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Hi, I’m one of the folks from Cook’s Talk. I’ve searched on your site and haven’t found anything that deals specifically with my questions. I hear you are a rambunctious group, so please be gentle.
I need help with heat pumps. One of ours just died (Trane XE 800), it was 11 years old. The repairman said the compressor is shorting out and that it would cost almost as much to replace the compressor as it would for a new unit. The repairman doesn’t recommend another Trane, he recommends Ruud or Goodman (or “any other brand”, in his words). I started calling around to find out comparable prices and also to educate myself about heat pumps in general. One gentleman told me that I don’t want to mix my brands (i.e. Ruud with a Trane air handler). He said I’d have warranty problems – Trane would say it’s Ruud’s problem and vice versa. He also told me that Trane is highly rated. I don’t know these guys so for all I know they are feeding me a line, so any insight would be appreciated. TIA
So my questions are:
Is Trane a bad product?
Should I replace the air handler also?
Do I want to mix my products?
Any other things I should ask/know?
Replies
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Flavour Girl, Trane is not a bad product, nor is Rudd, Goodman,York, Carrier. I've worked on all of them. Heat pumps are heat pumps. You can expect 10 to 20 years out of any of them befor they beat themslevs to death. The recip. combressors in most residential units are pretty much the same. You can get factory reconditioned compressors from most of the major manufacturers that are warrantied almost as good as original equipment if installed by a manufacture certified service tech.
That said, I like Trane. I been to thier school and worked on a lot of thier commercial equipt. I've also worked on a lot of York and Carrier. We have fewer breakdowns on with Trane.
Mixing compressor and air handler should be no problem as far as operation is concerned. Yes, you do get some of that finger pointing if thing go to h--l,but air handlers aren't ususally the cause of a system failure.
There are also some good compressors of a generic varriety out there that will retrofit into a Trane, or any other manufacturers system.
Call a Trane service company and get them to look at you unit. Your current service provider probably is not a Trane authorized dealer. He sounds as if he is steering toward products that he is an authorized dealer/installer for.
By the way, compressors don't short out but once. From that point on they are burned out,i.e. toast,cooked, dead, won't ever run agian! The electric motor that runs the compressor is in a hermatically sealed vessal with the compressor. It is cooled by the refrigerant in the system. When the motor windings short, or burn up, the combustion product of the refigerant, compressor oil, and electrical wiring creates an acid that contaminates the whole system. That is why it is sometimes cheaper to replace the whole system, than it is to clean up one, after a burn out.
Hope this helps you out somewhat. Good luck.
Dave
*Thanks for your help, Dave.
*Just thinking logicaly here, since I don't know all that much about heat pumps...I wouldn't think that Trane could have stayed in business as long as they have, if they were crap.
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Hi, I'm one of the folks from Cook's Talk. I've searched on your site and haven't found anything that deals specifically with my questions. I hear you are a rambunctious group, so please be gentle.
I need help with heat pumps. One of ours just died (Trane XE 800), it was 11 years old. The repairman said the compressor is shorting out and that it would cost almost as much to replace the compressor as it would for a new unit. The repairman doesn't recommend another Trane, he recommends Ruud or Goodman (or "any other brand", in his words). I started calling around to find out comparable prices and also to educate myself about heat pumps in general. One gentleman told me that I don't want to mix my brands (i.e. Ruud with a Trane air handler). He said I'd have warranty problems - Trane would say it's Ruud's problem and vice versa. He also told me that Trane is highly rated. I don't know these guys so for all I know they are feeding me a line, so any insight would be appreciated. TIA
So my questions are:
Is Trane a bad product?
Should I replace the air handler also?
Do I want to mix my products?
Any other things I should ask/know?