Repair or replace ?

[ignis]

A couple of questions, advise or help needed please...

Early 2004 had installed a 9 BTU Panasonic unit in the bedroom, over the years it worked fine, but last 5 appears the gas vanishes + every time they come to fix needs another part, last years the outside unit the fan has stopped working. Last march the re-gas lasted less then 3 months, not used it since.. so say for past 2 years has been tested for leaks but there in non !!

 

So it is time to get it working again re-gas ? Maybe needs more repairs ? Buy a new one ?  On this point thinking of the Panasonic 9 BTU Inventor.. Another question will a new Inventor model use less electric ?  On another point as there are guys on here that know .. With air on set at 28.... What is the difference between air con on, and 2 x 18” fans on in electric used.?

 

Downstairs the Panasonic 18 BTU is on for a few house most evening and never a problem in 15 years, did get them to check the gas for the 1st time last year did not need any.. 

[Crossy]

A 14 year old A/C is approaching end of life and it's 14 year old technology. A new unit (inverter or conventional) will likely use less power and of course it will have a warranty. I would go for replace.

 

An 18" fan will use about 100W so two will be 200W, a 9000 BTU aircon will use about 900W, but will likely only be running the compressor 30% of the time (if it's not under-sized and you don't set to "Arctic"), so averaging 300W over time. You can do the sums.

 

 

[Tagaa]

As Crossy said, get a new unit...much more efficient.

 

I bought a Mitsubishi Inverter model. I wanted the heat pump version, as it gets cold here at night about 3 months per year, so having heat in the morning when I get up would have been great. That got lost in translation...oh well.

 

Anyway, I use the A/C a lot most of the year. The reduction in electric bills is substantial. The unit is quiet as a church on Monday morning, so that's a bonus. Many people that visit can't even tell it's on. Not that it matters at my place, but the condensing unit (outside) is very quiet as well.

 

When this one eventually goes Tango Uniform, I'm getting another Mitsubishi. This time I'll research the model number to insure I get what I want.

[Henryford]

I was going to ask a similar question about my 6 year old LG air conditioner. What is the normal life of an AC, it sounds like 15 years !!

 

My LG went wrong last year and cost 3200 to fix, it's just gone wrong again, another possible 3200?

 

At what point is it better just to scrap it and buy a new one.

[thedemon]

Lots of cheating in the A/C repair business. Watch out when you're told that you're up for 3-7k for a new controller board. The average person has no way of knowing whether the part is faulty or not so it is very easy for them to say that is the problem when in fact it is something far simpler.

 

Make sure you see the brand new part come out of it's packaging and actually installed. Insist on keeping the old parts, even when you're going to throw them out.

 

Be especially careful when told that they can get you reconditioned/used electronic parts for half price. That is a common method for doing a simple repair and then either showing you an expensive part supposedly replaced (but actually not) or else replacing one good part for another good part.

[thedemon]

Forgot to mention - if you have more than one A/C of the same model, ask the repair guys to swap expensive parts over rather than simply replace. Then if the other A/C exhibits the same symptoms you can be pretty sure that part is the issue.

 

Even when a repair guy is honest, I have seen them replace controller boards unnecessarily. It's because they don't understand the electronics either and since all the components that they do understand look ok it must be an electronic issue.

[sometimewoodworker]

On 3/15/2018 at 12:39 PM, Crossy said:

An 18" fan will use about 100W so two will be 200W,

If that's the usual consumption then it's really bad, as my 84" fans are usually using 27W with a maximum of 52W, and the 30" fan I'm going to get will probably be usually using about 5w with a maximum of 25w