I need advice from professionals. On Jan 27, I realized my gas pack was not operating. No fan, nothing. I looked for a reputable contractor and called one in Huntsville AL. This is a gas pack unit for a commercial/residential building for a small business. The unit services one floor...
The technician came and I watched him from the upstairs window. He took off the top of the unit, looked around a bit and after about 5 or 10 minutes max, he came to the door and told me the heat exchanger had a hole, the unit was dangerous and pumping CO in the house. He showed me the pictures of the exchanger that he took on his cell phone, but I did not see the exchanger personally (big mistake). He said he probably could not find a replacement exchanger (it's a 1999 Frigidaire 3.5 T natural) and if he was lucky enough to find a heat exchanger, it would cost $3800 to repair. He said I was lucky the unit didn't kill anyone because of CO but he didn't test for CO. He never even started the unit. He gave me a quote for a new Trane for $12K. I got sticker shock and he said he had an Amana for $6900. I said I was not ready to buy today and gave him my AmEx card. I signed a hand held device. I was given no paperwork.
So I started looking around and found a brand new 3.5T Goodman on ebay for $2100, delivered. I realized I had nothing in writing from the contractor, whatsoever. I called and told them I needed the quote in writing. I thought with a written quote, I'd have specs to compare when buying a unit on my own. I received a one line quote from the company: Qty: 1; 1G4A; $6515.00. That's it. No mention of heat or cool BTU's, no mention of make or model number, no mention of tonnage, no mention of warranty. Nothing. I could not believe how unprofessional this was. I requested a REAL quote and got something from the office manager.
Anyway, I wanted to find someone to install a new unit and found a guy on Craig's list (yes he's licensed, I looked him up). His ad said if someone tells you your unit is not repairable to call him. I did and he came out the next day. He found that several of the power connectors were unplugged, even the high voltage one, which was tucked under another component as if someone were trying to hide it. He found a short in the PCB and worked around it to test the unit. He fired it right up. We ran it for over 45 minutes. There was no flame rollout. I examined the heat exchanger personally and saw no holes. The new guy had a CO meter and with the unit running we tested every register in the house. All readings were 0.0. He installed a new PCB and the total for the hour and a half he was there was $330. It's been running fine ever since.
I asked the first company to come back and show where they found the holes. I began to think the pictures I was shown on the phone were not of my heat exchanger. I also heard that the heat exchanger/carbon monoxide/new unit is a common HVAC scam. I asked the 1st contractor if their guy had pulled a bunch of my connectors. He said yes, that "by law, he's required to disable the unit." I looked up IFGC and saw at 108.7.1 that "code officials" can condemn a unit that is hazardous but they must provide a notice in writing. If the code official considers the unit an immediate danger to life or property, they can disconnect it with no notice but must provide one later. I had trouble getting the guys to come to show me the hole and after 5 days of emails & phone calls, I lost my patience with them. I also told them it was unprofessional to disconnect internal power connectors and they had no authority to disconnect my unit but even if they had the authority, they should have cut the disconnect and shut off the gas valve. I think the technician may have damaged the PCB when he pulled connectors.
I've been arguing with the company all day and tonight, I found out the technician who red tagged the unit is not licensed in the state of Alabama. I could not believe it. This guy comes out, performs no tests, condemns my unit and he is not licensed?? He disables the unit in the middle of winter (contrary to IFGC code) and he's not licensed?
I've squawked so loud tonight they said they'd refund my $79.00 but I'm furious at them. I wasted a lot of time looking for units and talking to other contractors. I thought my gas pack was a killing machine. I think if a company is going to disable my unit, the guy that does it should at least be licensed. I believe they disabled my unit to put pressure on me to buy a new one. It's illegal and unethical.
What do you guys think? Am I being a PITA or is this a legitimate concern?
The technician came and I watched him from the upstairs window. He took off the top of the unit, looked around a bit and after about 5 or 10 minutes max, he came to the door and told me the heat exchanger had a hole, the unit was dangerous and pumping CO in the house. He showed me the pictures of the exchanger that he took on his cell phone, but I did not see the exchanger personally (big mistake). He said he probably could not find a replacement exchanger (it's a 1999 Frigidaire 3.5 T natural) and if he was lucky enough to find a heat exchanger, it would cost $3800 to repair. He said I was lucky the unit didn't kill anyone because of CO but he didn't test for CO. He never even started the unit. He gave me a quote for a new Trane for $12K. I got sticker shock and he said he had an Amana for $6900. I said I was not ready to buy today and gave him my AmEx card. I signed a hand held device. I was given no paperwork.
So I started looking around and found a brand new 3.5T Goodman on ebay for $2100, delivered. I realized I had nothing in writing from the contractor, whatsoever. I called and told them I needed the quote in writing. I thought with a written quote, I'd have specs to compare when buying a unit on my own. I received a one line quote from the company: Qty: 1; 1G4A; $6515.00. That's it. No mention of heat or cool BTU's, no mention of make or model number, no mention of tonnage, no mention of warranty. Nothing. I could not believe how unprofessional this was. I requested a REAL quote and got something from the office manager.
Anyway, I wanted to find someone to install a new unit and found a guy on Craig's list (yes he's licensed, I looked him up). His ad said if someone tells you your unit is not repairable to call him. I did and he came out the next day. He found that several of the power connectors were unplugged, even the high voltage one, which was tucked under another component as if someone were trying to hide it. He found a short in the PCB and worked around it to test the unit. He fired it right up. We ran it for over 45 minutes. There was no flame rollout. I examined the heat exchanger personally and saw no holes. The new guy had a CO meter and with the unit running we tested every register in the house. All readings were 0.0. He installed a new PCB and the total for the hour and a half he was there was $330. It's been running fine ever since.
I asked the first company to come back and show where they found the holes. I began to think the pictures I was shown on the phone were not of my heat exchanger. I also heard that the heat exchanger/carbon monoxide/new unit is a common HVAC scam. I asked the 1st contractor if their guy had pulled a bunch of my connectors. He said yes, that "by law, he's required to disable the unit." I looked up IFGC and saw at 108.7.1 that "code officials" can condemn a unit that is hazardous but they must provide a notice in writing. If the code official considers the unit an immediate danger to life or property, they can disconnect it with no notice but must provide one later. I had trouble getting the guys to come to show me the hole and after 5 days of emails & phone calls, I lost my patience with them. I also told them it was unprofessional to disconnect internal power connectors and they had no authority to disconnect my unit but even if they had the authority, they should have cut the disconnect and shut off the gas valve. I think the technician may have damaged the PCB when he pulled connectors.
I've been arguing with the company all day and tonight, I found out the technician who red tagged the unit is not licensed in the state of Alabama. I could not believe it. This guy comes out, performs no tests, condemns my unit and he is not licensed?? He disables the unit in the middle of winter (contrary to IFGC code) and he's not licensed?
I've squawked so loud tonight they said they'd refund my $79.00 but I'm furious at them. I wasted a lot of time looking for units and talking to other contractors. I thought my gas pack was a killing machine. I think if a company is going to disable my unit, the guy that does it should at least be licensed. I believe they disabled my unit to put pressure on me to buy a new one. It's illegal and unethical.
What do you guys think? Am I being a PITA or is this a legitimate concern?