my neighbors and we have the same model A/C unit. Special note: My dual capacitor markings were deteriorated and I was unable to read the values on the metal can. I found out you can get the run capacitor values directly off the actual compressor pump and exhaust fan. I used a flashlight to see down the center of the a/c unit to read the compressor uF value. The exhaust fan motor was easy to read at the top of the a/c unit.
This advice is spot on! I was quoted $750 to replace my Capacitor. I researched the repair process, located the part locally for $49 and replaced it myself investing 3 hours of my own time.
when they charged my dad 450.00 I told that kid you know an ac capicator costs 12.00 on amazon he said well there is 2 of us today and we have to pay for insurance and trucks etc. I said... fine --- charge 250. and do 10 a day 2500.00 a day. my dad was like I don't want to wait a week to have AC --- fix it!! they have brand new vans and probably 6 trucks... I guess always look for a ac company with an old van...
I am also an AC contractor in Florida. I've come behind DIY homeowners after cleaning their coils where they have used a high pressure nozzle and bent the aluminum fins. I would not recommend a homeowner cleaning their own coils. It could potentially cost then far more than they save.
@@jellen7332 So true! I had an HVAC company that used to be an honest mom-n-pop place always do my HVAC work. Unfortunately they were bought by a larger company which I only found out about because of their name change. Our AC went out the other night, they came out and quoted me almost $500 for capacitor replacement! I told them to tell the new owners to go f**k themselves. We suffered with no AC that night, but the next day I learned how to do it on RUclips, and replaced the capacitor for under $50.
My last a/c lasted 29 years and was working fine when I decided to replace it along with the furnace. The only repair I ever made to the a/c was to replace the capacitor two times at less than $20 each time. Thanks for all of your excellent videos.
You're a good man bro Not many service techs giving out small easy tips to homeowners. Doesn't cost anything to be nice and I guarantee they'll be calling you when it really matters. Keep it going bud.
The reality is there is PLENTY of people in my area that have no desire to do hvac repairs themselves and they call me. But I’m happy it helps the folks that do want to tackle it themselves :)
Man, this man is AC God. Got quoted 10K from a "reputable" large company in town to replace a 2 ton air con/furnace. Had a friend come over, put in 1 lb Puron, cleaned evaporator coil.. it's back to work like new, temp set 75F and supply air's temp 57F....$300 cost. Now I don't trust a big AC company, driving around town in large van, wearing white lab coat and carrying a tablet to write quote....Find some one-man contractor that you trust and stick with him.
My neighbor just paid "Right Now Heating and Air" (they have these cute little vans that run around) $31,000 for an 80% efficient furnace + a 13 SEER AC, and they got a "free water heater" 🙃
@@troy3456789 I got my 4 ton 16 SEER online 12 years ago for less than 3k. Friend helped install it. Still blowing low 50's from vent in 100+ Texas air. (it IS a blessing to have a good friend who retired from HVAC.) Oh well, I hope your neighbor is a Californian. They can afford it.
If he added refrigerant, you have a leak. That old handyman knows there's a leak, and it's more profitable for him to come back next summer and do the same thing. Charge you for time and the refrigerant, and I guarantee you it is R22, which is liquid gold for hacks like him. And here you are thinking you saved money lol.
HVAC contractors sadly almost all charge obscene amounts often working out to $300 or more per hour to do really simple things. They try to protect their obscene rates but videos like these help inform customers to reality.
I keep one of each of these spare parts on hand for those just-in-case moments: 1. outside unit cap 2. inside blower cap 3. outdoor unit contactor 4. hot surface ignitor
@@TimDyb I do this every 2 or 3 years. $12 is cheap insurance especially when you spread it over 3 years! Contactor is $15 on Amazon so I keep a spare for my house and my rental house as well as a replacement jumper wire for the cap to contactor wire. Ants love contactors and their presence will cause resistance in the connections and eventually one of the wire terminals will corrode and stop making contact. I had a contractor quote me $316 to come change an 8 inch jumper wire. Which, by the way, I did myself in about 10 minutes start to finish.
You left out #5. A second hot surface igniter for when you break your first one. Lol you rookie. All good things for a capable diy’r. If you don’t understand electricity, just don’t.
Keep doing what you do , integrity is everything . We have just been quoted $31000 for a new system in a 1600sq ft ranch style home . I asked if they were quoting for the right house . It was the best verbal laxative I've every had . All the best 👍
Dave. You are a really trustworthy, honest, real HVAC Mechanic. Who is well knowledgeable about your profession. I wished we had people like you in my area. But unfortunately there are not too many like you. I loved your videos. Keep them coming. God bless you and your beautiful family.
He’s solid but do your research. He should never recommended installing a thick media filter like that without first making sure there won’t be added static pressure. The fact that he doesn’t address this makes me know that he still has a lot to learn about this industry. A filter like that, can greatly increase static pressure which would then add a ton of stress onto the fan motors as well as the compressor, shortening the life of the unit significantly. Return and supply duct sizing needs to be adjusted in order to add a filter like this. Most manufacturers recommend only using an Angel hair filter when installing on an existing ductwork.
I love your honesty. I’ve seen companies that tried to rip me and other off! I made a friend that works on HVAC and the 1st thing he taught me was how to check for a bad capacitor!
I moved to Florida, and after a week, the central air stopped working. I went outside and traced where the drain pipe was. I took a shop vac to it and while I'm vacuuming the AC turned on ! The gunk was blocking the flow. I canceled my appointment with an ac tech. You saved me 100s of dollars. Thank You 😊
I have to say you are a good man for giving out these little check list on what could or did go wrong with your A/C unit and it's really cool how you give a ballpark on what the Technician should be charging. As a Contractor myself, all I can say thank you for being a honest Tech and I wish the best for you, I did not think there were any honest guys left in the business, keep up the good work and thanks again.
I was planning on paying for a service call to clean my condenser coils, but after watching this video, I'll do it myself and save at least $100. Thanks.
I agree with many of the people who have commented. You can tell this guy is straight, honest, and provides extreme value to his viewers. I really appreciate what he does for us.
Same thing happened to me but he cut two wires to the system after I left him alone ! Saw it was ok prior to leaving him alone for 2-3 minutes snd came back and saw the wires cut. I was kind of dumbfounded at first thinking that I missed seeing that as I was talking to him about educating myself on.AC questions. He said oh you need a news system. I told him that I would have to talk to my wife about it. She called her cousins husband who came out later that day and said you don’t need a new system and repaired the two wires that he cut intentionally and cleaned out certain things. Didn’t wanna dime for it, but we gave him 100 bucks for histime. We were extremely grateful.
The capacitors are engineered to fail only when it's 100+ degrees, on a weekend, 1 hour before you are planning on having guests. They are so cheap I keep 2 in my garage just in case.
Love this dude , I’m a new homeowner , just found out , we have no filter in our at all , thanks for the location to find. AC not blowing cold now and hope the filter and cleaning will stop the loud sound when kicking on that sometimes is forever lol. You have taught me alot with your honesty and videos. Man do i owe you a drink 🥃
You are our hero. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and helping the rest of us. If you had a company in my area, I’d hire you in a heartbeat. Please keep up the great work!
I keep my A/C drain clear by pouring 1 cup of 50% Clorox and 50% water down the condensate drain or use 1 cup of vinegar. Also, check your capacitor for numbers and have a spare on hand. It cost me $250 to replace a $12 capacitor a few years ago, not again! This is a great video to watch.
My Trane system is 18 years old. I'm religious about filter changing, foam clean my condenser every year or two and keeping the evap drain clear. In that 18 years I've replaced the condenser capacitor and blower cap. (1 week apart, together less than $25). Last year I got an oil/refrigerant charge (evaporator freezing up), I paid my service guy $175. The bill was actually lower but I treat my HVAC guy good. He's lightning fast on service and has coached me over the phone when he was on vacation. Service like that, I want to reward and hang on to.
@@Trust_but_Verify I didn't need a pound. My tech had a prepackaged oil/freon charged canister. He measured the initial pressure and said it was still good but could accept a little more. I guess there's a range for pressure. I explained that the filter was new, I had every vent full open, but the evap coil was still freezing up. He added the oil/freon charge and bingo, the ice melted and the system was going great again. The canister came in a small box.
@@BlainsTubeI've been doing hvac for 5yrs and this sounds a bit odd. Refrigerant has oil in with it and if you have to add refrigerant you need a leak search to fix it if possible. Especially of its still under warranty so you can replace the coil before it's expensive.
@@Trust_but_Verify R22 is an old refrigerant that is rarely used in residential applications. The price of a 25lb bottle of R22 is crazy, so companies have to charge a lot (I will admit 250 per lb is still steep)
@@baronnucleus401 My AC system is 20 years old, If it leaks out again I will replace the system. I have 2 zones, I plan to just replace the one that leaked, if the other zone/system is still working then just wait till it breaks down? I'd had capacitors replaced before.
Great video! I have my first call of the season Tomorrow. I do service work for property managers with hundreds of doors. I asked the biggest one last year why he keeps sending me to look at AC problems when he has an HVAC guy. He said it’s because I troubleshoot and figure out what’s wrong instead of always wanting to replace the entire system. The HVAC guy is a good dude. He just doesn’t have the time to mess with life support on these units. Some of them are 20 and 30 years old and the furnaces have parts dated from the 70s on them. Time to get my mental checklist up and running.
I really appreciate everything you are sharing with the community. I once had an AC contractor come to my house, tell me that my internal AC coil needed to be cleaned. Because I trusted the guy I had him do it. He charged me $ 350. Several months later my AC system still was not cooling well and I had a different guy come out. He told me the same thing, had me watch as he sprayed the unit with a cleaner and then proceeded to really clean this coil. Needless to say, this well known contractor was never used again plus since the new guy showed me how to do it, I have cleaned my own coils myself. The total cost for the new guy with some extra Freon being added was around $ 100. It is best for the do-it-yourself people to do your own work. I certainly learned a huge lesson.
I am a SAHM with a nonstop traveling husband, live in the CA Central Valley (HOT) and my AC never went under 80 degrees. YOU SAVED ME! I followed many of your videos and completely fixed my issues. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Keep going!
GOT TAKEN 4 YEARS AGO JUST TO CHANGE A CAPACITOR 425.00 ON A 45.00 PART. STARTED LEARNING.. NOW I FIXED.. MY A/C S CONTACTS JUST CLEANED .. AND FIXED MY COMMERCIAL FRIDGE..THANK FOR Educating h vac guy😀
Thank you for this video! I just had my entire HVAC unit break-down, had a new one installed, so this video will help understand the essentials of keeping it at 100%!
I have been maintaining my AC units (3 & 4 Ton R-22) myself for the past 20 years. I had an AC tech charge me $335 to replace the capacitor, I later found that Amazon has the capacitor for $30 and they are easy to replace. I now keedp them stacked in my garage and replace them about every 2 years. I also check the the temperature difference on the filter drier as well. Thanks for the video !!!
Why bother replacing capacitor proactively? Just do it when it fails, my capacitor lasted 15 and 19 years. Amazon has next day delivery so no reason to "stock them", at most 1 is enough.
And I as well. My caps are $12 and contactors $15 on Amazon. I have my home and a rental house and I keep spares for both plus a 10ga jumper wire for the cap to contactor as ants love contactors. They nest on the contacts which builds resistance and eventually the wire ends will burn from excessive resistance or the contactor will burn out for the same reason. $27 is cheap insurance especially when spread over 2 or 3 years! And I change my filter every 45 days and vacuum my drain lines every spring. More cheap insurance.
That's Why I choose To do myself in Fixing everything that I can........ Like he said it depends on how much knowledge we have when talking to those Techs people...... You are A REAL Good guy 👍❤️👍
There are many, many people that are probably smart enough; but have reservations about touching any part of an AC system (other than the buttons on the thermostat)
@@troy3456789You are so right. The only reason I can and do is because I was raised very poor and we had to fix any and everything we could. We had no other choice. Paying someone was completely out of the question. It helped build my confidence and totally changed my life. I was fortunate to raise both my children to believe in themselves and believe they could accomplish most anything they put their mind to.
@@troy3456789 Fyi..... 8 years ago I installed Central Gas Heater and One year Later I installed a Complete System of A Condenser and Evaporator coil All by myself. But it took me a month of each Unit to Complete by working on my Spear time and Learning Process. Today, it's still working fine for all Units.👍👍
@@troy3456789 But my first Testing on the Central Gas Heater, I told my family everyone go Outside of the house While I Running the Test 😁👍😅 and it was Good 👍
A retired HVAC relative rescued us years ago with a quick capacitor replacement, showed me where it goes, and I went ahead and ordered up a spare for my parts shelf. Just had to use it this past Summer, and went right back and ordered another spare for next time...
Yeah, we had these guys come through and convince my wife that we needed a whole new $5k unit, I called some local guys that we trust and they came through and fixed whatever was wrong with it for $50 or something.
Thank you so much for all your videos, especially this one. You’re helping everyone watching to be informed and what’s expected for hvac repairs and particularly the costs. Knowing a homeowner’s basic maintenance can save thousands of dollars. Hope you can continue the videos, I’ll keep watching. Bless you.
Thank you for sharing. My air conditioner was not cooling. I was charged $250 to change my capacitor. Next day the air conditioner and thermostat would not turn on at all . I was charged $169 (not including pump) to have the condensation pump, replaced. Later that evening, when the air conditioner and thermostat would not turn on again, we discovered that we did not need a new pump replaced but that the pump was losing power due to a tripping outlet! Luckily, we were not charged for the third visit. (That outlet was wired to a GFIF outlet that had tripped). Beware of tripping outlets.
Installed a DIY split system 8 years ago. Love it. 1/2 the cost of traditional install. Cheaper to run (not a lot cheaper) and more comfortable. Preparing to install more units in the rest of the house. Excellent control for nearly every room. Not having ducts in the 150F attic space that leak allows for better insulation. Not having a bunch of vent grills for incoming and returns is great.
Thank You for sharing an honest review. As a homeowner it's good to know at least the basic. I live in South Florida I have learned you always have an extra Capititor on hand. Always my fail a holiday or weekend. They are super cheap on Amazon. . If you have a mini split I would advise ordering all new sensors and replace them every two years. I have a 18k btu 20.5 seer unit.in my tiny house. It was acting up had a ac company tell me it needed to be replaced they wanted 6k I done research learned there is a small led light on the power board count the blinks there is a chart on top inside lid. Turned out it was the pressure heat sensor that was bad. I decided to replace all sensors done a good coil clean inside and out. Guess what today was 90 inside temp was 72. Total cost with shipping was under 50 dollars. Best to have these sensors and Capititors on hand. It's scary we live in a world where so many homeowners don't know where the air filter at don't seem possible. Again thank you for a honest video to help others. I would say never hire a big company find a small family owned or a private person.
Sir Because of your knowledge and empowering honesty, when my AC went down. I checked and changed my capacitor, and located the a short in my low voltage thermostat wire. Bam ! it worked.. so I bought the nu calgom condenser cleaner took off fan and cleaned that really dirty coil. Bought condensate pan tablets.. finally need to teardown the evaporator box to clean that coil.but I can do it thanks to you..BTW some "friend "told me it would be a grand to just get it going. Cost me 100 bucks for 😢 I have plenty for next season..Amana ASX 4 ton unit. THANK YOU FOR SHARING ALL THE GREAT INFO SIR!! next job is a soft start micro air due to living in Houston TX hurricane season generators are a necessity.
Thank you so much for these tips! I am a single mom of 3 and a recent college grad (between school and a "real" job) and looking to save money on my unit that went down recently. What can I do if I see ice built up? How long does it take to fully thatlw out once shutting the system off and to fan only? What other issues can cause ice to build up? Thanks for helping me thus far!
Thank you for your efforts. It will pay you dividends later. No need to gouge anyone there is plenty of work to go around. The problem is most large hvac companies use the techs as salesmen (with commission) giving the incentive to replace rather than repair . I would suggest getting at least 3 quotes.
Gosh, your the best so far on You Tube! Straight forward and knowledgeable. I have a an electric furnace, and heat pump. It sits near other heat pumps. I've noticed leaves inside the bottom coils. I cannot get to the heat pump to vacuum it out. So am having someone come to do that. Truthfully, am just scared with so many crooks out there who claim to be HVAC "professionals." I called a service company that has been around for 50 yrs. But they are also trying to hire new people and you know today, people don't want to really work and learn trade. So this scares me. Scammers are everywhere! I was looking at one of their yearly maintenance plans $200.00. But first they said someone has to come out and inspect my furnace and heat pump to see if it is okay. If it's not, and I still want to the maintenance, up front $130.00 plus $70.00 if it needs a part to return the next day or week, and then $200.00 for the rest of the year. I think am getting ripped off what do you guys think? My furnace is 9 yrs old and it's electric. I've seen heat pumps in my community that are rusted and still run (top of fan cage). Some of them are 34 yrs old and still running. Trane furnace and heat pumps seem to last longer. The heat pump next door to me, this winter, I saw massive amount of ice from inside the the metal cage on the coils. I told the owner and he said there is nothing wrong with it. I see a fire hazard myself. And too, had snow, and went out there myself and dug out the snow from around my heat pump. I want nothing blocking air! Anyway, if someone could answer my question I'd appreciate it.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I’ve doing my HVAC and I installed Easy Start on my R22 Condensing unit. I really appreciate sharing your experience.
I followed your directions, took top off my outside unit. I could not believe how filthy it was. Hard to believe it was getting any air flow. Great advice.
One video I would love to see you talk about is differences in efficiency between different types of systems. For example, let's say you need a new system, and you had a typical single-stage air conditioner. You would have the choice to choose the cheapest single-stage system, a system with a dual-stage compressor, or the newer variable speed compressors (I guess they can also be called inverter-compressors). I just had to make this choice recently, and went with a dual-stage Lennox split system with a dual-stage compressor and variable speed air handler. I wasn't sure how much I'd like it having never owned one, but I absolutely love the dual-stage over my last AC unit. I live in Southern Utah desert where the temps during the summer can frequently go above 100 degrees in the summer for maybe 3 or 4 months out of the year. The rest of the year is quite warm, but doesn't get that hot. What I have found is that 80% of the time, my A/C can run in stage 1 and keeps my house plenty cold (and I keep my thermostat at 69 degrees too). The other 20% of the time, it will kick into stage 2 when the house is not cooling down fast enough. Using some monitoring devices, I also discovered that when it runs in Stage 1, it uses almost half the power as it does when it kicks into Stage 2. This saves a lot on my power bill. I also like how when it runs in stage 1, rather than have a full-blast single-stage system running, it slows down the air handler fan and there is a constant, slow cool breeze throughout the house. I can't describe it in words, but the air feels cooler and more comfortable, perhaps because it removes more humidity as well and I hate humidity! I actually wanted to go with the variable-speed compressor at the time, but it was way expensive and the salesman warned me that replacing that compressor would be very expensive should it need it out of warranty, and he said he had not seen enough of them running long enough to know for sure if they are reliable yet. So for now, I am glad I did not go with that one, but in the future I would like to go with a variable-speed compressor if they are proven reliable. So what is your take on single-stage, dual-stage, and variable speed compressors? What is your experience with servicing them, and how well they have help up for your customers over time?
PSA even after the recent inflation you can still get higher quality capacitors for 12 to 20 dollars. The cheap ones are 10 dollars and dont last as long, so not only does it make sense to upgrade but also keep at least one spare on hand. Professionals will charge you hundreds to come out and replace the capacitor and usually they install one of the cheap models anyway.
Wish you were my HVAC man to call!!!You seem very honest and I'm glad to have found your page❤😊You explain things very well and very helpful!! Thank for helping us with what to to!!
Appreciate the info. The last two tips are really great. It'll help homeowners save a lot of money. If nothing else, it'll keep the repair reasonable when homeowners know the cost of the parts.
Thank You! Integrity is one of the true measurements of a good human being. I am a DIY'er - and while not fearless... Armed with the right knowledge and a couple of inexpensive tools, I can do it with confidence. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome Job!!! I learned about the capacitor last year after paying the HVAC company. I watched him replace it and decided I will never pay someone to do that again. 😄
You just covered about 70% of HVAC calls. This is doable for anyone with a technical mindset. With some gauges, temperature probe, freon and an EPA test you can also check the charge and charge with superheat and subcooling. Changing condenser fan, blower fan, blower capacitor, gas valve, flame sensor, igniter and other parts is also doable. I would leave system change outs, TXV replacements, brazing the lines and some others to the pros.
Yes but if you are Determined! You can do the whole job.. up to and including the complete installation.. Silver soldering is so easy just use metal sheets for fire protection and follow this guy for soldering as well.. All the rest is grunt work!! Crawl spaces and Attics!!
One thing that I've noticed with the HVAC community is many of them like to take advantage of the elderly. It's truly disturbing how some people can sleep at night after being a scammer all day.
Love the simple explanations coupled with in depth details I have an old rv with an old ac unit and everytime I have tried to look up anything on learning how to fix an ac its always ads for professionals or schools and I'm unable to afford those and I need it fixed quick so I never fixed it and got a window ac, with this guys videos makes me want to learn about it again.. thanks for the vids brother 👍
Nearly 90% of 'no cooling' calls in Louisiana are from failed capacitors. I keep a new one on hand. I need to check to see if I have a spare one for the fan inside the air handler, where I changed the motor and capacitor about 4 years ago.
I was well on my way to a 1K or more bill on my furnace due to soot on a flame sensor. I called the areas largest HVAC company and the parts changer replaced the control board and would have changed the gas valve if he was talented enough to get the old one off. $1 got smart and called the company that installed it in a new home and had done well with a warranty issue his partner failed to fix twice. $10 part and the guy was honest and had me up in running in five minutes. I went a month living with space heaters, fortunately I live in the south. This is even easier to replace than a capacitor. Have both in stock now...
Thank you. You are going to get more business for the real techs. Yes, our industry is worse than used car salesmen, but we know how to properly do things. Like washing the outdoor coils, I have seen to many homeowners damage the fins. As for electrical work... 😅 Another homeowner problem is that they will strip screws, although techs are just as bad. In a future video, you might say that depending on where you live. In my neck of the wood (desert), one should change their filter monthly. Otherwise, it's not a bad video, very informative.
I wish your company was in the houston area. I don’t suppose you would know an honest AC guy over here, do you? I did service most of my working career and I learned to repair a lot of things around the house and on our cars. I will say that if you find a good honest auto mechanic or carpenter or AC guy hang onto them like grim death. I am in my senior years and am not physically able to do my own repairs. Thank you sir for your tips. God Bless!
Wish I had watched this before cleaning my condenser as I did not consider the importance of shutting off the disconnect before cleaning and somehow shorted out the condenser where straight down rain water never did. I would even now give the unit 30 minutes to air dry before reconnecting the power after cleaning. Good advice.
Thanks for sharing all of these tips. My husband is an electrical engineer, so he should be really helpful with this stuff after learning how from the video. Wish we would have known that about the capacitor sooner. The a/c broke on Friday afternoon in a small town, so no one could come out until Monday to fix it. It was also one of the hottest weekends of that summer. Over 100 degrees each day. Also a tourist town, so hotel rooms are pricey and scarce during the summer.
I love FilterBuy, I got a geothermal system and many companies sell two-piece filters that are taped together since mine requires a 30”x36x2” filter but FilterBuy sells one piece filters.
Dave; you are the BEST!!! I think you should put together a video series on hvac maintenance. How to install certain hvac parts and components. And a trouble shooting series. I would $ay for something like that to have as a stand alone at my home. Just my 2 cents. Keep doing what you are doing. I love your channel.
Man you are from a bygone era. integrity and honesty.
No doubt. God Bless him.
Well said and I agree 100%!
God bless you for helping us
He’s the best. And honest !
Yep, he’s awesome, but there were plenty of scammers back in the day too. I grew up in the Paleolithic Era, and a lot of the spears and clubs they sold back then were total shite.
Neighbor just had his run capacitor go out. HVAC guy charged him hundreds. Wish he had talked to me. Anyway, it prompted me to go ahead and order my dual run cap and change it out ahead of time (10 years old unit). Cost: $30. I did check the dual capacitance levels on the old part with my fluke meter (measures capacitance). The measurement was within tolerance on the first half, the other capacitance half was already half value. Probably would have failed soon, as my house was built within a year of my neighbors and we have the same model A/C unit.
Special note: My dual capacitor markings were deteriorated and I was unable to read the values on the metal can. I found out you can get the run capacitor values directly off the actual compressor pump and exhaust fan. I used a flashlight to see down the center of the a/c unit to read the compressor uF value. The exhaust fan motor was easy to read at the top of the a/c unit.
This advice is spot on! I was quoted $750 to replace my Capacitor. I researched the repair process, located the part locally for $49 and replaced it myself investing 3 hours of my own time.
My cost like 14 dollars I think .
when they charged my dad 450.00 I told that kid you know an ac capicator costs 12.00 on amazon he said well there is 2 of us today and we have to pay for insurance and trucks etc. I said... fine --- charge 250. and do 10 a day 2500.00 a day. my dad was like I don't want to wait a week to have AC --- fix it!! they have brand new vans and probably 6 trucks... I guess always look for a ac company with an old van...
I am also an AC contractor in Florida. I've come behind DIY homeowners after cleaning their coils where they have used a high pressure nozzle and bent the aluminum fins. I would not recommend a homeowner cleaning their own coils. It could potentially cost then far more than they save.
My average price for replacing a Run Cap is 150 - 225 and I use AmRad capacitors, Made in America. Not the junk on Amazon made in China.
@@jellen7332 So true! I had an HVAC company that used to be an honest mom-n-pop place always do my HVAC work. Unfortunately they were bought by a larger company which I only found out about because of their name change. Our AC went out the other night, they came out and quoted me almost $500 for capacitor replacement! I told them to tell the new owners to go f**k themselves. We suffered with no AC that night, but the next day I learned how to do it on RUclips, and replaced the capacitor for under $50.
My last a/c lasted 29 years and was working fine when I decided to replace it along with the furnace. The only repair I ever made to the a/c was to replace the capacitor two times at less than $20 each time. Thanks for all of your excellent videos.
You're a good man bro
Not many service techs giving out small easy tips to homeowners.
Doesn't cost anything to be nice and I guarantee they'll be calling you when it really matters.
Keep it going bud.
The reality is there is PLENTY of people in my area that have no desire to do hvac repairs themselves and they call me. But I’m happy it helps the folks that do want to tackle it themselves :)
Man, this man is AC God. Got quoted 10K from a "reputable" large company in town to replace a 2 ton air con/furnace. Had a friend come over, put in 1 lb Puron, cleaned evaporator coil.. it's back to work like new, temp set 75F and supply air's temp 57F....$300 cost. Now I don't trust a big AC company, driving around town in large van, wearing white lab coat and carrying a tablet to write quote....Find some one-man contractor that you trust and stick with him.
My neighbor just paid "Right Now Heating and Air" (they have these cute little vans that run around) $31,000 for an 80% efficient furnace + a 13 SEER AC, and they got a "free water heater" 🙃
Did they also try to locate the source of the leak? It shouldn't be missing that refrigerant. At best Schrader cores, at worst an evap coil leak
@@troy3456789 I got my 4 ton 16 SEER online 12 years ago for less than 3k. Friend helped install it. Still blowing low 50's from vent in 100+ Texas air. (it IS a blessing to have a good friend who retired from HVAC.) Oh well, I hope your neighbor is a Californian.
They can afford it.
If he added refrigerant, you have a leak. That old handyman knows there's a leak, and it's more profitable for him to come back next summer and do the same thing. Charge you for time and the refrigerant, and I guarantee you it is R22, which is liquid gold for hacks like him.
And here you are thinking you saved money lol.
HVAC contractors sadly almost all charge obscene amounts often working out to $300 or more per hour to do really simple things. They try to protect their obscene rates but videos like these help inform customers to reality.
Been through all this myself. Listen to this mans advice he is being 100% honest and he is spot on with his advice.
I love Honest people. Thanks.
I keep one of each of these spare parts on hand for those just-in-case moments:
1. outside unit cap
2. inside blower cap
3. outdoor unit contactor
4. hot surface ignitor
Same with me. I'm even thinking of getting a spare motor.
I was proactive and replaced my capacitor. $12 on Amazon. Took 15 minutes to replace, start to finish. Had to unscrew many screws to get to it.
Spare 240v fuses for the disconnect
And 3amp fuses for the blower
@@TimDyb I do this every 2 or 3 years. $12 is cheap insurance especially when you spread it over 3 years! Contactor is $15 on Amazon so I keep a spare for my house and my rental house as well as a replacement jumper wire for the cap to contactor wire. Ants love contactors and their presence will cause resistance in the connections and eventually one of the wire terminals will corrode and stop making contact. I had a contractor quote me $316 to come change an 8 inch jumper wire. Which, by the way, I did myself in about 10 minutes start to finish.
You left out #5. A second hot surface igniter for when you break your first one. Lol you rookie.
All good things for a capable diy’r. If you don’t understand electricity, just don’t.
Keep doing what you do , integrity is everything . We have just been quoted $31000 for a new system in a 1600sq ft ranch style home . I asked if they were quoting for the right house . It was the best verbal laxative I've every had .
All the best 👍
Great comeback. It should have been 1/5 of that
Dave. You are a really trustworthy, honest, real HVAC Mechanic. Who is well knowledgeable about your profession. I wished we had people like you in my area. But unfortunately there are not too many like you. I loved your videos. Keep them coming. God bless you and your beautiful family.
Thank you so much. This means so much to me! Right back at you brother. Take care
@@diyhvacguy Great channel. I would like to see a video of what you would do and check yearly on a furnace/AC unit. Cleaning, inspecting, testing etc.
Amen.
He’s solid but do your research. He should never recommended installing a thick media filter like that without first making sure there won’t be added static pressure. The fact that he doesn’t address this makes me know that he still has a lot to learn about this industry. A filter like that, can greatly increase static pressure which would then add a ton of stress onto the fan motors as well as the compressor, shortening the life of the unit significantly. Return and supply duct sizing needs to be adjusted in order to add a filter like this. Most manufacturers recommend only using an Angel hair filter when installing on an existing ductwork.
DUDE YOU ARE A TRUE AMERICAN. YOU ARE WHAT AMERICA USE TO BE LIKE.
True. Everyone else got bitten by the corporate scam attitude.
I remember (early 70's) when K-Mart had tube testers and tubes for sale so you could fix your radio or tv.
I subbed just because you seem like a genuine descent person.
Thanks so much! 🙏🏻
I love your honesty. I’ve seen companies that tried to rip me and other off! I made a friend that works on HVAC and the 1st thing he taught me was how to check for a bad capacitor!
I moved to Florida, and after a week, the central air stopped working. I went outside and traced where the drain pipe was. I took a shop vac to it and while I'm vacuuming the AC turned on ! The gunk was blocking the flow. I canceled my appointment with an ac tech. You saved me 100s of dollars. Thank You 😊
I have to say you are a good man for giving out these little check list on what could or did go wrong with your A/C unit and it's really cool how you give a ballpark on what the Technician should be charging. As a Contractor myself, all I can say thank you for being a honest Tech and I wish the best for you, I did not think there were any honest guys left in the business, keep up the good work and thanks again.
I was planning on paying for a service call to clean my condenser coils, but after watching this video, I'll do it myself and save at least $100. Thanks.
I agree with many of the people who have commented. You can tell this guy is straight, honest, and provides extreme value to his viewers. I really appreciate what he does for us.
i've been quoted twice now that I needed a whole new AC unit, when it was only the capacitor. You are a good man!
Same thing happened to me but he cut two wires to the system after I left him alone ! Saw it was ok prior to leaving him alone for 2-3 minutes snd came back and saw the wires cut. I was kind of dumbfounded at first thinking that I missed seeing that as I was talking to him about educating myself on.AC questions. He said oh you need a news system. I told him that I would have to talk to my wife about it. She called her cousins husband who came out later that day and said you don’t need a new system and repaired the two wires that he cut intentionally and cleaned out certain things. Didn’t wanna dime for it, but we gave him 100 bucks for histime. We were extremely grateful.
The capacitors are engineered to fail only when it's 100+ degrees, on a weekend, 1 hour before you are planning on having guests. They are so cheap I keep 2 in my garage just in case.
Love this dude , I’m a new homeowner , just found out , we have no filter in our at all , thanks for the location to find. AC not blowing cold now and hope the filter and cleaning will stop the loud sound when kicking on that sometimes is forever lol.
You have taught me alot with your honesty and videos. Man do i owe you a drink 🥃
As soon as he said air filter first, I knew he was on the right track. GREAT VIDEO!
You are a great man. May GOD bless you and yours.
Amen!
You are our hero. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and helping the rest of us. If you had a company in my area, I’d hire you in a heartbeat. Please keep up the great work!
Thanks so much! 🙏🏻 that means a lot
Very informative. I just replaced my capacitor, cost me $22. Thanks to youtube HVAC videos. Your channel is helpful and easy to understand. 👍🏻
EXCELLENT PRESENTATION. I’m in HVAC myself. Being informed will help you as a consumer avoid people who want to fleece you. Keep on!
Watched a couple of your diagnostic videos and i want to THANK YOU for the work you do. You saved me a small fortune.
You deserve that nice trailer in back of your home. You're an honest businessman and the Lord is blessing you for that.
Amen!
I keep my A/C drain clear by pouring 1 cup of 50% Clorox and 50% water down the condensate drain or use 1 cup of vinegar. Also, check your capacitor for numbers and have a spare on hand. It cost me $250 to replace a $12 capacitor a few years ago, not again! This is a great video to watch.
My Trane system is 18 years old.
I'm religious about filter changing, foam clean my condenser every year or two and keeping the evap drain clear.
In that 18 years I've replaced the condenser capacitor and blower cap. (1 week apart, together less than $25). Last year I got an oil/refrigerant charge (evaporator freezing up), I paid my service guy $175. The bill was actually lower but I treat my HVAC guy good. He's lightning fast on service and has coached me over the phone when he was on vacation. Service like that, I want to reward and hang on to.
I was charged $250/lb R-22 for refill. How is yours so cheap?
@@Trust_but_Verify I didn't need a pound. My tech had a prepackaged oil/freon charged canister. He measured the initial pressure and said it was still good but could accept a little more. I guess there's a range for pressure. I explained that the filter was new, I had every vent full open, but the evap coil was still freezing up. He added the oil/freon charge and bingo, the ice melted and the system was going great again. The canister came in a small box.
@@BlainsTubeI've been doing hvac for 5yrs and this sounds a bit odd. Refrigerant has oil in with it and if you have to add refrigerant you need a leak search to fix it if possible. Especially of its still under warranty so you can replace the coil before it's expensive.
@@Trust_but_Verify R22 is an old refrigerant that is rarely used in residential applications. The price of a 25lb bottle of R22 is crazy, so companies have to charge a lot (I will admit 250 per lb is still steep)
@@baronnucleus401 My AC system is 20 years old, If it leaks out again I will replace the system. I have 2 zones, I plan to just replace the one that leaked, if the other zone/system is still working then just wait till it breaks down? I'd had capacitors replaced before.
Great video! I have my first call of the season Tomorrow. I do service work for property managers with hundreds of doors. I asked the biggest one last year why he keeps sending me to look at AC problems when he has an HVAC guy. He said it’s because I troubleshoot and figure out what’s wrong instead of always wanting to replace the entire system. The HVAC guy is a good dude. He just doesn’t have the time to mess with life support on these units. Some of them are 20 and 30 years old and the furnaces have parts dated from the 70s on them. Time to get my mental checklist up and running.
I really appreciate everything you are sharing with the community. I once had an AC contractor come to my house, tell me that my internal AC coil needed to be cleaned. Because I trusted the guy I had him do it. He charged me $ 350. Several months later my AC system still was not cooling well and I had a different guy come out. He told me the same thing, had me watch as he sprayed the unit with a cleaner and then proceeded to really clean this coil. Needless to say, this well known contractor was never used again plus since the new guy showed me how to do it, I have cleaned my own coils myself. The total cost for the new guy with some extra Freon being added was around $ 100. It is best for the do-it-yourself people to do your own work. I certainly learned a huge lesson.
I've recharged my whole house air unit with R134 freon for the past 20 years and it still works just fine.
Never heard of that.how's your pressure readings
lol@@daddygc5814
I use filter buy and love it. Cheaper than the box store or ac supplies. They are good filters too.
These videos are awesome and very helpful. Love these videos. Thank-you for being honest and helpful
I am a SAHM with a nonstop traveling husband, live in the CA Central Valley (HOT) and my AC never went under 80 degrees. YOU SAVED ME! I followed many of your videos and completely fixed my issues. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Keep going!
Thanks, bro! Top grade service information!
Caps are the biggest scam, ever. Thanks for educating the folks that don't know better
All good advice . I have replaced my contactor and capacitor 2or 3 times each . 31 year old unit .
GOT TAKEN 4 YEARS AGO JUST TO CHANGE A CAPACITOR 425.00 ON A 45.00 PART. STARTED LEARNING.. NOW I FIXED.. MY A/C S CONTACTS JUST CLEANED .. AND FIXED MY COMMERCIAL FRIDGE..THANK FOR Educating h vac guy😀
Thank you for this video! I just had my entire HVAC unit break-down, had a new one installed, so this video will help understand the essentials of keeping it at 100%!
Thank you sir honest people like you are so need right now with the way everything is so expensive. God bless you!
I have been maintaining my AC units (3 & 4 Ton R-22) myself for the past 20 years. I had an AC tech charge me $335 to replace the capacitor, I later found that Amazon has the capacitor for $30 and they are easy to replace. I now keedp them stacked in my garage and replace them about every 2 years. I also check the the temperature difference on the filter drier as well. Thanks for the video !!!
Why bother replacing capacitor proactively? Just do it when it fails, my capacitor lasted 15 and 19 years. Amazon has next day delivery so no reason to "stock them", at most 1 is enough.
And I as well. My caps are $12 and contactors $15 on Amazon. I have my home and a rental house and I keep spares for both plus a 10ga jumper wire for the cap to contactor as ants love contactors. They nest on the contacts which builds resistance and eventually the wire ends will burn from excessive resistance or the contactor will burn out for the same reason. $27 is cheap insurance especially when spread over 2 or 3 years! And I change my filter every 45 days and vacuum my drain lines every spring. More cheap insurance.
@@Watchyn_Yarwood Yep, I have spare contactors as well. The heat here in Houston is brutal on the capacitors.
Good on you. Most of my customers can't even remember to change their filters.
@@Trust_but_Verify Completely agree. I did 25 years of HVAC service and maybe encountered 2 or 3 service calls with bad run capacitors per year.
I wish all service techs were straight and honest as you are !!! Not many around today !!!!
God Bless You for helping many home owners !!! 🙏
That's Why I choose To do myself in Fixing everything that I can........ Like he said it depends on how much knowledge we have when talking to those Techs people...... You are A REAL Good guy 👍❤️👍
There are many, many people that are probably smart enough; but have reservations about touching any part of an AC system (other than the buttons on the thermostat)
@@troy3456789You are so right. The only reason I can and do is because I was raised very poor and we had to fix any and everything we could. We had no other choice. Paying someone was completely out of the question. It helped build my confidence and totally changed my life. I was fortunate to raise both my children to believe in themselves and believe they could accomplish most anything they put their mind to.
@@troy3456789 Fyi..... 8 years ago I installed Central Gas Heater and One year Later I installed a Complete System of A Condenser and Evaporator coil All by myself. But it took me a month of each Unit to Complete by working on my Spear time and Learning Process. Today, it's still working fine for all Units.👍👍
@@troy3456789 But my first Testing on the Central Gas Heater, I told my family everyone go Outside of the house While I Running the Test 😁👍😅 and it was Good 👍
May God bless you for your honesty! Every person should stick with an honest AC man, car mechanic and electrician, makes life better.
A retired HVAC relative rescued us years ago with a quick capacitor replacement, showed me where it goes, and I went ahead and ordered up a spare for my parts shelf. Just had to use it this past Summer, and went right back and ordered another spare for next time...
Yeah, we had these guys come through and convince my wife that we needed a whole new $5k unit, I called some local guys that we trust and they came through and fixed whatever was wrong with it for $50 or something.
Thank you so much for all your videos, especially this one. You’re helping everyone watching to be informed and what’s expected for hvac repairs and particularly the costs. Knowing a homeowner’s basic maintenance can save thousands of dollars. Hope you can continue the videos, I’ll keep watching. Bless you.
Thank you for sharing. My air conditioner was not cooling. I was charged $250 to change my capacitor. Next day the air conditioner and thermostat would not turn on at all . I was charged $169 (not including pump) to have the condensation pump, replaced. Later that evening, when the air conditioner and thermostat would not turn on again, we discovered that we did not need a new pump replaced but that the pump was losing power due to a tripping outlet! Luckily, we were not charged for the third visit. (That outlet was wired to a GFIF outlet that had tripped). Beware of tripping outlets.
Installed a DIY split system 8 years ago. Love it. 1/2 the cost of traditional install. Cheaper to run (not a lot cheaper) and more comfortable. Preparing to install more units in the rest of the house. Excellent control for nearly every room. Not having ducts in the 150F attic space that leak allows for better insulation. Not having a bunch of vent grills for incoming and returns is great.
Thank You for sharing an honest review. As a homeowner it's good to know at least the basic. I live in South Florida I have learned you always have an extra Capititor on hand. Always my fail a holiday or weekend. They are super cheap on Amazon. .
If you have a mini split I would advise ordering all new sensors and replace them every two years. I have a 18k btu 20.5 seer unit.in my tiny house. It was acting up had a ac company tell me it needed to be replaced they wanted 6k I done research learned there is a small led light on the power board count the blinks there is a chart on top inside lid. Turned out it was the pressure heat sensor that was bad. I decided to replace all sensors done a good coil clean inside and out. Guess what today was 90 inside temp was 72. Total cost with shipping was under 50 dollars. Best to have these sensors and Capititors on hand. It's scary we live in a world where so many homeowners don't know where the air filter at don't seem possible. Again thank you for a honest video to help others. I would say never hire a big company find a small family owned or a private person.
Sir Because of your knowledge and empowering honesty, when my AC went down. I checked and changed my capacitor, and located the a short in my low voltage thermostat wire.
Bam ! it worked.. so I bought the nu calgom condenser cleaner took off fan and cleaned that really dirty coil. Bought condensate pan tablets.. finally need to teardown the evaporator box to clean that coil.but I can do it thanks to you..BTW some "friend "told me it would be a grand to just get it going.
Cost me 100 bucks for 😢 I have plenty for next season..Amana ASX 4 ton unit. THANK YOU FOR SHARING ALL THE GREAT INFO SIR!! next job is a soft start micro air due to living in Houston TX hurricane season generators are a necessity.
Thank you so much for these tips! I am a single mom of 3 and a recent college grad (between school and a "real" job) and looking to save money on my unit that went down recently. What can I do if I see ice built up? How long does it take to fully thatlw out once shutting the system off and to fan only? What other issues can cause ice to build up? Thanks for helping me thus far!
Thank you for your efforts. It will pay you dividends later. No need to gouge anyone there is plenty of work to go around. The problem is most large hvac companies use the techs as salesmen (with commission) giving the incentive to replace rather than repair . I would suggest getting at least 3 quotes.
Gosh, your the best so far on You Tube! Straight forward and knowledgeable. I have a an electric furnace, and heat pump. It sits near other heat pumps. I've noticed leaves inside the bottom coils. I cannot get to the heat pump to vacuum it out. So am having someone come to do that. Truthfully, am just scared with so many crooks out there who claim to be HVAC "professionals." I called a service company that has been around for 50 yrs. But they are also trying to hire new people and you know today, people don't want to really work and learn trade. So this scares me. Scammers are everywhere! I was looking at one of their yearly maintenance plans $200.00. But first they said someone has to come out and inspect my furnace and heat pump to see if it is okay. If it's not, and I still want to the maintenance, up front $130.00 plus $70.00 if it needs a part to return the next day or week, and then $200.00 for the rest of the year. I think am getting ripped off what do you guys think? My furnace is 9 yrs old and it's electric. I've seen heat pumps in my community that are rusted and still run (top of fan cage). Some of them are 34 yrs old and still running. Trane furnace and heat pumps seem to last longer. The heat pump next door to me, this winter, I saw massive amount of ice from inside the the metal cage on the coils. I told the owner and he said there is nothing wrong with it. I see a fire hazard myself. And too, had snow, and went out there myself and dug out the snow from around my heat pump. I want nothing blocking air! Anyway, if someone could answer my question I'd appreciate it.
May you be blessed abundantly for your honesty and integrity. Please do stop what you do. And teach other Hvac techs to do the same.
Been watching several of your VLOGs and we appreciate showing home how to perform their own HVAC maintenance and repair.
The lord will bless this man! We need more honest professionals willing to help others . Thank you for this information!
Thank you, I want to send this to my son. He's having some issues, wish you were there to help him. Maybe the knowledge might help. Thanks again!!
Thank you very much. We need more honesty in the world and you are part of the solution.
You are a honest man I hope you prosper beyond belief.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I’ve doing my HVAC and I installed Easy Start on my R22 Condensing unit. I really appreciate sharing your experience.
Hopefully you're saving for a new unit. Lol
Thank you for advising laypeople on how not to get ripped off! In addition, this is why customers should be helicopters.
I followed your directions, took top off my outside unit. I could not believe how filthy it was. Hard to believe it was getting any air flow. Great advice.
I helped a guy do HVAC work one summer a few years back. I would say 50% of the calls we went on were capacitor replacements.
One video I would love to see you talk about is differences in efficiency between different types of systems. For example, let's say you need a new system, and you had a typical single-stage air conditioner. You would have the choice to choose the cheapest single-stage system, a system with a dual-stage compressor, or the newer variable speed compressors (I guess they can also be called inverter-compressors). I just had to make this choice recently, and went with a dual-stage Lennox split system with a dual-stage compressor and variable speed air handler. I wasn't sure how much I'd like it having never owned one, but I absolutely love the dual-stage over my last AC unit. I live in Southern Utah desert where the temps during the summer can frequently go above 100 degrees in the summer for maybe 3 or 4 months out of the year. The rest of the year is quite warm, but doesn't get that hot. What I have found is that 80% of the time, my A/C can run in stage 1 and keeps my house plenty cold (and I keep my thermostat at 69 degrees too). The other 20% of the time, it will kick into stage 2 when the house is not cooling down fast enough. Using some monitoring devices, I also discovered that when it runs in Stage 1, it uses almost half the power as it does when it kicks into Stage 2. This saves a lot on my power bill. I also like how when it runs in stage 1, rather than have a full-blast single-stage system running, it slows down the air handler fan and there is a constant, slow cool breeze throughout the house. I can't describe it in words, but the air feels cooler and more comfortable, perhaps because it removes more humidity as well and I hate humidity! I actually wanted to go with the variable-speed compressor at the time, but it was way expensive and the salesman warned me that replacing that compressor would be very expensive should it need it out of warranty, and he said he had not seen enough of them running long enough to know for sure if they are reliable yet. So for now, I am glad I did not go with that one, but in the future I would like to go with a variable-speed compressor if they are proven reliable. So what is your take on single-stage, dual-stage, and variable speed compressors? What is your experience with servicing them, and how well they have help up for your customers over time?
You are genius we need guys like you in lecturing us over the videos.i understand when you explain thanks a lot.
PSA even after the recent inflation you can still get higher quality capacitors for 12 to 20 dollars. The cheap ones are 10 dollars and dont last as long, so not only does it make sense to upgrade but also keep at least one spare on hand. Professionals will charge you hundreds to come out and replace the capacitor and usually they install one of the cheap models anyway.
Wish you were my HVAC man to call!!!You seem very honest and I'm glad to have found your page❤😊You explain things very well and very helpful!! Thank for helping us with what to to!!
Appreciate the info. The last two tips are really great. It'll help homeowners save a lot of money. If nothing else, it'll keep the repair reasonable when homeowners know the cost of the parts.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. So many in the industry are against you sharing your knowledge and helping the public keep contractors honest.
Thank You! Integrity is one of the true measurements of a good human being. I am a DIY'er - and while not fearless... Armed with the right knowledge and a couple of inexpensive tools, I can do it with confidence. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome Job!!! I learned about the capacitor last year after paying the HVAC company. I watched him replace it and decided I will never pay someone to do that again. 😄
Rock on brotha. Glad you learned something from it
You just covered about 70% of HVAC calls. This is doable for anyone with a technical mindset. With some gauges, temperature probe, freon and an EPA test you can also check the charge and charge with superheat and subcooling. Changing condenser fan, blower fan, blower capacitor, gas valve, flame sensor, igniter and other parts is also doable. I would leave system change outs, TXV replacements, brazing the lines and some others to the pros.
Yes but if you are Determined! You can do the whole job.. up to and including the complete installation.. Silver soldering is so easy just use metal sheets for fire protection and follow this guy for soldering as well.. All the rest is grunt work!! Crawl spaces and Attics!!
#5?? Evaporator coil cleaning. I agree with the other four. Starting to do these, thanks to you!
One thing that I've noticed with the HVAC community is many of them like to take advantage of the elderly. It's truly disturbing how some people can sleep at night after being a scammer all day.
Their AC won't operate in hell.
Love the simple explanations coupled with in depth details I have an old rv with an old ac unit and everytime I have tried to look up anything on learning how to fix an ac its always ads for professionals or schools and I'm unable to afford those and I need it fixed quick so I never fixed it and got a window ac, with this guys videos makes me want to learn about it again.. thanks for the vids brother 👍
Thanks for being an honest guy.
Thanks Eli. This is very helpful. Love your Caesars Sportsbook commercials with your brothers.
Nearly 90% of 'no cooling' calls in Louisiana are from failed capacitors. I keep a new one on hand. I need to check to see if I have a spare one for the fan inside the air handler, where I changed the motor and capacitor about 4 years ago.
Thank you sir! This video earned a new sub and will be checking your post regularly.
Thanks brotha!
Your a "Rock Star" May your cup over floweth!! From all of US who are trying to beat the man..Not be the Man..
I was well on my way to a 1K or more bill on my furnace due to soot on a flame sensor. I called the areas largest HVAC company and the parts changer replaced the control board and would have changed the gas valve if he was talented enough to get the old one off. $1 got smart and called the company that installed it in a new home and had done well with a warranty issue his partner failed to fix twice. $10 part and the guy was honest and had me up in running in five minutes. I went a month living with space heaters, fortunately I live in the south. This is even easier to replace than a capacitor. Have both in stock now...
Thank you. You are going to get more business for the real techs. Yes, our industry is worse than used car salesmen, but we know how to properly do things. Like washing the outdoor coils, I have seen to many homeowners damage the fins. As for electrical work... 😅 Another homeowner problem is that they will strip screws, although techs are just as bad. In a future video, you might say that depending on where you live. In my neck of the wood (desert), one should change their filter monthly. Otherwise, it's not a bad video, very informative.
Thanks brother for be honest ,it take you so far.
I wish your company was in the houston area. I don’t suppose you would know an honest AC guy over here, do you? I did service most of my working career and I learned to repair a lot of things around the house and on our cars. I will say that if you find a good honest auto mechanic or carpenter or AC guy hang onto them like grim death. I am in my senior years and am not physically able to do my own repairs. Thank you sir for your tips. God Bless!
May God bless this man for his heart!
Amen!
I am so thankful for your helpful tips. I am clueless and not trusting to ask for help knowing people are not honest.
😲 I am speechless about the Filterbuy pricing! Such an awesome recommendation. That's where I'm buying all of my filters from now on.
Make sure and use the link in the video description the next time you buy! Thanks so much! Cheers
Thank you HVAC Guy, I wish I had seen your awesome post long ago because I will be suffering from so much heat this summer.
Thanks dude! 17 bucks and I’m back in the cool!
Awesome
I use a lawn blower and a water hose to clean my condenser, worked great and even made it blow a lil colder.
I really enjoy how you deliver information step by step. Thank You.
Wish I had watched this before cleaning my condenser as I did not consider the importance of shutting off the disconnect before cleaning and somehow shorted out the condenser where straight down rain water never did. I would even now give the unit 30 minutes to air dry before reconnecting the power after cleaning. Good advice.
Thanks for sharing all of these tips. My husband is an electrical engineer, so he should be really helpful with this stuff after learning how from the video. Wish we would have known that about the capacitor sooner. The a/c broke on Friday afternoon in a small town, so no one could come out until Monday to fix it. It was also one of the hottest weekends of that summer. Over 100 degrees each day. Also a tourist town, so hotel rooms are pricey and scarce during the summer.
Your videos are always informative. Thank you for sharing your hvac expertise!
I love FilterBuy, I got a geothermal system and many companies sell two-piece filters that are taped together since mine requires a 30”x36x2” filter but FilterBuy sells one piece filters.
I like what you’re saying I’ve don’t his for a very long time and I’ve NEVER seen anyone use a flexible flue pipe on their furnace like you have.
Really? They’re very common here and waaaaay easier to install
@@diyhvacguy 🤷♂️ Might be a different code in my area.
Dave; you are the BEST!!! I think you should put together a video series on hvac maintenance. How to install certain hvac parts and components. And a trouble shooting series. I would $ay for something like that to have as a stand alone at my home. Just my 2 cents. Keep doing what you are doing. I love your channel.