@@HVACGUY I think Curtis really knows his crap. I try to learn a little by watching him. I went to a mechanic school when I was younger and the guy I got put with after I got out of the mechanic school was just like Curtis. Ken was his name and he was the real deal mechanic just like Curtis. Curtis reminds me of that guy. I enjoy watching Curtis work on ac units. And I think he is a hell of a HVAC GUY. If I had to call a service guy I could only he was who showed up.
I mean don’t be afraid to try and do the research so when you do talk to a professional you know generally what they’re doing. It’s always good to challenge yourself but when it comes to electrical or anything that you know cools or heats your home that’s a gamble in itself.
I'm not an HVAC tech, and i fix my own A/C unit. When i first bought my house, my electricity usage jumped drastically during the winter. 500-700kwh a day. I have an 22yr old Trane XE 1000. I finally realized the heat pump was not running and was using just the heat strips. checked the reversing valve, and it worked. Tracked down the wiring making sure everything was wired correctly. Finally figured out the thermostat was programmed wrong. the thermostat is 17 year old Honeywell, so previous owners must have had huge winter electricity bills. Yesterday, i was just watching TV and realized it was starting to get hot in the house. Ac is set to 75f and was 78f degrees in the house, while not uncommon on very hot days in Texas, it was only 95f outside. the outside unit was not running, checked the breaker, and it was tripped. reset the breaker, and the compressor came on, but the fan was not running. checked fan and spins freely and easily. pulled the capacitor to test even though it looked good, no bulging. The capacitor was completely dead, herm and the fan read zero mf. I keep spare capacitors, replaced it, and had AC up and running in under 15 mins.
Not really; I need to get myself an extra capacitor along with an igniter for the furnace. When I clean the condenser fins this fall, I'll note the numbers. I learned how to discharge the condenser from these videos.
@joeburner7120 calm down negative Nancy, you must be an hvac tech that didn't get my $300 to replace a $20 cap. While I enjoy watching and learning with these hvac videos, multiple RUclipsrs make it seem like all home owners are incompetent and can't fix their own stuff, or it's too complicated. Anyone with common sense and basic electrical/mechanical skill can fix these systems.
@@joeburner7120 Wow! You ought to consider running for Pres or VP you would fit right in with the current crop of turds who talk nothing but negativity, never mind the real issues! Might as well try fix it yourself as the "HVAC expert" is usually nothing but a parts changer or tell you need a whole new system!
@CraZyNOTRT that's good! That means u should never have to call anyone. If u do, please let them do their job. If u don't trust their work, request someone else
Boy today you can find info so quick. I learned things the hard way back in 70’s 80s. I would go to library and look up stuff and read about how to do things and dig into it.
Vary nice guy lot better situation than iv seen u in lately love how u advise him to hold on unit still good lot of companies use the call to sale a new unit u are a good honest tech appreciate it 👍
Cool old dude, I got to watch it, I ain't a spring chicken myself. He almost did it, Curtis to the rescue. When it comes to the wiring, you are the best. Good video
Any time I go wrenching on my truck in the driveway all the neighbor men gather around and offer their opinions on what I am doing. This video reminds me of that phenomenon. Dude! You messed it up! Go on inside now…😂😂
That owner sounds like the type of person who has saved a ton of money over the years fixing common problems. The last serviceman who diagnosed my air conditioner as having a bad capacitor wanted $120 for the capacitor alone. I now have the capacitor - purchased for less than $20 - on hand as well as an extra set of contacts. (I will wire them correctly if needed). I know my limits and when to call a serviceman.
LOL @ 3:29....I watched that a couple times and had to pause the video a third time to see that it was a pup background on your phone. First seen it, and was like "What the heck was that......A space bug?" lol. Great video BTW
Had my 30 year old R22 Goodman complete system replaced last year after it blew the circuit breaker instantly whenever reset. Cap was good as well as contactor. Checked the compressor and it it was shorted to ground. In 30 years I only replaced the cap three times and the contactor 3 times. Called friend of my son who was hvac guy and went with Goodman again. Wanted to make sure it was done right as my skills are limited.
And you will always get a Trane, Carrier or Lennox dealer say Goodman are junk. Every truck carries most parts to fix a Goodman but the other brands, 2 days or nation wide back order. Keep your Goodman.
this is why I'm glad I took hvac in high-school an went to trade school for it but I had to quit then I helped someone for last 14 years doing this an now I have my own certification an I can do my on place an not have to fork out lot of money for a company to fix my unit
I do white paper tape and a Sharpie to label wires, too. Sometimes replacement parts have different wire colors, so it's good to know what something was connected to and what it does. Having that on a wire makes reassembly easier for my part-time status.
At least the old fellow tried! The old saying you want something done right , do it your self but sometimes in dealing HVAC maybe not ! I think he just someone to talk to. Curtis you were very gracious to listen . It was hard to hear but you are working on loud equipment but it sounded like he wanted to help you replace his unit . We live on the Gulf Coast we had a 29 year old R22 Trane replaced before it blew at a bad time and we had the money . We had a 3 ton Bryant 14 seer with a Carrier air handler R 410 A and it was 11,000.00
I might have one better! There’s a fellow that lives near my shop which has a scrap yard of old furnaces, coils, heat pumps and condensers that get stripped down and hauled in for scrap once there’s enough to fill my dump trailer. The fellow called and wanted us to stop by and check out his furnace because he was having some issues.. he had been trying to fix it himself and couldn’t get it figured out. So we stopped and first thing we seen walking into the basement was a pile of random furnace parts sitting all over the floor. Asked him what the heck was going on and he actually tells me that he’s been snagging random parts out of all sorts of different old units in my scrap yard to attempt repairing it himself I was pretty speechless.. he had demolished his furnace by attempting to make random parts fit and turned out all that was even wrong with it was a broken stat wire, so there was no call coming from the tstat. 😅 Guy got a new furnace and I installed a camera over the scrap yard
2 weeks ago I went to a call where the diy guru of a customer rewired everything on the outdoor unit. He mixed high voltage with low voltage. He removed the capacitor. He destroyed his contactor, solonoid valve, IFCB, thermostat, fuses, and needed a new capacitor. The original problem was a rub out on the high limit switch. What would have been a $150 call turned into a $2666 call.
Afternoon Curtis, what is the little holder you use to keep your zip ties? I was going to set up a holder with 1/2 inch pvc, but if yours works better in my bag I would go that way. Also, I would like to see a video of you going over your bag loadout, if you ever have time. Thanks!
What’s a reasonable time frame an AC system should last? I have Daikin units that I installed in 2015 & so far they’ve done well with no major issues. The only thing I’ve really done is maintenance & the occasional capacitor which thanks to RUclips I’ve learned to test & replace on my own. Anything else I call my AC tech. Thanks for the content & your response.
Daikin compressors have a 12 year warranty on the part; I don't know how long is the labor and/or any extra parts! My new system uses R410A. But that should be available for a long time! EPA keeps switching refrigerants all the time! LOL
Remember always do the slap test. When walking up to any unit just slap across the unit it will help keep you alive, if the unit has shorted to the frame to prevent electrocution. If this unit had a short to frame you would have received am major shock.
Congratulations! You didn’t disrespect the home owner because he tried to fix it himself, also you didn’t chase him away like the anti diy guy. It’s apparent you are a honorable man! Also you don’t make disrespectful remarks about him hanging around, if I lived there I would call you, it’s a trying time with money tight. Hopefully you keep busy, thanks Mike
Intersting advice about holding off until the new refrigerant systems are readily avarilable. A friend who is a very seasoned project manager for both industrial and residential HVAC installs suggested I should think about buying new 410A systems to replace my aging 16 year old systems. I told him I was concerned about the availability/cost of R410A refrigerant in the future (like with R22 today) and he said it will not be a problem for the next 20 years. He said I should be more concerned about costs of buying/maintaining R454B and R32 systems. He works for a large company and they are stockpilinig a very large quantity of new R410A systems and equipment for that reason.
Most manufacturers will continue producing systems with R-410a refrigerant until midnight on December 31, 2024. After this date, it will be illegal to manufacture R-410a systems, and illegal to sell them after 2025. Due to this regulation, anticipate a price increase of 15-30% for systems compliant with the new standards.
Yea there will be a point where it will be illegal to service 410a systems just like r22 is now.. the refrigerant is not supposed to be added or used at all any longer even though theres people who have stockpiled the 22 its legally not to be used. So youll still have people selling it for the most they can seeing as its not being produced. But then youll start getting non virgin fluids like reclaim from other systems.. hell i still got 40lbs of it stashed back from the systems ive pumped down that were still good but getting replaced.. the stuffs still good but has oil in it and no telling how much.. not a big deal unless those systems have been serviced before and some tech added different stuff in it.. which happens.. ive seen techs use 410 on 22 systems just on the basis that it will turn the oil acidic and kill the unit prematurely getting them more work. Gotta watch em everytime.. and know a little about things but what ya gonna do either way. Proof is hard to have.. some people live off that way of life.,
I just fixed the A/C at the house I'm renting. The condenser fan kept cutting off. I decided to do some basic troubleshooting. When I took off the panel one thing immediately jumped out at me, well, two if you count the dead mouse. I noticed a rather new looking dual capacitor with two wires connected to it and a very old single capacitor with two wires connected to it. 🤔🤨 Odd. So I took a closer look at the dual capacitor and noticed that the two wires were connected to common and fan. Ah ha! Found it! I checked the capacitor with my multimeter and both sides tested fine. Then I took a look at the schematic on the back of the panel... Oh, Lord! The two wires connected to common and fan were the compressor capacitor wires and were wired backwards of the schematic. 🤦♂I then noticed that the two wires connected to the single cap went to the fan. Tested that cap and it read about 449uF, while being rated for 5 uF. I connected everything to the dual cap and what do you know? It worked! Whoda thunk it? I've been in this house for nearly a year and there is no telling how long it was wired incorrectly. I informed the landlord and suggested he get a tech out to verify that I didn't screw anything up and that there is no long term damage from the incorrect wiring. If you don't know what you're doing... Don't! Get someone who does.
Well... I've seen some amateur repairs on HVAC equipment on RUclips, and in my own personal experiences with cars and AV equipment. This wasn't that bad, actually. He goofed up the wiring (probably didn't pay attention to what went where before taking things apart - this is one of those instances where camera phones become an invaluable tool), but it certainly wasn't a total hack job, and he managed to not destroy anything in the process. The client was also looking towards the future, he understands his unit was old and might need replacement in the near future, and was already considering you for that job. Being that its still running comfortably within specs, I'm guessing he maintains it. As far as I could tell from the video, the coil looked pretty clean, and the inside wasn't chock full of debris like most of the units you service.
We didn't have phones with cameras back then but if no schematic was available, we drew a picture of the wiring on paper so we could rewire system correctly. It took a little more time but it helped a lot!
I was almost this guy yesterday. A low voltage friend of mine came over to help install a 240v receptacle for a Tesla. I am perfectly capable of doing everything but I didn't want to crawl around in the attic. My friend thought we could go sideways out of the panel which I initially asked him. He thought it would be easier to go up and down through the attic but once he got here he changed his mind. The job was going pretty easy so that's always a bad sign of impending doom. I knew we hooked it up correctly but the new GFCI breaker went boom. We double checked everything took the wires off and I checked for shorts to ground nothing made sense. He called an electrician friend and the guy looked at the wiring from pics said it was correct. We disconnect the receptacle still goes boom. This is #6 wire so some stiff nasty stuff. We disconnect the wires from the breaker put the breaker back in no boom. My buddy says the breaker looks like it's sitting more flush without the wires. We installed the wires with the breaker out of the panel the first time. We now installed the wires with the breaker in the panel. I have never seen this before. The wires were rocking the breaker just enough to have it trip the first time. Once we installed the wires with the breaker already installed we were good. Tesla charged fine at 30MPH vs 5MPH with 110V. So this is a learning lesson for me. Make sure the breaker is properly seated which should be obvious but those heavy gauge wires have their own ideas where they want to go. Partly in our defense this is a Homeline panel and lots of complaints about loose breakers. The door panel ends up holding them in tighter. Before I get any nasty Tesla comments I'm with you. This Tesla is not mine. It's on loan to us to mainly test the autodrive function. This car is afraid of puddles in autodrive mode. It's constantly beeping and warning while driving. Not really sure how anyone could like these things.
Hey Curtis, how are you feeling about that VETO OT LC at this point? I'm currently rolling with the MCT (your old bag) but I'm strongly considering that open-face bag.
In the words of the great ‘70’s philosopher Mr. Jeff Spicoli… “My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.”
You will never change an honest person like Curtis change his mind. If Curtis wanted to teach the man a lesson, he didn't. It's very unfortunate but now a days we rarely find honest folks like Curtis! Kudos.--
I'm just curious and read a lot. I understand most of what is happening in a system. I don't want to invest in all the equipment and materials I would need to service a system just to use them once, so I think it's better to have someone come who does it every day and be done with it.
This is why you hire a certified professional because when you mess up then it’s going to cost you more to fix what you messed and fix the original problem.
I hated having customers constantly wanting to talk while I was trying to work. I am just a semi retired auto tech, and you have much higher voltages (except hybrids & EV's) you have to be aware of for safety. You also have so many different motors to wire and that is a lot to keep up with, especially those motors with logic boards!
Car dealerships won't allow customers into their repair shops; my car mechanic who was recommended to me twentyfive years ago,allows customers to watch thru a big window. It works fine.
@@bobboscarato1313 That depends on the dealer's policies and mostly liability. I have had a few recalls lately that I had to go to the dealer for service, but since they know me and know my background they let me in the shop, but I just introduce myself to the tech (if I do not already know them) and then leave them to work.
Nice old Gent proud of his home. I quite liked his walkway. He's a smart man wanting to go with a metal roof and have few problems in his senior years. I suspect he'll reconsider when he learns the Roof and new AC will set him back almost $25K to $30K.
So, he miswired it? Oh well. I know to stay out of the refrigerant loop, but I was messing with circuits by age 4-5, so capacitors, contactors, and fans shouldn't be a problem.
Electricity? Yes, I can. Refrigerant? Nope, not trained or qualified. On my split system I've replaced evaporator fan motor, compressor start capacitor, and air handler blower motor. I was able to troubleshoot each problem successfully in part by learning from Curtis's verbal descriptions as he eliminates possible failure points with logic and measurements. WWCD?
Okay Curtis, please tell me that you gave him replacement options since he asked and you don’t know his current financial situation, spending habits or plans for the future. Also, if you did, please tell me that you actually inspected his ductwork before you told him that it was all fine and didn’t need to be replaced.
17:15 - What system would cost a lot more and require new duct work? I can't catch what the customer is saying. 17:48 - What do you use these two devices for? In many ways I'm like this customer. Always hanging around the tech guy, asking a lot of questions. Sometimes I feel I'm a pest, but I love to learn. I'm starting to do some maintenance on my own (replacing capacitors). I'm thinking about getting a EPA Section 608 certification. Anyway, I just discovered your videos and will be checking out your channel. (Subscribe... check)
I just replaced fan motor & capacitor, still don't work... i think a wire is wrong, now gonna cost me $400 for someone to pull a wire off & put where it belongs 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Is that good practice to zip tie the capacitor to the wire loom? Those caps can get really hot right? I would think you’d tack it to the chassis with a proper clamp.
Can also save a ton of money and time doing it yourself. Most hvac techs charge a ridiculous amount for what they do and they don’t always do it right either.
There's winners and losers in every team on every court. Those that have the gumption and want to learn how to do things right, be it homeowner or tech, tend to win in the end. Techs just get a lot more exposure, therefore more practice, but also more failure. It's a balancing act. DIY IS cheaper, though... until it isn't. 🙃
I've told a lot of people "If you don't know how to do something, pay someone who does." However, at what point do you move from DIY to competently-skilled? Is someone eager to learn and meticulous in understanding operational sequence, theory, and safety protocols far less skilled than the new trade-school graduate who slept through half their classes and doesn't really care? There's a lot of DIY hate in youtube comments. That really irritates people like me who want to learn how to do things properly from people like Curtis who know what they're doing, but show realistic "safe and affordable" vs. "factory perfect" repairs.
Ill help you out when knowing when to calla contractor. Check the breaker, if tripped, leace it tripped and go outside and remove the panel, see any burnt wires? Nope or smoke marks? Rodent chew marks? Insects in your contactor? Capacitor swollen? If none of the above, reset the breaker. If it trips again CALL A PROFESSIONAL.!. The hardest part of deali g with a d.i.y guy who's dug himself into a hole, is getting the shovel out of his hands!
It's not hate, it's mostly diy youtubers telling you how to do things incorrectly and saying we're all out to get you. If you don't understand how something works then figure it out, but you need the basic understanding of how electric and refrigeration works. Also need the tools, don't use a bunch of harbor freight tools. In my experience I see diy hvac more harm than good since all they did is watch a few videos. Hvac is more than a 30 minute video. It's years of experience.
I recently had mine stop working. I have been watching your videos for a few months out of interest and decided to do some checking. I have a good working knowledge of electrical and can handle that part of it with some guidance (aka RUclips). But I don't have equipment or sufficient knowledge of the refrigerant side. The capacitor on mine seemed low and the fan was not spinning freely, so I went to the supply house armed with pictures of my current items to get what I needed. The guy behind the counter helped me out and after $260 in parts I headed home. Got a new fan motor, capacitor and also decided to get a contactor since mine looked a bit worn. Not badly pitted but I didn't want to make a second trip for parts and that one is relatively cheap. I felt empowered to do some of this on my own after watching your videos and to hear how you spoke to the guy was a little disheartening. I never fault a homeowner for doing something themselves. Unless they do not understand their limits and can hurt themselves, I think it is fine. Most realize that I can do a better job at some of the things they attempt, and sometimes they call me in to fix it when they could not. But I would not have told them "you should have just called me". That is a bit insulting. Back to my recent issue: I ran into a bit of a hickup with the fan wiring. It had 4 wires where the original one had only 3. After some quick googling and not coming up with where the brown and white one should go, I messed up and put it on the fan terminal instead of the common. Causing the fan motor to run too slow. Ended up calling an hvac company who said they can have someone out in a couple hrs and it was $130 diagnostic charge. I explained what all I changed and asked him to check over my wiring. Even explained the 3 vs 4 wires. Stupid guy didn't listen and checked everything else. Even had lots of freon blow out when he tried to connect his gauges. He ran back like 15 feet with his hand over his mouth and nose while the huge cloud of my freon dissipated. Didnt say or do anything about that. Even when I asked. Perhaps its not a big deal, but I was annoyed. Anyway, he tried to tell me I bought the wrong motor and yada yada. At the very end when he was packing up, he looed at the capacitor and found my wire issue. So for moving the wire ended up charging me $234. I was pretty pissed off about that. I basically told him what to look at and he ignored it. Spent time messing with stuff he didn't need to. And could have been done in under 10 min and should only have charged me the min trip fee. After hearing what you found and the fact that you charged $200+ to the man.... I feel a bit at odds with this. Perhaps your min charge is in that range and if so, that is fine. But if you also played the "I touched a wire for you so now I am charging you for the work" game, that is not cool. I own my own business and I do realize that time is money, and also that knowledge is also of high value and comes at a cost. But something that takes less than a half hr and was a very very simple thing... should you not be reasonable with the fee? I certainly would not charge more than my normal trip fee in such a case. Interested in your reply.
Amazing how a lot of R-22 units last much more than 10 years. While R-410 units often go bad not long after 10 years. If this trend continues, I am afraid we'll be wasting a lot of money as we are forced to use A2L units.
Things were made to last in the old days. In the current times, we have planned obsolescence and disposable everything so the big companies can have more consistent and reliable revenue streams. 😊
I put my own furnace in but I have hvac guy suction and braze my conditioner lines and check system . Just no need to buy gauges and vacuum machine and of course the torch and silver solder.
You gave very bad advice when you told him to wait for a new unit. The R32 and R454b units will be 30% more. You should have told him to go ahead and buy a new unit.
So he just had it wired wrong.. well thats when the 200$ callout happens. He’s lucky he didnt blow out the fan motor or defrost board.. that said i thought it was bad practice to tap into a system unless it was crucial.. just on the belief that your introducing possible contamination in the system plus the loss of refrigerant when screwing into the high pressure side. Especially on r22 systems where you cant top it off anymore..
At least he was honest about what he did.
Outstanding video brother! Man, sometimes I feel like a detective going into these service calls. 😅
As a homeowner, I watch these videos to remind myself when I’m over my skill level. Thanks Curtis.
Happy to help!
@@HVACGUY I think Curtis really knows his crap. I try to learn a little by watching him. I went to a mechanic school when I was younger and the guy I got put with after I got out of the mechanic school was just like Curtis. Ken was his name and he was the real deal mechanic just like Curtis. Curtis reminds me of that guy. I enjoy watching Curtis work on ac units. And I think he is a hell of a HVAC GUY. If I had to call a service guy I could only he was who showed up.
I mean don’t be afraid to try and do the research so when you do talk to a professional you know generally what they’re doing. It’s always good to challenge yourself but when it comes to electrical or anything that you know cools or heats your home that’s a gamble in itself.
This man will never tell his wife he had the wires hooked up incorrectly 😂
You damn right he won’t and he’s going to tell her honey it’s ain’t got no gas in it that’s why it didn’t turn on but we’re good now.
@@E85_STIit ain’t got no gas in it, you reminded me of that movie Sling Blade 😂
I don't blame him. I'm not annihilating my dignity like that and forever getting ripped on about it.
I'm not an HVAC tech, and i fix my own A/C unit. When i first bought my house, my electricity usage jumped drastically during the winter. 500-700kwh a day. I have an 22yr old Trane XE 1000. I finally realized the heat pump was not running and was using just the heat strips. checked the reversing valve, and it worked. Tracked down the wiring making sure everything was wired correctly. Finally figured out the thermostat was programmed wrong. the thermostat is 17 year old Honeywell, so previous owners must have had huge winter electricity bills.
Yesterday, i was just watching TV and realized it was starting to get hot in the house. Ac is set to 75f and was 78f degrees in the house, while not uncommon on very hot days in Texas, it was only 95f outside. the outside unit was not running, checked the breaker, and it was tripped. reset the breaker, and the compressor came on, but the fan was not running. checked fan and spins freely and easily. pulled the capacitor to test even though it looked good, no bulging. The capacitor was completely dead, herm and the fan read zero mf. I keep spare capacitors, replaced it, and had AC up and running in under 15 mins.
Good for you. Who cares? You contributed nothing with your comments. You’re just patting yourself on the back .
Not really; I need to get myself an extra capacitor along with an igniter for the furnace. When I clean the condenser fins this fall, I'll note the numbers. I learned how to discharge the condenser from these videos.
@joeburner7120 calm down negative Nancy, you must be an hvac tech that didn't get my $300 to replace a $20 cap.
While I enjoy watching and learning with these hvac videos, multiple RUclipsrs make it seem like all home owners are incompetent and can't fix their own stuff, or it's too complicated. Anyone with common sense and basic electrical/mechanical skill can fix these systems.
@@joeburner7120 Wow! You ought to consider running for Pres or VP you would fit right in with the current crop of turds who talk nothing but negativity, never mind the real issues! Might as well try fix it yourself as the "HVAC expert" is usually nothing but a parts changer or tell you need a whole new system!
@CraZyNOTRT that's good! That means u should never have to call anyone. If u do, please let them do their job. If u don't trust their work, request someone else
Boy today you can find info so quick. I learned things the hard way back in 70’s 80s. I would go to library and look up stuff and read about how to do things and dig into it.
Replaced a motor in a 76 GMC using a Chiltons book, when I was a teen.
Customers like this drive me nuts! 😆🤣
Vary nice guy lot better situation than iv seen u in lately love how u advise him to hold on unit still good lot of companies use the call to sale a new unit u are a good honest tech appreciate it 👍
Cool old dude, I got to watch it, I ain't a spring chicken myself. He almost did it, Curtis to the rescue. When it comes to the wiring, you are the best. Good video
Thanks
Great job,Curtis!
Thanks!
Any time I go wrenching on my truck in the driveway all the neighbor men gather around and offer their opinions on what I am doing. This video reminds me of that phenomenon. Dude! You messed it up! Go on inside now…😂😂
That owner sounds like the type of person who has saved a ton of money over the years fixing common problems.
The last serviceman who diagnosed my air conditioner as having a bad capacitor wanted $120 for the capacitor alone.
I now have the capacitor - purchased for less than $20 - on hand as well as an extra set of contacts. (I will wire them correctly if needed).
I know my limits and when to call a serviceman.
A nice video Curtis, a happy and jovial customer for a change 👍 Au
LOL @ 3:29....I watched that a couple times and had to pause the video a third time to see that it was a pup background on your phone. First seen it, and was like "What the heck was that......A space bug?" lol.
Great video BTW
Had my 30 year old R22 Goodman complete system replaced last year after it blew the circuit breaker instantly whenever reset. Cap was good as well as contactor. Checked the compressor and it it was shorted to ground. In 30 years I only replaced the cap three times and the contactor 3 times. Called friend of my son who was hvac guy and went with Goodman again. Wanted to make sure it was done right as my skills are limited.
And you will always get a Trane, Carrier or Lennox dealer say Goodman are junk. Every truck carries most parts to fix a Goodman but the other brands, 2 days or nation wide back order. Keep your Goodman.
That customer was at least honest with the whole I tried to fix it myself thing…..
I do enjoy hearing the "yes "we" do replace units" 😉
Another great Save Curtis!
Nice work Curtis.
this is why I'm glad I took hvac in high-school an went to trade school for it but I had to quit then I helped someone for last 14 years doing this an now I have my own certification an I can do my on place an not have to fork out lot of money for a company to fix my unit
We want more pictures of the pupper dog.🤣🤣🤣🤣
We really enjoy your videos. Thank you 😊
Nothing more enjoyable than a homeowner that has tried to save only to spend more than they needed to. Nice clean up on the spaghetti Curtis.👍👍🇨🇦
Thanks 👍
I think the big key if you decide to fix it yourself is to take pictures.
I do white paper tape and a Sharpie to label wires, too. Sometimes replacement parts have different wire colors, so it's good to know what something was connected to and what it does. Having that on a wire makes reassembly easier for my part-time status.
Ive been working in stuff for over 20 years. And i still take pics
Yackity yak.. hahaha nice guy
At least the old fellow tried! The old saying you want something done right , do it your self but sometimes in dealing HVAC maybe not ! I think he just someone to talk to. Curtis you were very gracious to listen . It was hard to hear but you are working on loud equipment but it sounded like he wanted to help you replace his unit . We live on the Gulf Coast we had a 29 year old R22 Trane replaced before it blew at a bad time and we had the money . We had a 3 ton Bryant 14 seer with a Carrier air handler R 410 A and it was 11,000.00
I had a 3 ton system (all electric home); complete replacement (A/C) came to 25 thousand dollars! Got long term financing!
I might have one better!
There’s a fellow that lives near my shop which has a scrap yard of old furnaces, coils, heat pumps and condensers that get stripped down and hauled in for scrap once there’s enough to fill my dump trailer.
The fellow called and wanted us to stop by and check out his furnace because he was having some issues.. he had been trying to fix it himself and couldn’t get it figured out.
So we stopped and first thing we seen walking into the basement was a pile of random furnace parts sitting all over the floor.
Asked him what the heck was going on and he actually tells me that he’s been snagging random parts out of all sorts of different old units in my scrap yard to attempt repairing it himself
I was pretty speechless.. he had demolished his furnace by attempting to make random parts fit and turned out all that was even wrong with it was a broken stat wire, so there was no call coming from the tstat.
😅
Guy got a new furnace and I installed a camera over the scrap yard
I like that type of customer easy fix
2 weeks ago I went to a call where the diy guru of a customer rewired everything on the outdoor unit. He mixed high voltage with low voltage. He removed the capacitor. He destroyed his contactor, solonoid valve, IFCB, thermostat, fuses, and needed a new capacitor. The original problem was a rub out on the high limit switch. What would have been a $150 call turned into a $2666 call.
Nice, hopefully the moron learned his lesson.
Afternoon Curtis, what is the little holder you use to keep your zip ties? I was going to set up a holder with 1/2 inch pvc, but if yours works better in my bag I would go that way. Also, I would like to see a video of you going over your bag loadout, if you ever have time. Thanks!
That’s a zip tie holder another viewer sent me.
Ol Curtis stretched this job to comfort the owner...lol..
What’s a reasonable time frame an AC system should last? I have Daikin units that I installed in 2015 & so far they’ve done well with no major issues. The only thing I’ve really done is maintenance & the occasional capacitor which thanks to RUclips I’ve learned to test & replace on my own. Anything else I call my AC tech. Thanks for the content & your response.
Daikin compressors have a 12 year warranty on the part; I don't know how long is the labor and/or any extra parts! My new system uses R410A. But that should be available for a long time! EPA keeps switching refrigerants all the time! LOL
@@bobboscarato1313 Reminds me of that saying, we’re from the government & we’re here to help 😂
My guy used to say he was real busy try cleaning it real good and see if that takes care of it and if not he'd come by and it usually did.
Remember always do the slap test. When walking up to any unit just slap across the unit it will help keep you alive, if the unit has shorted to the frame to prevent electrocution. If this unit had a short to frame you would have received am major shock.
Congratulations! You didn’t disrespect the home owner because he tried to fix it himself, also you didn’t chase him away like the anti diy guy. It’s apparent you are a honorable man! Also you don’t make disrespectful remarks about him hanging around, if I lived there I would call you, it’s a trying time with money tight. Hopefully you keep busy, thanks Mike
Yeah even his YT channel name...."anti diy" is kinda telling.
Intersting advice about holding off until the new refrigerant systems are readily avarilable. A friend who is a very seasoned project manager for both industrial and residential HVAC installs suggested I should think about buying new 410A systems to replace my aging 16 year old systems. I told him I was concerned about the availability/cost of R410A refrigerant in the future (like with R22 today) and he said it will not be a problem for the next 20 years. He said I should be more concerned about costs of buying/maintaining R454B and R32 systems. He works for a large company and they are stockpilinig a very large quantity of new R410A systems and equipment for that reason.
Most manufacturers will continue producing systems with R-410a refrigerant until midnight on December 31, 2024. After this date, it will be illegal to manufacture R-410a systems, and illegal to sell them after 2025. Due to this regulation, anticipate a price increase of 15-30% for systems compliant with the new standards.
Yea there will be a point where it will be illegal to service 410a systems just like r22 is now.. the refrigerant is not supposed to be added or used at all any longer even though theres people who have stockpiled the 22 its legally not to be used. So youll still have people selling it for the most they can seeing as its not being produced. But then youll start getting non virgin fluids like reclaim from other systems.. hell i still got 40lbs of it stashed back from the systems ive pumped down that were still good but getting replaced.. the stuffs still good but has oil in it and no telling how much.. not a big deal unless those systems have been serviced before and some tech added different stuff in it.. which happens.. ive seen techs use 410 on 22 systems just on the basis that it will turn the oil acidic and kill the unit prematurely getting them more work. Gotta watch em everytime.. and know a little about things but what ya gonna do either way. Proof is hard to have.. some people live off that way of life.,
My wife ! I’ve heard that one before. I can’t blame anyone for trying.
I just fixed the A/C at the house I'm renting. The condenser fan kept cutting off. I decided to do some basic troubleshooting. When I took off the panel one thing immediately jumped out at me, well, two if you count the dead mouse. I noticed a rather new looking dual capacitor with two wires connected to it and a very old single capacitor with two wires connected to it. 🤔🤨 Odd. So I took a closer look at the dual capacitor and noticed that the two wires were connected to common and fan. Ah ha! Found it! I checked the capacitor with my multimeter and both sides tested fine. Then I took a look at the schematic on the back of the panel... Oh, Lord! The two wires connected to common and fan were the compressor capacitor wires and were wired backwards of the schematic. 🤦♂I then noticed that the two wires connected to the single cap went to the fan. Tested that cap and it read about 449uF, while being rated for 5 uF. I connected everything to the dual cap and what do you know? It worked! Whoda thunk it? I've been in this house for nearly a year and there is no telling how long it was wired incorrectly. I informed the landlord and suggested he get a tech out to verify that I didn't screw anything up and that there is no long term damage from the incorrect wiring. If you don't know what you're doing... Don't! Get someone who does.
Well... I've seen some amateur repairs on HVAC equipment on RUclips, and in my own personal experiences with cars and AV equipment. This wasn't that bad, actually. He goofed up the wiring (probably didn't pay attention to what went where before taking things apart - this is one of those instances where camera phones become an invaluable tool), but it certainly wasn't a total hack job, and he managed to not destroy anything in the process.
The client was also looking towards the future, he understands his unit was old and might need replacement in the near future, and was already considering you for that job. Being that its still running comfortably within specs, I'm guessing he maintains it. As far as I could tell from the video, the coil looked pretty clean, and the inside wasn't chock full of debris like most of the units you service.
We didn't have phones with cameras back then but if no schematic was available, we drew a picture of the wiring on paper so we could rewire system correctly. It took a little more time but it helped a lot!
probably got thrown by the new motor having more wires than the OEM one, that gets many folks :)
@@throttlebottle5906That’s exactly what happened, he got lost and wired it wrong. That’s why he needs to understand the diagram.
I was almost this guy yesterday. A low voltage friend of mine came over to help install a 240v receptacle for a Tesla. I am perfectly capable of doing everything but I didn't want to crawl around in the attic. My friend thought we could go sideways out of the panel which I initially asked him. He thought it would be easier to go up and down through the attic but once he got here he changed his mind. The job was going pretty easy so that's always a bad sign of impending doom. I knew we hooked it up correctly but the new GFCI breaker went boom. We double checked everything took the wires off and I checked for shorts to ground nothing made sense. He called an electrician friend and the guy looked at the wiring from pics said it was correct. We disconnect the receptacle still goes boom. This is #6 wire so some stiff nasty stuff. We disconnect the wires from the breaker put the breaker back in no boom. My buddy says the breaker looks like it's sitting more flush without the wires. We installed the wires with the breaker out of the panel the first time. We now installed the wires with the breaker in the panel. I have never seen this before. The wires were rocking the breaker just enough to have it trip the first time. Once we installed the wires with the breaker already installed we were good. Tesla charged fine at 30MPH vs 5MPH with 110V.
So this is a learning lesson for me. Make sure the breaker is properly seated which should be obvious but those heavy gauge wires have their own ideas where they want to go. Partly in our defense this is a Homeline panel and lots of complaints about loose breakers. The door panel ends up holding them in tighter.
Before I get any nasty Tesla comments I'm with you. This Tesla is not mine. It's on loan to us to mainly test the autodrive function. This car is afraid of puddles in autodrive mode. It's constantly beeping and warning while driving. Not really sure how anyone could like these things.
Go Dawgs!
Nice :)
Hey Curtis, how are you feeling about that VETO OT LC at this point?
I'm currently rolling with the MCT (your old bag) but I'm strongly considering that open-face bag.
Still like it
I enjoy trying to figure out what might be bad. After many situations I now know when to stop.
I smart person always knows when to quit! lol
That's why I take pictures before I disconnect any wire
In the words of the great ‘70’s philosopher Mr. Jeff Spicoli… “My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.”
You need to charge more $ for this man your underselling yourself and your experience your crazy for putting up with that shit for $200 I respect it
You will never change an honest person like Curtis change his mind. If Curtis wanted to teach the man a lesson, he didn't. It's very unfortunate but now a days we rarely find honest folks like Curtis! Kudos.--
Heck $200 ? If I tried it it would be $2000 and involve the fire and rescue team 😂
As long as you hook it back up the way it was hooked up in the beginning
Thanks for the video.Could say what he did wrong?
I think the home owner replaced the condenser fan motor and miswired it.
He had miswired the contactor, causing the condenser fan motor not to run.
@@HVACGUY Thanks for setting that straight.
I'm just curious and read a lot. I understand most of what is happening in a system. I don't want to invest in all the equipment and materials I would need to service a system just to use them once, so I think it's better to have someone come who does it every day and be done with it.
You are absolutely right; that's the way to do it!
This is why you hire a certified professional because when you mess up then it’s going to cost you more to fix what you messed and fix the original problem.
Man, that guy never dtopped talking. That would dtive me crazy. Good questions okay, but the rest is overkill!
I hated having customers constantly wanting to talk while I was trying to work. I am just a semi retired auto tech, and you have much higher voltages (except hybrids & EV's) you have to be aware of for safety. You also have so many different motors to wire and that is a lot to keep up with, especially those motors with logic boards!
Car dealerships won't allow customers into their repair shops; my car mechanic who was recommended to me twentyfive years ago,allows customers to watch thru a big window. It works fine.
@@bobboscarato1313 That depends on the dealer's policies and mostly liability. I have had a few recalls lately that I had to go to the dealer for service, but since they know me and know my background they let me in the shop, but I just introduce myself to the tech (if I do not already know them) and then leave them to work.
Parts cannon, fire away...
What is an excevator?
Hey Curtis, did you tell him its 1.5x for watching and 2x for helping? Won't that cap arc out on the cover when you put it on?
Customer working on own unit can b good or bad had customers vary knowledgeable and some thought they were knowledgeable
I’m literally on the toilet right now
Nice place. Much better than some df your recent videos.
Nice old Gent proud of his home. I quite liked his walkway. He's a smart man wanting to go with a metal roof and have few problems in his senior years.
I suspect he'll reconsider when he learns the Roof and new AC will set him back almost $25K to $30K.
That screw is going to fall out of that fan motor and definitely do some damage eventually. 😅 2:50
So, he miswired it? Oh well. I know to stay out of the refrigerant loop, but I was messing with circuits by age 4-5, so capacitors, contactors, and fans shouldn't be a problem.
Was he playing with circuits when he was young
Electricity? Yes, I can. Refrigerant? Nope, not trained or qualified. On my split system I've replaced evaporator fan motor, compressor start capacitor, and air handler blower motor. I was able to troubleshoot each problem successfully in part by learning from Curtis's verbal descriptions as he eliminates possible failure points with logic and measurements. WWCD?
@@raygunsforronnie847 Indeed! WWCD?
Can't hear due to fan blowing on the mic so I shut it off
Only problem with RUclips learning is it doesn't come with experience
I think he wanted a new unit, but GO DAWGS
Okay Curtis, please tell me that you gave him replacement options since he asked and you don’t know his current financial situation, spending habits or plans for the future. Also, if you did, please tell me that you actually inspected his ductwork before you told him that it was all fine and didn’t need to be replaced.
Sometimes the customer tries to change their own thermostat and still ends up paying us for a service call.
If we Didn’t Learn from our Mistakes, then GOD would have Competition. 🤔😬👍
Kaboom goes the parts
Guy was just a little too confident for his own good. Had he taken a few pictures he might have been fine.
Good job working with a helicopter hovering over you.
😂frfr,,hovering to ser how bad he messed up
Doing it myself
So he wired it back wrong, next time take a picture or number them with masking tape
17:15 - What system would cost a lot more and require new duct work? I can't catch what the customer is saying.
17:48 - What do you use these two devices for?
In many ways I'm like this customer. Always hanging around the tech guy, asking a lot of questions. Sometimes I feel I'm a pest, but I love to learn. I'm starting to do some maintenance on my own (replacing capacitors). I'm thinking about getting a EPA Section 608 certification. Anyway, I just discovered your videos and will be checking out your channel. (Subscribe... check)
Homeboy should've finished the course first before attempting to fix hos own system...lol
You never said what fixed it. You should have told us what you did.
The fan switched leg was on the wrong side of the contactor.
lol he said she is
I just replaced fan motor & capacitor, still don't work... i think a wire is wrong, now gonna cost me $400 for someone to pull a wire off & put where it belongs 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Is that good practice to zip tie the capacitor to the wire loom? Those caps can get really hot right? I would think you’d tack it to the chassis with a proper clamp.
Should’ve watched the whole video
Bro. Before typing your mouth, it's suggested you watch the entire video [dummy]! 😅
You could of wired it for it for 3 wires insulating brown/white
sorry sir but every time you open your yapper..its 20.00 more 🤣
Can also save a ton of money and time doing it yourself. Most hvac techs charge a ridiculous amount for what they do and they don’t always do it right either.
@@silvestregonzalezmendoza9201 There’s lots of those
There's winners and losers in every team on every court. Those that have the gumption and want to learn how to do things right, be it homeowner or tech, tend to win in the end. Techs just get a lot more exposure, therefore more practice, but also more failure.
It's a balancing act. DIY IS cheaper, though... until it isn't. 🙃
They have bills to pay too.
I was like gaddamn dude shutup! (Customer)
that unit will probably outlast a new one they are all garbage nowadays mine is 25 years old and still runs perfectly
Helicopters R US
I've told a lot of people "If you don't know how to do something, pay someone who does." However, at what point do you move from DIY to competently-skilled? Is someone eager to learn and meticulous in understanding operational sequence, theory, and safety protocols far less skilled than the new trade-school graduate who slept through half their classes and doesn't really care? There's a lot of DIY hate in youtube comments. That really irritates people like me who want to learn how to do things properly from people like Curtis who know what they're doing, but show realistic "safe and affordable" vs. "factory perfect" repairs.
Ill help you out when knowing when to calla contractor. Check the breaker, if tripped, leace it tripped and go outside and remove the panel, see any burnt wires? Nope or smoke marks? Rodent chew marks? Insects in your contactor? Capacitor swollen? If none of the above, reset the breaker. If it trips again CALL A PROFESSIONAL.!. The hardest part of deali g with a d.i.y guy who's dug himself into a hole, is getting the shovel out of his hands!
It's not hate, it's mostly diy youtubers telling you how to do things incorrectly and saying we're all out to get you. If you don't understand how something works then figure it out, but you need the basic understanding of how electric and refrigeration works. Also need the tools, don't use a bunch of harbor freight tools. In my experience I see diy hvac more harm than good since all they did is watch a few videos. Hvac is more than a 30 minute video. It's years of experience.
@@reddyfreddy Truer words were never spoken! lol.
Helicopters should shut up.
I recently had mine stop working. I have been watching your videos for a few months out of interest and decided to do some checking. I have a good working knowledge of electrical and can handle that part of it with some guidance (aka RUclips). But I don't have equipment or sufficient knowledge of the refrigerant side. The capacitor on mine seemed low and the fan was not spinning freely, so I went to the supply house armed with pictures of my current items to get what I needed. The guy behind the counter helped me out and after $260 in parts I headed home. Got a new fan motor, capacitor and also decided to get a contactor since mine looked a bit worn. Not badly pitted but I didn't want to make a second trip for parts and that one is relatively cheap.
I felt empowered to do some of this on my own after watching your videos and to hear how you spoke to the guy was a little disheartening. I never fault a homeowner for doing something themselves. Unless they do not understand their limits and can hurt themselves, I think it is fine. Most realize that I can do a better job at some of the things they attempt, and sometimes they call me in to fix it when they could not. But I would not have told them "you should have just called me". That is a bit insulting.
Back to my recent issue: I ran into a bit of a hickup with the fan wiring. It had 4 wires where the original one had only 3. After some quick googling and not coming up with where the brown and white one should go, I messed up and put it on the fan terminal instead of the common. Causing the fan motor to run too slow. Ended up calling an hvac company who said they can have someone out in a couple hrs and it was $130 diagnostic charge. I explained what all I changed and asked him to check over my wiring. Even explained the 3 vs 4 wires. Stupid guy didn't listen and checked everything else. Even had lots of freon blow out when he tried to connect his gauges. He ran back like 15 feet with his hand over his mouth and nose while the huge cloud of my freon dissipated. Didnt say or do anything about that. Even when I asked. Perhaps its not a big deal, but I was annoyed. Anyway, he tried to tell me I bought the wrong motor and yada yada. At the very end when he was packing up, he looed at the capacitor and found my wire issue. So for moving the wire ended up charging me $234. I was pretty pissed off about that. I basically told him what to look at and he ignored it. Spent time messing with stuff he didn't need to. And could have been done in under 10 min and should only have charged me the min trip fee.
After hearing what you found and the fact that you charged $200+ to the man.... I feel a bit at odds with this. Perhaps your min charge is in that range and if so, that is fine. But if you also played the "I touched a wire for you so now I am charging you for the work" game, that is not cool. I own my own business and I do realize that time is money, and also that knowledge is also of high value and comes at a cost. But something that takes less than a half hr and was a very very simple thing... should you not be reasonable with the fee? I certainly would not charge more than my normal trip fee in such a case.
Interested in your reply.
Please when your doing your videos, stay away from fans blowing. Makes it hard to hear you with the background noise. Thanks
I say let him stay cool
If it's not broke don't fix it
Don’t try to fix anything if you don’t know how to. Leave it to the professionals.
Well I have save myself $400,
If it works don't replace it.
Amazing how a lot of R-22 units last much more than 10 years. While R-410 units often go bad not long after 10 years. If this trend continues, I am afraid we'll be wasting a lot of money as we are forced to use A2L units.
Things were made to last in the old days. In the current times, we have planned obsolescence and disposable everything so the big companies can have more consistent and reliable revenue streams. 😊
They sacrificed overkill for efficiency.
Lol Albany tech is a joke I've learned more from your videos than I learned from them.
This homeowner only made the same mistake you so-called contractors sometimes do...
I put my own furnace in but I have hvac guy suction and braze my conditioner lines and check system . Just no need to buy gauges and vacuum machine and of course the torch and silver solder.
Customers who mess with it are bad, customers who watch and talk to you are bad, customers who do both are the worst!
You gave very bad advice when you told him to wait for a new unit. The R32 and R454b units will be 30% more. You should have told him to go ahead and buy a new unit.
Hi bro
So he just had it wired wrong.. well thats when the 200$ callout happens. He’s lucky he didnt blow out the fan motor or defrost board.. that said i thought it was bad practice to tap into a system unless it was crucial.. just on the belief that your introducing possible contamination in the system plus the loss of refrigerant when screwing into the high pressure side. Especially on r22 systems where you cant top it off anymore..