Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Need Some Help on Heat Pump Repair Issue

The heat pump system for our first floor stopped working last night. The air handler was running but the outside unit was not. Repair guy was just here and said that the compressor was grounded and needs replacement. The good news is that the compressor is under warranty. The bad news is that the repair guy says that when a compressor goes, it burns oil and all the R-22 needs to be replaced. The R-22 is not covered by the warranty, I need 25 pounds of the stuff and thanks to our Government, it is now very expensive.

He is supposed to come back later today to complete the repair. I checked the plate on the unit and it says that the factory charge is 400 ounces. My question is, does the R-22 really need to be replaced or can it be captured and re-installed after the repair? Also, If the compressor is under warranty, shouldn't the manufacturer be responsible for the R-22 it damaged when it went to ground?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer on this.

If the compressor took a sh*t, trash would be sent in the lines.Yes, a flush would be in order.
Not uncommon for a part to be warrantied and no further damaged parts. Sucks but that's the way it is sometimes.
The compressor mfg. may also require that the system be flushed/recharged for warranty.(not at their expense though) figure that one out.But a nicely worded e-mail or letter to the comp.mfg, may get you some help. Never know until you try. only be out the price of an e-mail stamp.
Good luck!

Thanks, LRoy. Just got off of the phone with the manufacturer. First guy I spoke with was polite, said the warranty did not cover the R-22 but he understood why I thought that they should help with the repair since the part under warranty damaged the coolant. He offered to transfer me to a senior rep. After holding for a few minutes, I spoke to a woman whose job was to say "no coverage." She knew nothing about heat pumps, R-22, or what happens when a compressor craps out. However, she DID know how to keep saying "no."

Oh well...

400 ounces of R-22? Wow, must be a pretty good sized system. Keep in mind that it may take a little more than that if the line set is long.

We have these stupid high ceilings on the first floor that were so popular when the house was built. Lots of useless cubic feet of air to cool. Fortunately, it is a short line set.

It is a Comfortmaker unit made by International Comfort Products LLC. The Air repair guy said they use more R-22 than other manufacturers for some reason. Just my luck. Anyway, it is working again and my wallet is $1200 lighter. Could have bought a nice AR.

The reason the R-22 had to be replaced is that when it gets cooked by the grounding it becomes acidic. You don't want that in the system.

Have the tech use NU-22. Hell of a lot cheaper than R-22.

I think they're blowing smoke up your ass. I've never in all my years seen a residential split system 5 ton and under use 25lbs of refrigerant.

Jim

Reread your post. 400 ounces that's a new one for me. Must be a high SEER unit with one hell of a big condenser.

I'm with JAP. 400onces seems crazy to me.
I'll have to look in a couple of manuals but with a short lineset I would guess its more like 1/2 that.

It is a Comfortmaker SoftSound 1400+. The plate with the model number and serial number states that the factory charge is 400 ounces. Model number is CHP460AKC2.