Replacing the fan unit only?

[Andyfez]

Recently our large air conditioning unit 6.5KW expired.

My wife is quoting crazy money for replacing the whole thing, but as far as I'm concerned I don't want to replace the interior unit or the remote - just replace the fan unit on the balcony.

Is this possible? She says they only sell it all together.

And if this is possible, does it save money?

Any suggestions where to get one in Korat area? Or even BKK?

[bankruatsteve]

6.5KW ??? Definitely a large unit. Suggest you provide at least the following to get more help:

What brand?

What age?

Did someone from the AC come to look or where is your wife getting the cost info from?

Anyway... yes, it is possible to replace components but if you can get advice from qualified AC technician for your situation is best.

[Crossy]

I agree with steve, 6.5kW (assuming that's the cooling rate) is about 22,000 BTU so a pretty big split unit. If that's the power consumption do you live in a freezer?

Do you know what's expired? There's not a lot to the outdoor unit, mostly just the compressor, all the intelligence lives in the indoor unit.

It should be possible to get a replacement compressor installed by your local aircon chap which would be by far the cheapest option.

The above assumes it's not an inverter unit, if so, get out the chequebook

[Pacificperson]

If your on good terms with your AC guy, he may be able to find you a good used replacement compressor unit. They do not have to be the same brand, but the size has to be compatible.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Pacificperson

[Pib]

Just get the fan unit (a.k.a., condenser unit, compressor unit, outside unit) repaired....it's not like every part in the unit went bad at once...highly unlikely...just get the failed component repaired/replaced. It's not like the condenser coils/fins sprung leaks, the electronics control board burnt itself up, "and" the compressor died all at the same time. Most likely it's a failed electronics board like the electronics board on one of my 18K BTU York split A/C burnt itself up approx. 6 months ago...I mean it just smoked itself....total cost to buy/replace the board and get the unit running again was approx. Bt3000. If it wasn't the electronics board the only other thing left besides the piping/fins/coils was the compressor itself which would have cost Bt5000-Bt1000 to replace...but fortunately, compressors are long life items and it was still OK. I thought for a while a failing compressor might have shorted out the electronics board, but as mentioned the unit has been running fine for about 6 months now after the repair...I think just 5 years of operation in a topical environment caused some component on the board to fail which in turn caused other components on the board to smoke themselves. That repaired unit unit is cooling me just fine right now as I write this.

If the repairman is just recommending a whole new split A/C you probably need to get him to clarify exactly why...like what is specifically wrong with the unit...if he don't know what is specifically wrong with the unit then it's probably time to get another A/C repairman to check out the unit.

Edited June 29, 2013 by Pib