Amana thru wall A/C, repair or replace?

[seanandnik]

Great site! my problem though is this, I have a 12 yr old 18000 btu Amana quiet zone(model # 18m23ta) thru the wall a/c unit, just yesterday it stopped working. Fan goes on, can select lo,med, hi, can also change temp settings, all digital, but no cooling, cannot hear compressor cycle on/off, also if i press the energy saver button, the fan shuts off. I am thinking it either needs to be recharged or replace the compressor. I was quoted @ $300 to refill and over $500 for a compressor. does this sound right?,  i scoured the web looking for a new unit with my same measurements (25 1/2 wide and 18 1/2 high) so i could just swap them out,the closest and lowest priced unit i could find was a frigidaire (fam156r1a), 18500 btu, for $ 480, just an inch wider and 1/8 higher, there were a few exact matches but they were priced too high, i am looking for a comprimise between fit and price,i am very handy and could probably just sawzall the openiing a little right? Which way should I go? repair or replace, and if i replace is the old unit worth anything?

[Cactus Bob]

YOU have a problem with the control board , the relay melts and you cant just get the relay .....remove the board and look on the backside where the relay is on the frontside , are the solder connections melted , if so you can try to resolder but still might not work . i have remote located a relay for the compressor , just be carefull not to go to big ,the coil in your relay is driven by a triac ( thats undersized too) ..........or .....you can buy a board (if you can find one ,and can afford one $$$$$$$$$$ .......i never have , the motels i work at if the units gets 7 years or more and i cant fix it from salvaged parts "cheep" . its replaced and made into parts .......there not made to last forever .....12 years is older that any i work on

[seanandnik]

thanks for the reply, i took the front control board off and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, a few resistors, did not see any relays thuogh, there were some wires going into the unit that looked like they were connected to a few  large relays, also the power cord was connected there as well. but I already ordered a Haier cr18ec5, the other unit i ordered was out of stock, $250 for shipping killed me though, from california to me in boston, the unit price was cheaper by $150 than anywhere else but it looks like they make it up on shipping, $575 with shipping for an 18000btu, 9.7 eer isn't too bad though.