Repair or Replace?

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CashiWaku
UNATCO
Posts: 284
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2022 10:42 am

Repair or Replace?

Post by CashiWaku »

Hello everyone-who-knows-more-than-me, I'm in a situation where I’m forced to find someone who can diagnose/repair my current HVAC system or just plain replace it.

What I have now: Two York CM9M modulating furnaces (20k-58k BTU) and two York 14 SEER FRHS0 series single-stage heat pumps. I believe the one tied to my basement furnace is 2 ton and the one attached to my attic furnace is 3 ton but could be wrong. Both the furnaces and heat pumps were sold under the Coleman name. I've also discovered that, even though the furnace is designed to be installed alongside a heat pump, the FRHS series is not one of the "works with" models. As such, a Goodman multi-fuel control board is used to tie the two parts together. What's interesting is that none of the techs who've come to work on my system can tell me exactly why that Goodman board is needed. They all give conflicting answers or some variation of "just because."

This whole system has worked reasonably well over the past 15 years. I have my complaints, mostly that the air noise is horribly loud every time the unit is in operation except when the furnace itself is running. I'm assuming that's because the furnace kicks in with a low flame and never really needs to ramp up the BTU to maintain temp. The fan speed for single-stage operation of the heat pump is just... very, very noisy. But, eh, it has worked.

My current sucky position: We had the blower fan replaced in the basement furnace. It was making noise and the tech thought it was a bad bearing. Turned out to be a broken tack weld on the squirrel cage fan which I fixed using 2-ton epoxy. Problem solved, though now have a new motor I don't need. BUT... when the motor was being replaced something on the furnace control board or the Goodman board was knocked loose... the thermostat had no power. The furnace tech could not figure out what was wrong. A second furnace tech also could not figure out what was wrong. They ended up re-wiring the system to take the Goodman board (and heat-pump) out of the equation. I had heat. Sometime after that, my blasted gas valve quit working... no heat again. That was replaced. A few days later, an A/C tech from this company came out and determined the furnace techs were idiots. He found a fuse that had been removed from the Goodman board. The board was wired back in... but things still didn't work right. The heat-pump didn't come on like it should, though we did get power at the thermostat. This tech decided something on the compressor was bad. Didn't make sense to me since the heat pump was operating just fine before everything was shut down to replace the blower fan originally. Regardless, everything was re-wired again leaving the Goodman board in the mix, but the heat pump disconnected. This just seems weird to me since the Goodman board was only used because of the heat pump. Anyway, in this configuration I can’t circulate air since the blower fan won’t come on unless the furnace is running. Oh, and the replaced gas valve needs to be replaced again... making a rapid "clicking" sound and not opening. So, I have a non-operable furnace and a probably-OK-but-disconnected heat pump.

The company who's been sending all the techs thinks the best option is to just replace everything with a new system. They've quoted me for a single-stage 60k BTU Trane furnace (S9X1B060U4PSBA) with single-stage Trane heat pump (A4HP4024A1000A). I'm not so sure that is the best course of action.

My thoughts: From what I can tell, 15 years for an HVAC system is on the short end of expected lifespan. I'm desperately trying to find a knowledgeable local technician who can come out and 1) put my current system back together and 2) give an honest assessment of how much more life I can reasonably get from this thing. That's proving difficult though. I'm hoping the HVAC hive-mind on this forum could offer some insight and suggestions. Should I be looking at replacing what I have? Should I keep trying to find someone who can fix it? If I replace... since the air noise was so horrible with the single stage heat pump, should I look at a two-stage heat pump? Ditch the modulating furnace? Dump the heat pump and just use a modulating furnace? I'm in Rhode Island... know that makes some difference in heat pump effectiveness.

Thanks in advance for any insights.
CarlSmeety
Mole Person
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:07 am

Re: Repair or Replace?

Post by CarlSmeety »

Maybe your ductwork is not sized correctly for your Heat Pump size, or the blower motor speed is not correct, as you complain about the noise during cooling season.
JaydJeen
Mole Person
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:09 am

Re: Repair or Replace?

Post by JaydJeen »

Consider getting a second opinion from a different company before deciding whether to repair or replace it. It might be worth getting a few different quotes and opinions before deciding.
If you're in Rhode Island, I recommend checking out Hot 2 Cold Air Conditioning for their expertise. They offer both repair and replacement services and can give you a more accurate assessment of the lifespan left in your current system. A repair might be all you need, but if the system is nearing the end of its lifespan, replacing it could be more cost-effective in the long run.
ppu-prof_er
NSF
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2024 12:48 pm

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Post by ppu-prof_er »

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