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marcy_miller66

HVAC package unit, 5 ton evaporator/condenser with 3 ton compressor?

3 years ago

Hello, last year I replaced the compressor on my 5 ton package unit. The technician assured me that down sizing the compressor would not matter because my home is only 1000 sq. Ft. So I chose the cheaper option versus a full replacement since I had recently spent $800 on other ac repairs.
I live in southwest Florida where it normally is over 80°F and very humid. Mobile home with central air, duct in the ceiling.My unit is constantly freezing up, house struggles to stay under 78°F in the day but can be under 65°F at night.
Since then I have had multiple issues, and at this point I feel like everything has been changed. (Fan motor, compressor, duct work, installed inline duct booster on return, capacitors, ect.)
After the way the technician acted following up I have high doubts since the warranty I was given apparently meant I was going to have my phone number blocked
Is this combination even possible or was I doomed from the begining?

Comments (10)

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    I have no idea and for sure not about blocking your phone #. Have another company look at it maybe they can spot something that is not right . I do not have whole house AC and we get ots of heat in the summer but mobile homes are not the best for insuation often and that might be the issue and why you have the bigger one before .

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    The components of an HVAC system need to be designed and configured to work together as a system. To that end, HVAC manufacturers hire design engineers--not HVAC repair techs moonlighting as designers. While a 5-ton system sounds oversized for your application, pairing a 3-ton compressor with an evaporator coil rated for 5 tons will result in raising the temperature of the coil and reduces the potential for dehumidifying the space. Your system was messed up by your clueless HVAC service guy and it sounds like they're not done messing it up on your dime.

  • 3 years ago

    The tech gave you bad information to start with. Typically you can go 1/2 ton larger on the blower/coil than the condenser but never more than 1 ton larger. A 3 ton compressor with a 5 ton coil is asking for trouble. It definitely won't dehumidify in your climate as well as a matched coil/blower and you are reaping the rewards of this mismatch in other terms, too.

    Cut your losses and get a competent company to fix this mess.

    Your point about the warranty and phone number are a mystery to me(?)

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    I consider this professional malpractice on some level. I'd look to recover costs from the company that screwed it up in the first place. Check with your state's board for contractors about filing a complaint.

  • PRO
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Your point about the warranty and phone number are a mystery to me(?)

    There was a time a while ago... mmm maybe 2014 / 2015 or so where I saw this sort of thing going on. Essentially the way it worked was xyz company was called to change a condenser, sometimes a condenser & coil. They quoted a cheaper price because the materials they used were cheaper. It was the era of the dry condenser that was filled with R22 Freon.

    Little did people know they were buying a micro channel condenser with 5 year part warranty only. I guess after the contractor was riddled with so many calls having to go back they decided it was easier to just block the phone numbers of previous jobs.

    Customer service is long gone in the HVAC industry... it's more a scam a minute over trying to cut costs but doing so in ways that lead to nothing but trouble. Free sells, until they come and give you the so called free adventure that winds up being a commission pay sales person for advice that only benefits the salesmen. Two sides to every coin, unless you're a magician.

    How does a mobile home with 1000 square feet get a 5 ton package unit installed to it? This is grossly over sized --- over sizing doesn't work.

    Then to make matters even worse someone thinks than can re-engineer a system by plunking in a 3 ton compressor on a 5 ton e-coil + 5 ton condenser coil. If I had to fashion a guess a 3 ton unit is probably still to big for a mobile home of 1000 sq ft. ( I have never seen a mobile home with walls of glass or jarnormous high ceilings).

    The biggest problem with mobile homes is they typically depreciate as they age. So any investment you make in terms of air conditioning / heating turns into a bad investment you never get your money back out of. Even worse if the unit is poor or poorly installed. Money most of the time fixes that but that puts you further in the depreciation hole.

    It's really easy to pick on those who service these areas --- things they attempt to do for little to no money. As a rule $800 repair isn't worth what it used to be worth. It's essentially chump change in Joe's America.

    Marcy I don't know what your total expense was to repair it once before plus this misinformed adventure to replace a compressor to a smaller size. I realize the cheaper options often look great on paper especially for a mobile home --- but the odds this machine (the machine you have now) is able to be repaired --- it's probably not a good idea to do so because of the sizing issue.

    Replacing this system to proper size -- don't forget duct system is going to cost a pretty penny and may be an amount of money you never recoup in value other than the comfort it provides you.

    If the mobile home is parked on land you own, this is probably the slightly better situation because your tax bill will be less. If you don't own the land, the rent payment never goes away. So you never truly own it. (This isn't to pick on you or to tell you something you haven't already realized) --- it's to tell others who may read this --- who don't realize the situation you've found yourself in.

    Maybe you bought this mobile home as it was with the 5 ton package system? Stranger things have happened. The mobile home park is looking to collect lot rent. They find a mobile home, pull it in --- they contact a "low cost" HVAC contractor. That HVAC contractor got a 5 ton package system from another job that replaced it for whatever reason. The contractor is made aware what the mobile home park owner is trying to do. Once the mobile home is sold it becomes the problem of the new owner.

    I don't know if that's what happened or not. I have a vivid imagination thru being in the HVAC business for nearly 30 years. I know when to walk away, I also know when to run. AKA 'the gambler'.

    In that nearly 30 years I have never blocked the number of a paying customer. "Paying is the operative word". No one is in the HVAC business for "no money".

    The money you paid so far -- consider it the cost of an education. Make better choices... which probably sounds more like an insult than anything else but we have to start somewhere to become productive.

    I service the Katy, Texas area.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    What a long strange trip it's been.

  • 3 years ago

    Did the AC ever work properly after the compressor was replaced? A freezing coil is a sign of low refrigerant and a leak. But in this case I suspect it could be caused by other improper repairs.

  • 3 years ago

    "What a long strange trip it's been."

    Could this possibly mean Charles and Ray finally agree???

  • PRO
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Nope. It means Ray took us on a long strange trip with his post. Look at the number of words in his reply compared with the OP's post. An awful lot of rind and not much melon.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    Adding rind doesn't add more melon, Ray.