He has been here for about 30 minutes. He said that the coil iced up and that when it began to thaw out a bit the pipe just couldn’t handle the large amount of water. That’s why we had a minor leak yesterday. That’s the good news – he said most units in this area ice up at least once every few years, so it’s nothing to be alarmed about.
The bad news? He can’t see an obvious reason for the thing to shut off completely. He said our refrigerant is low and that may be part of it. He is refilling it now, but he said that he saw traces of dye in the system, which says to him there may have been a leak in the past (dye is used to show the HVAC man where a leak might be). He said that with any luck once he puts in new refrigerant in we won’t have to call him again this season. He said if we DO then there is definitely a major leak and a major component of the system will have to be replaced.
We got to talking about various A/C units and he said the one we have is definitely “builder grade” and not one he’d recommend. He said, “If you end up having to replace it in a few years, I can recommend a good one that is not too expensive but has a great track record – I’ve installed many of them over the years and have yet to receive a call back for service.”
So anyway, he’s putting in the refrigerant now and then he’ll be done. Wonder how much it’ll cost me. Arg. I dread thinking about it but am optimistic.