Airconditioner Cleaning/service

[venturalaw]

I had my air conditioners cleaned by a company recommended by the management at my mooban. The initial charge was 500 baht per unit. After completing the cleaning, I was told that the liquid required to cool the air was low. The air conditioner required approximately 20 units at an additional cost of 300 baht. The second air conditioner did not require additional fluid, but instead, according to the cleaners, had too much fluid and so they removed some.

Sounds odd to me (obviously I am mechanically challenged), so I am asking - has anyone else had their air conditioner(s) serviced, and did the price include replacing fluid?

[garyh]

Sounds like special farang baht extracting fluid.

Air conditioners have oil and gas in them, perhaps it was lost in translation that it is gas but it it normally does not need touching.

[swain]

Never had a fluid issue... most I was charged was 400 and now have one that charges 300 per unit.

[uptheos]

500 bht is OK. The system is pressure tested, if low top up, at extra charge for the gas used. If they find a previous service was over filled they can take the gas out into their bottle, usually. Over pressurising is not good for the unit.

When my unit was serviced by 4 guy's l watched the procedure and thought it was well worth the money.

Any chance of sharing your contact information?

[Namphonny]

The liquid is R22. I have a cylinder of it under the stairs for just such a situation that you describe - it is very much cheaper to buy it yourself even including the cost of the cylinder. Of course, the technicians don't like it when you tell them that you have some because this is their main source of profit. If they genuinely needed to put that much in there must be a leak or something wrong with the compressor and this is bad news. Unless you get it repaired the compressor will eventually fail. I went through this routine of periodically topping up the liquid with my first two units and eventually had to scrap them. Has someone else had a go at topping up the one that they released pressure from? If so they may have put in too much. The whole thing seems a bit fishy.

[venturalaw]

500 bht is OK. The system is pressure tested, if low top up, at extra charge for the gas used. If they find a previous service was over filled they can take the gas out into their bottle, usually. Over pressurising is not good for the unit.

When my unit was serviced by 4 guy's l watched the procedure and thought it was well worth the money.

So 500 for service + 300 for the fluid is reasonable? I'm not challenging, merely asking.

Edited April 8, 2010 by venturalaw

[zippydedodah]

we just had this done yesterday.... 400 for service and 300 for fluid...

as far as i know from my US experience maintaining commercial buildings...the fluid is Freon... i asked this guy and he agreed it was freon, but hey, as long as i paid, he might have agreed it was buffalo piss! Anyways... in NorCal (sfo, berkelely), a company cannot put freon in your system more that 3 times in the lifetime of the unit unless a complete inspection and possible overhaul is done, as freon causes people in berkeley to put on their aluminum hats to ward off government spying.

back to our service.... the guys did a bang up job, air blasting cleaning out all louvers and crinkly areas, then spraying the whole insides with some special cleaner which immediately foamed up and let off noxious fumes and evacuated our home for about 15 minutes... the guy was an idiot for not warning us, but he stood there and scrubbed louvres the whole time... no mask... just coughing!

then, AFTER this was all done and still the air coming out was tepid at best, THEN he went for the freon and we settled at 700 baht.

AC works wonders now.... and i am very happy with it.... except for noxious fumes. Again, note, no govt. oversight of number of uses of freon and checking as to WHY the freon was low....

it is just a rental for us for a year, so i ain't worried... but overall thai concern with environment...well, that deserves a special thread

[elektrified]

500 bht is OK. The system is pressure tested, if low top up, at extra charge for the gas used. If they find a previous service was over filled they can take the gas out into their bottle, usually. Over pressurising is not good for the unit.

When my unit was serviced by 4 guy's l watched the procedure and thought it was well worth the money.

So 500 for service + 300 for the fluid is reasonable? I'm not challenging, merely asking.

Actually they usually charge less - something like 300 for the service but more for the Freon gas. So, overall I think you got fair value for the work performed.

[Drew Aitch]

I had quite a large air con unit in the main room and a smaller one in the bedroom. I got them serviced each year and the price was a fixed 300 Baht each irrespective of the larger unit having more filters to clean and whatever else they do/test/replace.

Sorry, i have no contact as it was arranged via the condo office and I've since moved. But between 3 and 500 seems to be the going rate if nothing needs doing other than a straightforward service.

Aitch

[WarpSpeed]

500 bht is OK. The system is pressure tested, if low top up, at extra charge for the gas used. If they find a previous service was over filled they can take the gas out into their bottle, usually. Over pressurising is not good for the unit.

When my unit was serviced by 4 guy's l watched the procedure and thought it was well worth the money.

So 500 for service + 300 for the fluid is reasonable? I'm not challenging, merely asking.

Yes and as stated if one of them required topping off there is a leak and it needs to be repaired as it can also make you sick pumping the gas into your contained room and it is more then likely in the evaporator or condenser but more likely the evaporator as it is constantly wet and corrodes more easily unless the original installers used compression fittings (commonly done here) to lengthen the copper piping instead of properly soldering with unions.

Not all A/C units are R22 many here are still freon and it amazes me how careless they are about it too on many occasions..No one here has an electronic sniffer to sniff out the leak either, really quite a hit and miss proposition..

Edited April 8, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[KhunDave]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable Chiang Mai company for air conditioner service?

[uptheos]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable Chiang Mai company for air conditioner service?

Lots of people seem to have had good jobs done, but no-one wants to give out any contact information.

[elektrified]

I was going to recommend a good company - well I still will: Siam Air Engineering Services. They are very professional with many uniformed technicians and trucks loaded with equipment. The thing I like about them is that they let you check out the work that they do for one week before you have to pay the bill. If you are unsatisfied they will come back and work things out with you. Then the owner comes a week or two later to collect the money from you.

The only problem is that after looking through 3 separate official forms and invoices that they gave me, their telephone number does not appear on any of the forms! I know that is not very helpful but maybe they are listed somewhere on the Internet. TIT.

[Donnyboy]

500 bht is OK. The system is pressure tested, if low top up, at extra charge for the gas used. If they find a previous service was over filled they can take the gas out into their bottle, usually. Over pressurising is not good for the unit.

When my unit was serviced by 4 guy's l watched the procedure and thought it was well worth the money.

So 500 for service + 300 for the fluid is reasonable? I'm not challenging, merely asking.

Yes and as stated if one of them required topping off there is a leak and it needs to be repaired as it can also make you sick pumping the gas into your contained room and it is more then likely in the evaporator or condenser but more likely the evaporator as it is constantly wet and corrodes more easily unless the original installers used compression fittings (commonly done here) to lengthen the copper piping instead of properly soldering with unions.

Not all A/C units are R22 many here are still freon and it amazes me how careless they are about it too on many occasions..No one here has an electronic sniffer to sniff out the leak either, really quite a hit and miss proposition..

^ that applies to many things trades in LOS

[SomchaiCNX]

Clean them every 3 to 4 months. I don't like aircon, they get durty (dust) very fast so that's why I like to clean them earlier than recommended. It's family so I pay just around 200 baht for each unit each time for the cleaning.

[tilac2]

I was going to recommend a good company - well I still will: Siam Air Engineering Services. They are very professional with many uniformed technicians and trucks loaded with equipment. The thing I like about them is that they let you check out the work that they do for one week before you have to pay the bill. If you are unsatisfied they will come back and work things out with you. Then the owner comes a week or two later to collect the money from you.

The only problem is that after looking through 3 separate official forms and invoices that they gave me, their telephone number does not appear on any of the forms! I know that is not very helpful but maybe they are listed somewhere on the Internet. TIT.

Siam Air Engineering Services seem good: I contacted them today. On Chang Puak road between soi 2 and 4. Nice people, reasonable prices, charming English-speaking receptionist, as well as techies around the place who were stripping down A/C motors etc. A family-run company it seems. But as I say, I haven't actually ordered from them yet.