Austin Air Companie Blog : Archive for the ‘AC runs and runs’ Category

Air Conditioner Was Recently Installed By Other AC Company And It Is Noisy When It Starts Up

Friday, July 8th, 2022

Quote from Website contact form:

Hi there… I bought a Armstrong Air A/C about a year ago from a friend. From the get-go, when the unit starts up (upon engagement) there’s a loud boom.

I called him (the friend) about three months ago and he installed a hard start device on it. At first, it seemed to quiet the unit a bit but 95% of the time when it starts up it sounds like a shotgun going off.

I contacted Armstrong Air Corp office. All they said basically was to get an A/C guy out to examine it. I don’t see how this units life span will be long, plus it’s loud as heck. Any suggestions? Thank you XXXX.

End Quote.

So I called this guy (the home owner) and we had a lengthy discussion over the phone when it was convenient for me because of ‘time’ which is money in it’s most valuable form. Service isn’t free, time isn’t free and my labor cost doesn’t come from a manufacturer warranty.

The round about way this conversation went from the start is that he (the home owner) needed to get his friend (the person who installed this machine) to fix the problem. That was my suggestion.

He (the home owner) tells me this guy is no longer his friend.

The home owner paid friend for a product / service he didn’t get. Either the friend does the job he was paid to do OR…….. read on.

HVAC Repair Service Katy Texas Choices

You have choices, but if it’s going to involve me it’s going to cost you money. You can ask for suggestions via my contact form but 9 times out of 10 you’re not going to like what I have to say. I may offer you more than one option, each with it’s own set of risks. I am a AC repair man first, if it breaks again? I can probably fix it again under the same set of conditions as before. HVAC repair is my business in Katy, Texas.

It is better for you if you haven’t conflicted yourself with another HVAC contractor. The HVAC industry is changing as it occasionally does and sometimes it changes in ways that are not beneficial to you when you’ve put your trust in a company that doesn’t stand behind the equipment they installed for you.

Call Ray Today at 832-475-6895. 28 years in HVAC as of 2022. 14 Years running my own HVAC Service Company. Learn what 100’s and 100’s of your neighbors already know.

Noise is a complicated subject for a system that I have not inspected. This person was at the time I talked to him looking for a ‘simple’ fix. If this AC only needed a simple fix why didn’t his friend fix it? This circular logic isn’t to degrade anyone it is to offer clarity to the gravity of this particular situation. I warned him in advance that it didn’t sound to me like a simple fix is in his future.

I have installed numerous different air conditioning brands over the years and never once have I been faced with what is likely a compressor sounding like a shot gun blast every time it starts up.

I have no idea what was done when this unit was installed, let alone what was not done that should have been. So because of this it represents a ‘conflict of interest’ for me to become involved in it EXCEPT, that the home owner is willing to pay for whatever solution I offer to correct the issue. The manufacturer doesn’t pay for anything they merely provide a part with even more conditions in some situations.

I wasn’t the installing HVAC contractor to this unit, that is the job of the installing contractor to make this problem right on a AC unit that is about 1 year old as far as I know.

One such solution would be to replace the offending part of the system. The part that is making all the noise. But it’s a new 1 year old AC unit? If I were to replace this compressor under part warranty and the manufacturer determined later this part failure was due to something improper at installation, the manufacturer would have every right to deny the warranty of that compressor.

I then face the risk of being charged for this compressor when it wasn’t my job from the get go. So you understand why this is a conflict of interest. At least I hope you understand.

You have to realize I am here to do things right. It’s a trade mark within my logo. *Done Right*

If I installed the HVAC machine, some of it, part of it and it develops some problem like this I am going to stand behind it and correct it. I spell out what is covered on a warranty and what isn’t. In some unusual cases it *may* cost some money to repair the problem depending largely what is wrong with it and what is involved in fixing it / how long it took for the problem to occur.

There are limitations to every warranty. My job to fulfill a warranty is to ‘make you whole’ when I was the installing HVAC contractor. However, this doesn’t always mean it will be a free repair. Labor, Maintenance, power surges, rodents, refrigerants, equipment use to repair problems are not covered by any manufacturer warranty. Exception: labor is typically covered for 1 year by the installing contractor. Anything above that and you pay for it up front, but that will also come with additional requirements such as prepaid maintenance contracts to maintain the equipment. If those maintenance appointments are not performed, that extended labor warranty won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on.

What I spell out here is fact (truth). If you want a gimmick, you’re not going to find it here.

Refrigerants (Freon)

The refrigerant your system uses R410a has shot up in the realm of 325-340% since a year ago. (2022) Manufacturers do not cover refrigerant, even if I am replacing a compressor under a warranty for a unit that I am not responsible for. No I am not going to reuse the refrigerant in your current system because that refrigerant could be the cause of what is wrong with the system, or lead to that cause.

Does this mean I am not compassionate? No. I understand this home owner paid for a product and he didn’t get what he paid for.

If I have said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times that the installation of the AC unit is the most important part. It’s not just what you know, it’s also what you should know but don’t realize.

Sharing is caring. I share this subject freely to help you the home owner make wiser decisions. I give you choices. Currently this home owner has decided to do nothing, because he paid for a product & service he didn’t get from a different HVAC contractor.

If he decides to later use my services to correct this problem, I’m almost certainly likely to include this subject on an upcoming video on my YouTube Channel.

I gave him (the home owner) a choice, pay more money to me to investigate with a full fledge warning in advance based on my experience of 28 years that likely what I recommend to him isn’t going to be something he will like monetarily.

If Austin Air Companie is going to do some work for you, that work is something I am going to stand behind. Does that mean there will never be any more additional cost? No. I am well aware of the gimmicks floating around out there.

If they aren’t gimmicks there wouldn’t have been any need for this home owner to contact me this way.

Thank you for visiting with me today. I hope at the very least this AC blog post has offered some clarity and the importance of who you choose to maintain, service, repair & replace your home HVAC system.

As always I hope your day is comfortable.

About the Author of this Katy, Texas Air Conditioning Blog:

My name is Ray Austin owner/operator of Austin Air Companie a small HVAC service company that services the Katy, Texas area and some surrounding areas. I write my own blogs, I make my own videos, No investors, no intimidation to tell you like it is. My HVAC career is 28 years long, 14 of which running and operating my own HVAC service company.

If you call me, you will get me. There is no technician roulette wheel to spin here at Austin Air Companie. Call Ray Today! 832-475-6895

Did you know that HVAC is often times a game of cat and mouse? You see early on in my HVAC career I was forced to run calls for free. Because the managers / owners of the company I worked for were into games of tricking people. The advertisements were geared toward making the phone ring (promising free this or that). Then to make those advertisements pay off I was told to sell new HVAC systems. You have to do that to pay for those fancy advertisements from the TV. In 2022 advertising costs are even higher not to mention the cost of everything else.

If you are calling me I will inform you of all choices after inspecting your HVAC system(s) even repairing your air conditioner if that option makes sense. I am skilled in working for you, not just recommending something that is only beneficial to me. It’s about providing you an air conditioning service that you can rely on. I will do my best to explain the risks of doing what you decide to do. That is what a skilled HVAC contractor can do for you.

If I ran service calls for free now with gas prices where they are up over $4 a gallon currently (2022). That isn’t wise financially. I have to remain in business to serve the customers I have already. As I lay out things that are changing in the HVAC industry in this Katy Texas AC Blog post you need a skilled HVAC contractor more than ever. Unless of course you are naturally wealthy and can afford to replace your AC equipment over and over again.

The choice is yours to make. I lay it out for you then you choose what you think is best for you and your situation. If something else happens? Call me again. You will always need a good HVAC repair man, more so now than any other time before.

Anyone can say anything on the internet. I am well aware of that so I provide you some proof below that I can silence your air conditioning noise. The unit in the video below was much older. I was called out long after it had started making all kinds of racket. The unit shown in the below video made this racket for years, until it finally gave up the battle on a very hot summer day a few years ago….

Watch me fix the noisy Air Conditioner in the video below. I’ve been out to this house several times since this unit was fixed, repairing other parts of this HVAC system. The unit is still as quiet as it was the day I installed it.

You will always need a good HVAC repair man.

Austin Air Companie is the HOME of Better AC Service…. WELCOME HOME.

Call Ray Today at 832-475-6895

Tags: AC Freon leaks, AC repair Katy Texas, Air conditioner noises, Noisy AC unit
Posted in AC Equipment Installation, AC problems, AC runs and runs, AC system will not turn on, AC will not shut off, Air Conditioner does not turn on, Air Conditioning, Air Conditioning Freon Leaks, Air Conditioning Maintenance, Air Conditioning Pro, Air Conditioning Repair, Air Conditioning Specialist, Better home comfort, High Electric Bills, Home Improvement, HVAC Contractor, No AC Salesmen, No Technicians, noisy air conditioner, Professional AC Repair, R22 Freon & R410a Puron Leaks, Uncategorized, Working HVAC Contractor | Comments Off on Air Conditioner Was Recently Installed By Other AC Company And It Is Noisy When It Starts Up

R22 Freon Ban AND R410a Puron Phase Down 2022

Thursday, May 5th, 2022

R22 Freon Ban

So I believe most everyone knows by now of this R22 Freon Ban a popular refrigerant that was used in air conditioners across the USA for the better part of the last 40 years or so. I still to this day find these machines and the result is often to replace this with air conditioners that use the newer refrigerant R410a Puron, that is often confused with the latter.

Up until about a few years ago it was sometimes feasible to just repair an R22 Freon machine, however this refrigerant has now become so costly it is almost always better to replace the equipment for a new air conditioner that uses R410a Puron. R22 Freon was banned because the chemicals in which it is made from contain chlorine and it was deemed unfriendly to the ozone layer in the atmosphere where it was cutting holes in that layer. (A layer in the stratosphere that protects the earth from UV rays of the sun)

R410a Puron Phase Down

R410a is set to be phased down for entirely different reasons than destruction of the ozone layer. There was an amendment to the Montreal Protocol in 2016 known as the Kigali Amendment. The reason why you may not have heard or know of this until now is that due to Trump being elected US President later in 2016 of that year the Trump adminstration ignored the Kigali Amendment thru out his adminstration.

What one adminstration can ignore, another can change course and expedite things under a Global Warming national emergency header. However, as I share this topic and delve deeper into where things are one thing will become abundantly clear. There is no perfect solution to this problem. It’s primarily a cat and mouse game at this point. (As of May 2022 things don’t look that great.)

In an attempt to give you a clear understanding of this topic I made a video what / how / why and when this is due. This video below is only a starting point to show how we got to this point. Video embedded below.

The cost of R22 Freon is primarily what is driving new replacements of air conditioners in my area of Katy, Texas which is a hot climate in which we run our air conditioners 9-10 months of the year most years. The con in all of this is you won’t live in Katy, Texas climate without air conditioning.

So essentially any AC you buy in 2022 will come with R410a. There’s no problem in that just on it’s own provided of course that new unit doesn’t spring a refrigerant leak. Oh well I have a warranty so you might think you’re ok until you dig out that warranty certificate to find out refrigerants are not covered by any manufacturer.

Refrigerant Wars

There are so many ways to slice and dice this… there are no easy answers I can assure you of that. So what can you do?

Educate yourself, I lay it out for you cut and dry this subject will be long. Don’t do your homework plan on an empty wallet no other way around that. If spending hours trying to educate yourself on such things is not your thing and you live in the Katy, Texas area? You could call me my name again is Ray Austin. Your own personal easy button. I will lay out your options for you considering your situation (whatever that may entail).
Call me at 832-475-6895

Here is the start of a multi part discussion of possible future refrigerants, each of which will require new air conditioning equipment. No free lunch here. I decided to call this Freon Wars and you’ll see why as I post additional parts to this blog post.

Here is the second part 2b to refrigerant (freon) wars saga.

Here is the third part 2c to refrigerant (freon) wars saga.

Stay tuned / book mark this post as I will update it as things move along. Should know more the closer we get to 2023. Thanks for watching and thank you for visiting with me today.

There’s been some interesting developments for 2023 and due to what I believe is a turn for the worse I decided to make a new post to continue this subject. You can find this 2023 update to the Freon Wars saga by clicking here.

About the Author of this blog post:
My name is Ray Austin owner/operator of Austin Air Companie a small HVAC service company that services the Katy, Texas area and some surrounding areas. I write my own blogs, I make my own videos, No investors, no intimidation to tell you like it is. My HVAC career is 28 years long, 14 of which running and operating my own HVAC service company.

If you call me, you will get me. There is no technician roulette wheel to spin here at Austin Air Companie.

Did you know that HVAC is often times a game of cat and mouse? You see early on in my HVAC career I was forced to run calls for free. Because the managers / owners of the company I worked for were into games of tricking people. The advertisements were geared toward making the phone ring (promising free this or that). Then to make those advertisements pay off I was told to sell new systems. You have to do that to pay for those fancy advertisements from the TV. In 2022 advertising costs are even higher not to mention the cost of everything.

If you are calling me I will inform you of all choices even repairing your air conditioner. I am skilled in working for you, not just recommending something that is only beneficial to me. It’s about providing you an air conditioning service that you can rely on. I will do my best to explain the risks of doing what you decide to do. That is what a skilled HVAC contractor can do for you.

If I ran service calls for free now with gas prices where they are up over $4 a gallon currently. That isn’t wise financially. I have to remain in business to serve the customers I have already. As I lay out things that are changing in the HVAC industry in this Katy Texas AC Blog post you need a skilled HVAC contractor more than ever. Unless of course you are naturally wealthy and can afford to replace your AC equipment over and over again.

Tags: AC Freon leaks, Freon phase out, Kigali Amendment, puron phase out, R410a refrigerant ban
Posted in AC does not turn on, AC Equipment Installation, AC just runs and runs, AC problems, AC Repair, AC runs and runs, AC will not shut off, Air Conditioner does not turn on, Air Conditioning, Air Conditioning Freon Leaks, Air Conditioning Pro, Air Conditioning Repair, Air Conditioning Specialist, High Electric Bills, Home Improvement, HVAC Contractor, No AC Salesmen, No Technicians, R22 Freon & R410a Puron Leaks, R22 Freon Problems, Uncategorized, Working HVAC Contractor | Comments Off on R22 Freon Ban AND R410a Puron Phase Down 2022

Air Conditioner Runs And Runs Does Not Shut Off

Thursday, May 17th, 2018

This is a very common air conditioning ‘symptom’ but the solution for this symptom isn’t always the same for every air conditioner that suffers from this kind of symptom or deficiency if you will. To understand this better you have to realize the function of what an air conditioner does.

There Is No Such Thing As Cold

Whoa, hold the phone! No such thing as cold, you’re kidding right? No. There is only heat and the absence of heat is cold, but the proper term would be less heat. There is heat to some degree in air down to -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. This is defined as Absolute Zero. The point in which there is no heat or if you prefer: the lowest temperature that is theoretically possible, at which the motion of particles that constitutes heat would be minimal.

absolute zero definition

My AC Just Runs And Runs

How this relates to your air conditioner is that if there is too much heat your AC system will run and run and run, because the thermostat is what cycles your air conditioner off. You may get some cooling from your AC system, but the air coming from the vents may not seem that cool during the heat of the day. This could be due to mechanical means as much as dirt clogging things up or thermal breaks in your hot attic that are contributing to causing your air conditioner to struggle to removing the heat from your home.

In some cases your AC system may be at fault, while other times it may be something else. In our climate of Katy, Texas (a west Houston suburb) our residential HVAC system design parameters for air conditioning is 95 degree outdoor and 75 degree indoor. People move to this climate every year and are often accustomed to lower indoor temps, this can also influence a lot of these kinds of problems because just setting the dial to a number doesn’t necessarily mean your system will be able to achieve ‘the number’ under all HVAC load conditions. This is really best explained within the home after the AC system has been inspected for potential trouble spots.

AC Air Blockage Causes Problems

AC Not Cooling Enough (AC Low Cool)

You see, your AC system operates by removing heat (commonly referred to as a load or heating load) from inside your home and expelling this heat outside your home. If your AC is running normal, you should feel warm air coming from the top of the outdoor condenser unit that sits outside your home. That warm air is from your home. If your AC condenser is really hot, this is typically not a good condition and should be checked.

An AC system is only as good as its greatest weakness. I can only check to see what the weakness of your AC system might be in person. Typically if an AC is not cooling properly it is generally a capacity type issue of some kind. These issues vary and is yet only another reason why the HVAC system must be inspected in person.

Proper Air Conditioning Maintenance Service

There are a myriad of reasons an air conditioner displays these kinds of symptoms. Dirty filters, Improper filtration (restriction), thermal envelope breaks, lack of ‘proper’ maintenance, lack of ‘proper’ repairs, mechanical problems , dirty coils, improperly sized (duct work, equipment), improperly designed (using zoning improperly, duct system problems etc.), improper refrigerant charge (either low charge or too much) and the list goes on and on.

If your HVAC system is exhibiting symptoms of what is being described in this Katy, Texas Air Conditioning Blog:

Then your AC system should be checked and diagnosed by a HVAC ‘licensed’ pro in person. Usually this can be accomplished by an AC systems check or as part of an annual maintenance visit. My company doesn’t use technicians. I am a Texas licensed HVAC contractor TACLB28416E with 23 years experience as of 2018. I will personally come to your home to diagnose your system.

By signing up on an annual maintenance contract you get on a program to have regular maintenance performed on your HVAC system by a licensed Air Conditioning and Heating Professional, I will keep track of it and call you when it’s time to check your system(s). This service is only available to homeowner’s who sign up on an annual twice a year maintenance contract. (Residential)

The kinds of problems mentioned within this Katy, Texas Air Conditioning article can effect any AC system of any age or brand. This is why an annual HVAC maintenance plan is recommended by all HVAC manufacturers. Problems like these don’t always mean the system ‘has’ to be replaced to fix these kinds of problems. But this is rarely a one size fits all kind of problem. Sometimes the system can be repaired and in some cases it may require partial replacement and there are other cases in which it is better to replace the whole system because the condition of the equipment is such that it’s not worth the risk to repair only to have it break down again / or there is some AC system design problem that can’t be repaired any other way.

I often give multiple options to repair and or replace. On rare occasions it can be my opinion that only replacement is the best option. Realize this is 23 years of experience talking. My goal is always to fix the problem the best way possible and move on, sometime those options are extremely limited. It serves no purpose to repair your AC system only to have a slew of additional problems. I lean on my 23 years of experience in dealing with these kinds of issues. It’s completely up to you if you wish to trust that judgment or not.

R22 Freon Production Ban

If you haven’t heard of this R22 refrigerant ban by now you’re in for a treat. Well, not really. This little fact only complicates and confuses an otherwise already challenging Air Conditioning repair market. In some cases, AC systems that use R22 Freon as the refrigerant of the system in question may make repair options much more costly now and even more so in the future.

Currently it is best to have these kinds of discussions in person with me, as not all situations are created equal, and time can and does change various things like costs and in some cases new emerging technology. I can come up with a plan to deal with this effectively to transition your home away from relying on R22 Freon (refrigerant) to cool your home. However, there isn’t some magical process that doesn’t include replacing equipment, so you have to be ‘realistic’. The R22 production ban takes effect Dec. 31, 2019.

While I expect to be able to still buy R22 refrigerant after this date the cost will most likely be much higher than it is today (2018). Because of the climate in which I do business. (Hot & Humid, up to 10 months of the year) I do not endorse or use alternative refrigerants that reduce capacity / increase utility costs / higher likelihood of compressor damage and so on for the High Temperature application for which R22 and R410a refrigerants were designed for. If your system was designed for R22, that is the type of refrigerant I use. I do not reuse old refrigerant, I reclaim it and return it to refrigerant reclaim center. All refrigerant placed in your AC system is the proper type of virgin quality refrigerant that your AC system needs.

Reused refrigerant could be contaminated by acids. These acids form naturally in an AC system that runs ‘hot’. If I pull refrigerant from someone else’s system that is contaminated place it in my reclaim tank, that tank is now contaminated. Refrigerant that is acidic will eat the windings of your poor old compressor. The repair (if any) will be short lived. In some cases the damage may already have been done to some extent before I even arrive on the scene.

Do you live in or near Katy, Texas | Cypress, Texas | Richmond, Texas? If you do you can call me personally at 832~475~6895 (My name is Ray Austin) and schedule your AC system check up and maybe set your systems up on a better preventive maintenance cycle and cover your systems on my twice a year maintenance contracts. That way I will remind you when it’s time to get your HVAC system(s) checked. I will help you stay on top of these AC maintenance issues that pop up from time to time to limit these kinds of problems from appearing in the first place.

Thank you for visiting with me today. I hope your day is comfortable.

About the author of this blog:
My name is Ray Austin. I am the owner and operator of Austin Air Companie, a HVAC Service Company serving Katy, Texas | Cypress, Texas | Richmond, Texas and some surrounding areas. I am a Texas Licensed HVAC Contractor with 23 years experience in Air Conditioning and Heating Systems (TACLB28416E). I hold an AOS degree in HVAC/R, EPA universally certified to handle any refrigerant and NATE certified in HVAC installations and repairs.

About Austin Air Companie: Celebrating 10 years in 2018.

Austin Air Companie Celebrates 10 Years

Austin Air Companie

832-475-6895

“Your home comfort from A to Z”

Air Conditioning | Controls | Heating | Zoning

For more information you can always visit me on my main website at:

www.austinairco.com