Air conditioning tune up.
Whether you call it a tune up, an air conditioning check up or a spring inspection, it's all the same thing and there is only one way to do it right.
Many companies offer a spring special ranging from $19.95 to $39.95.
Could this be a scam? Could it be a way to get in my door and sell me junk I did not need in the first place?
Company overheads, technician hourly pay or commission, truck wear, gas to travel to your house or office, etc….
On a funny note, I have these companies calling my house all the time trying to sell me an A/C tune up. My wife nicely explains that her husband owns an air conditioning company and that we are simply not interested in their services. Do you think they care? NO. They even asked her if I could provide her with a free pound of refrigerant!!! She laughed and explained again that we owned an A/C company and thanked them for their call. Was that enough for them to stop? Of course not! They then proceeded to ask her if I could also offer her a free filter..... (yea, those cheap blue fiberglass filters. They are not even filters. They are pads for swamp coolers that you can cut to size... anyways...).
These marketers are the first impression you have of the company that is already trying to sell you something. I can only imagine how their 30% commission paid tune up salesman is going to act.
Do you think $20 is enough to cover those fees?
It depends on how you look at it. If you are sure that the companies you are dealing with are honest and have a significant amount of positive reviews all over the net, then jump on that deal. But those companies are far and few between.
The other way to look at it is that $20 is not enough to cover those fees but I'm sure they don't care because the commission paid maintenance sales guy they are sending is going to sell me so much crap I don't need, that they will make up their initial cost plus a ton more profit from scamming me.
I am sorry to put it this way but that is just the reality of things nowadays.
I am sure that if you are reading this article, you have probably been a victim of such practice.
Let's talk about maintenance.
Why is it so important to have your air conditioner inspected before summer?
If you live in Arizona, you already know how hot it gets. Your air conditioner is running at its hardest to maintain a comfortable home. I read somewhere that during the Arizona summer, your A/C is running just as hard as if you got in a car and drove it on a 70'000 mile trip. Now you wouldn't consider such a trip without first making sure your car can make it and without stopping along the way for oil change, flushes and top offs. Right?
Now that we have established the importance of a tune up, what should be looked at?
The answer is EVERYTHING….
The technician should first do a visual inspection. With the power off, he should walk around the unit and look for anything unusual. Oil stains, rusted cabinet, dirty or damaged condenser coils, water leaking from unit cabinet, etc…
He should then open the panels, check all the low and high voltage wires for nicks, frayed wires, sun rotted wire insulation leaving exposed wires etc… He should then proceed to tightening all the electrical connection. From the breaker panel, to the disconnect box, to the contactor etc… Don't forget about low voltage wiring. He needs to tighten those wires in the thermostat and in the control board if applicable.
Check Capacitors. The technician should remove all the wires on the capacitors and properly discharge it. With a good multi meter, he should get a reading on the capacitors and make sure they are within 6 or 10% +/- of the manufacturer's rating. He should then look at the contactor and ensure that those contact points are clean, free of too many pitting points, free of excessive carbon build up and ensure that they haven't mushroomed too much.
Then, both coils need to be inspected. The technician needs to make sure there are no apparent leaks and inspect them for cleanliness. Dirty evaporator coils could be because the air filter is not a good filter, it could be because of a leak in the air return or from lack of filter maintenance. The condenser coils, on the other hand are open to the elements. They can get dirty from the dust in the air, if the dryer vent exhaust is close by, from your landscaper blowing dust and leaves directly into the condenser unit while it is running etc…
If the coils are dirty, they should be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed. This will let the air conditioner run more efficiently and help reduce future failures.
The blower motor and wheel need to be inspected. A dirty blower wheel reduces the amount of air being thrown on the evaporator coils and could end up in the unit freezing up. The blower motor should be inspected for dirt, oil leakage, and to make sure that there is no play in the shaft.
Same with the condenser motor and condenser fan blade. The technician should look for excessive oil leakage, play in the shaft and make sure there is no play on the condenser's fan blade hub.
The compressor terminal box should be opened and the terminals inspected. The wires should be looked at carefully by those terminals to ensure no excessive heat has damaged the wiring.
Finally, the duct system needs to be looked at. The technician should look for dirt build up in the return and supply plenum. He also needs to make sure that those plenums, elbows etc… are airtight. Any leaks should be properly sealed.
The visual inspection is done. Once we are certain that everything looks OK and any issues have been repaired or addressed, the technician needs to go to the thermostat, and set the unit to cooling.
He then needs to check the voltages feeding the compressor, the voltages feeding the condenser fan motor and the voltages feeding the blower motor.
The amperage is next. He should check the Amp draws of all 3 and make sure they are within the manufacturer's range.
With the unit running, he can now check for unusual noises or even excessive vibration. Any issues need to be addressed.
Only after the unit has ran for 10-15 minutes, is when the refrigerant charge can be accurately checked. In addition to checking the refrigerant pressures, the technician needs to test the temperatures entering and exiting the evaporator coil and temperatures entering and exiting the condenser coils. This is called the temperature splits. An 18-22 degree split should be recorded indoors and about 30 outdoors.
Your air conditioner has now been properly inspected...
Anyone reading this can see that it is quite a process and a thorough inspection of the air conditioning system will take some times.
How many times have you had a tune up done on your A/C and in the first few minutes of being in your home the tech tries to sell you parts?
Have you noticed that after the first objection you give him, he is usually out of there in the next 10 minutes or so?
They are not there to tune up your system but to find or invent a problem so they can make a decent commission for the day… Sad but true.
Don't trust your system to those cheap, get in the door price tune ups.
This year, have your system tune up by Desert Comfort Mechanical. The tune up is $69.95 for the first unit and $49.95 for any additional systems. At Desert Comfort Mechanical, we service the entire valley. Scottsdale, Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and more.
At Desert Comfort Mechanical, we take pride in the work we do. We work hard every day to ensure that all our customers receive the best in service. We have been rated 5 stars by consumers all over the net. Find our five star ratings and reviews on web sites like Google maps, Yahoo Local, Local.com, insiderpages.com, yellowpages.com, superpages.com, yelp and many more. We are also a MerchantCircle.com Top merchant and BBB accredited.
Call us now at 480-483-3099 to schedule your thorough Air Conditioning Tune Up.
