[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by fine69

.... or get rid of it altogether and get all Daikin Splits in every room.

In my humble opinion that would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by fine69

The AC will complete 5 years in a few months. Today morning after he replaced the capacitor the AC continued at a very low fan speed, only to die down in another half an hour.

I've logged a breakdown ticket with Hitachi and for now I have no option but to change the motor.

However, is spending 5-6k every 5 years too bad for a window AC? I'll be shifting to my new house in another 2-3 months and I wasn't sure whether to keep it in the 3rd room as a backup or get rid of it altogether and get all Daikin Splits in every room.

If he replaced a capacitor then it is an AC fan motor and that costs quite less, about 2K, you can even get it rewound for less than 800/. Do you have the model which has one or two fan motors? Our older Hitachi has two fan motors, one for front condenser, which remains on all the time and another for the rear condenser which switches on/off with compressor.

Most of the current generations of Window AC will not last 10 years without major overhaul - condenser, gas and fans, so in my opinion it is not worth while retaining them once the 5 years of warranty on compressor ends. In contrast most of the split AC are built better and due to their thermal design last much longer.

[fine69]

6k for the motor and it was not the DC motor. They took 3k in advance and would replace the motor tomorrow.

I've decided to switch to Daikin inverter split for the new house, the one at our factory is doing great. Will use this window AC as a backup in the 3rd room that would primarily be a guest room

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Our Sharp saga is still rumbling on.

If nothing fixed by then I'll just go out and buy the new machine I'm hankering after anyway.

I thought you went for a seconds? Anyway, like you say, the place is a lot bearable these days. Do let us know what you finally decide upon.

The repair guy is giving his best I see but hope you have good reason for prolonging your company with the unreliable machine.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I thought you went for a seconds?

The plan changed after that. Twice!

(That should probably be a frustration smiley!)

[aravind.anand]

Got a 1.2 ton Whirlpool split AC in 2014, which cost me 42k back then. But with me shifting houses frequently, I have spent close to 10K on this AC for copper tubes and refrigerant refill. Now it isn't working now once again (last gas refill was about 40 days ago), and the AC service guy wants me to spend 8K and change the entire coil to copper coil (Aluminium presently)

Any pointers if I am being taken for a ride ?

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Any pointers if I am being taken for a ride ?

Not able to help here much, but do know one thing, if shifting houses, insist on a window AC, it does not require filling of refrigerant gas when you shift it unlike split AC.

[Kestrel5915]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Got a 1.2 ton Whirlpool split AC in 2014, which cost me 42k back then. But with me shifting houses frequently, I have spent close to 10K on this AC for copper tubes and refrigerant refill. Now it isn't working now once again (last gas refill was about 40 days ago), and the AC service guy wants me to spend 8K and change the entire coil to copper coil (Aluminium presently)

Any pointers if I am being taken for a ride ?

What exactly is not working in the AC?

If you suspect a leak then ask him to pin point the leak before changing the complete coil.
That way you'll know whether the coil is bad or not.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Not able to help here much, but do know one thing, if shifting houses, insist on a window AC, it does not require filling of refrigerant gas when you shift it unlike split AC.

If done by properly trained technicians a split AC can also be moved from one house to the next without need of a gas top-up. The gas needs to be completely pumped down into the outdoor unit. This is something most technicians don't do because it is in their interest to charge for a gas top-up.

[rm_arjuna]

issue was diagonsed as low gas pressure which had to be topped up and also all pipes were covered with insulation . Extreme heat coupled with low gas pressure was causing rapid condensation was the diagonsis as per a/c mechanic .

[SanjayDalal]

The Hitachi 1.0 ton window AC in the master bedroom has not been cooling properly for the last one month. (right in the peak of summer).
Since it had already given us 18 years , no typo here, 18 years of absolutely trouble free service , I decided to scrap it and replaced it with a Blue Star AC (3 star rated) four days ago.
The logic being , technology will have progressed in these past 18 years and hopefully there will be some saving in the electric bill

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by SanjayDalal

....
The logic being , technology will have progressed in these past 18 years and hopefully there will be some saving in the electric bill

It is sad fact of life that in modern day scenario the lower electricity bills are offset by higher repair bills.

An 18 year old AC would have practically no electronics, so rate of failure is low as the mechanicals are quite robust. In contrast the modern AC are quire vulnerable to power quality and in my experience the most failures are either the electronics. The motors of Fans and swings in modern AC are also quite delicate and fail at a regular interval.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

If done by properly trained technicians a split AC can also be moved from one house to the next without need of a gas top-up. The gas needs to be completely pumped down into the outdoor unit. This is something most technicians don't do because it is in their interest to charge for a gas top-up.

Absolutely, my Daikin Split in the factory has been shifted thrice without the need of any top-up even once.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by SanjayDalal

....
The logic being , technology will have progressed in these past 18 years and hopefully there will be some saving in the electric bill

Not quite. I am posting this photo of my 13 years old LG 2 ton split versus a 2 years old LG 1 ton split. The top two meters (blue) show the wattage that each is pulling. The difference per ton is barely 80 watts, and that too because the 2 ton unit had been on for only an hour and the living room had not yet reached optimal temperature, whereas the 1 ton unit had been on for 6 hours in my tiny study which was at steady-state temperature.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Not able to help here much, but do know one thing, if shifting houses, insist on a window AC, it does not require filling of refrigerant gas when you shift it unlike split AC.

Yes, could be true. But most owners of modern flats show the door, if you tell the that you have a window AC, and you would be fitting it at their house

Originally Posted by Kestrel5915

What exactly is not working in the AC?

If you suspect a leak then ask him to pin point the leak before changing the complete coil.
That way you'll know whether the coil is bad or not.

The AC blower runs and keeps throwing warm air like from a fan - absolutely no cooling effect.
AC mechanic says he cant spot a leak in the aluminium coil. Such spotting and rectification is possible on copper coils alone, and he needs 8K to convert mine to a copper coil unit.

PS: I noticed (while washing my car last weekend) that even our cars come with aluminium coil, and they take the abuse and they do last, so this 'aluminium coils don't last long' theory of the AC mechanic makes no sense to me now!

Originally Posted by Aroy

It is sad fact of life that in modern day scenario the lower electricity bills are offset by higher repair bills.

Very well said! Not just the AC, even the washing machine my mom bought 20 years ago lasted till last year at our house, and even now serves at our servant's house. Not a single issue with that old work horse..!