7 replies to this topic

[wobiii]

So every once in a while I'll run into a public service (State trooper) official that seems like a great person and deserves a break for once. Today I was proven wrong and was disheartened by the experience. I had been there before and through the company charged him full price to change his ice maker. Today he called back to tell me his frige wasn't cooling but when I got there I saw a evap half frosted with snowball ice in an Amana frige. Ok, terminator is bad and we may have a freon problem as well. Checked it out and saw that the condenser was dirty as my weenier dogs after a week of good rain and overgrown wet grass. Spent the better part of an hour propping the frige backward against the wall dropping and blowing out the condenser out with my shop vac and brushing the dust out of it. Finally set it back down after putting the brackets back on, plugged it in and the dreaded sound of compressor death popped up. The compressor was smoking hot so I figured that eventually it would cool off, pressures would equalize and it would start up again no problem. Well after about 30 min of waiting, still wouldn't start up. Told him I'd be back because I was over an hour late for my next appointment and we found a fan to put on it for the time being. Went to next call, finished up and went back. Plugged in frige and same thing. Said I'm going to kick it in the ass with a hard start the replace the relay but only had a left over uro41 on the truck since I don't use hard starts or uro 41's. Tried that a few times and still no luck. I was not ready to give up on the compressor and told him I'd come back tomorrow with a stronger hard start to get the compressor going when I put the back on and plugged it in the compressor started up normally. Whew, ok didn't think the compressor was really bad. Changed the terminator live since I didn't want to take a chance turning off the compressor again and having the same problem. After about 2 and a half hours dealing with this refrigerator I told him I'd take it easy on him and charge him $105 for the repairs made, next to nothing in my opinion. He said no really how much and started writing a check out. He made it to cash and wrote it for $50. I was in a really awkward situation. I still don't know if he may have heard me wrong and thought I deserved more or figured that's all he should pay for it. I rewrote the invoice took my check and left. Last time I'll try to help him out with a low ball price. Lesson learned.

[appl.tech.29501]

You'll get the last laugh....compressor Proably won't last a month.

[Scottthewolf]

Hard start kits should never be used on compressors for a permanent repair, they should ONLY be used to make the compressor last until the customer can go shopping for a new refrigerator or until you can go back to replace the compressor.

[wobiii]

You'll get the last laugh....compressor Proably won't last a month.

Follow up

Guy tries to call me, and of course I don't return his call and he ends up calling a friend of mine a couple weeks ago. Being familiar (listening to me whine confusedly) he goes out, tells him the only thing he can do is to put on a hard start it and good luck to ya. Small town this is.

[vineman]

Hard start kits should never be used on compressors for a permanent repair, they should ONLY be used to make the compressor last until the customer can go shopping for a new refrigerator or until you can go back to replace the compressor.

I'm very aware that we shouldn't use hard start kits for permanent repairs but that is strictly academic to me. Can someone tell me what the technical problem is? I have heard about the fire risks (which is plenty enough to go with) but I understand there are other technical reasons why it is bad practice.

[denrayr]

Overloads are designed to shut the compressor off based on temperature or during over current situations. If the compressor seizes or short cycles, the overload reacts due to the compressor overheating. Since the overload on a hard start isn't attached to the compressor, it won't react quickly enough and compressor damage will occur. Next, a hard start overheats the start winding at each startup due to two reasons. First, the built in start capacitor packs too much of a punch. Second, the built in relay is designed to work on a large range of compressors. Because of this, when it is installed on a modern compressor, the start winding is energized for a longer period of time than designed. In my opinion, hard starts should only be used to get a compressor that wont start on the factory relay going again. I will retain the factory overload when I install one in order to protect the compressor from overheating. I also inform the customer that the compressor is already bad according to factory standards and a hard start will only buy them a little time.

[nickfixit]

We hashed this out in great detail a couple of years ago, you might be able to find the thread. I was firmly on the side of not using them.

[kdog]

Yup - we've beaten that horse to death many times over, here's some of the highlights:

http://applianceguru...rum1/22048.html

http://applianceguru...rum1/25293.html

http://applianceguru...rum1/28121.html

http://applianceguru...rum1/11587.html


Etc. Etc. Etc.