Dirty Coils

This is a video of cleaning a very dirty ac condenser coil we would normally use chemicals to power wash, as this is on a crane above equipment we used compressed air to blow out dust. We have to do this twice a year or every 6 months.

Good Friday Service Call

Had a service call on this boiler that hadn't been serviced in years. It had a delayed ignition that sounds like a gun going off. The neighbors 40ft away heard it inside house with windows closed. It came close to blowing door in picture off as it shook the house.

Just a reminder why you want to have your gas equipment serviced annually by a licensed heating technician.

This Happens More Often Than I'd like....Part 4

We had a funny call last week, the customer had another company replace the condensing fan motor on her A/C unit. The A/C was not cooling.

  When we checked the unit we found that the new fan motor was going the wrong direction causing pressure to be very high. We were able to reverse  the rotation and started the unit. It was running normally and cooling the house. No harm done.

  The next call was not so fortunate. When we arrived we found that the compressor had burnt out.  The cause – plugged condenser coil. The compressor had to be replaced at a cost of almost $2000 with labor. We had to clean the condenser before we even started running the system.

This Happens More Often Than I would Like - Part 3

We received a call from a woman that was selling her house, with closing in two days. The A/C had to be operational on the date of closing. She had been told by another large HVAC company that the A/C unit needed to be replaced. The compressor was burnt out. I told the customer we could replace the burnt out unit the next day, as it was already 2 pm and she agreed as our price was much less than she had been quoted by the other company.

   When we arrived the next morning I went to  disconnect the wiring and found that the main power wire had burnt off at the connection. I replaced the melted connection and turned on the A/C unit. It started and was running normally.  

  Once I started it, it was running normally..She noticed the cool air blowing in the house. We had only been on the job site 30 mins and she thought we had already replaced the unit. I explained that it was just a bad connection that had caused the problem and that we had just fixed it instead of replacing it. (Replacing it properly would take at least 4 hours).

   We loaded the new unit back onto the truck, charged her for a service call and she was more than happy.

This Happens More Often Than I would Like - Part 2

I was on my way back from a service call, and received a call from a man asking if we could stop in to give him a price on an A/C unit.  I was there in 15 minutes.  I took a look at the A/C unit.  They had been told by the serviceman that came to clean and check their A/C unit, an old reputable HVAC company, the compressor was burnt out.  

I got out my meter, and checked the compressor, and found that it seemed fine.  I turned on the power, and it started the A/C unit.  The unit started cooling and compression was pumping normally.  I had checked the operating pressures, and the unit also required a good cleaning of the condenser as it was covered in lint.  I also noticed a capacitor that was leaking oil.  I replaced the capacitor, $50, and was about to leave, when the salesman from the company that had told them the compressor was defective, arrived.

I told him that unit is running fine, and he was shocked that one of their service technicians had done this, and apologized.  

The customer was very happy not to have to replace their A/C unit.  I estimate that it will last at least 10 years, with proper maintenance.

This Happens More Often Than I would Like...

We received a call to replace A/C unit.  I met with the customer, an older lady and her husband.  They said the system had frozen up inside the furnace, and was dripping along the refrigeration lines. 

I asked them if we could turn it on.  They were convinced that it needed replacement as the previous Contractor had told them so. I finally convinced them to turn it on.  The A/C unit started, and started producing cold air.  I checked the unit outside and the system seemed normal but needed proper cleaning of condenser.  I had noticed a very dirty filter beside the furnace, and they said they had just changed it.  I determined that the dirty filter was the cause of the unit freezing up, due to poor air flow. I told them I would send out a crew to clean the unit and recheck operation.  Our crew reported that the system was working perfect after it had been cleaned.

We had later followed up with our customer. 

She had said that she “was very happy that she had called for a second opinion” and that she “had finally found an honest contractor.”  

I asked her to place a review on Homestars. You can read it here.

Good morning all. 

This is Jack from Active Air Inc . Welcome to my blog

The cooling season is almost here and with the first hot day comes a rush of service calls.

Many of these calls are very simple to solve by changing the furnace filter. 

I recommend a pleated merv 8 filter for most applications. 

When I speak to customers they usually question what that means.

A pleated filter is not flat but in fact has many pleats to increase the surface area which allows the filter to hold more dust. 

The merv rating is a number given to indicate the efficiency of the filter. The higher the number, the higher it's efficiency. A merv 8 is a medium efficiency. 

The more efficient the filter, the smaller the dust particles it will trap . 

More on filters later but please remember to change it now.  

It may save you a service call and will increase your A/C's efficiency. 

Pleated Merv 8 Filter - good quality 

Disposable fibreglass filter - poor quality