Trane A-Coil replacement labor cost?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

tul9033

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
2,109
Reaction score
41
Location
Tulsa
New house in 2015, this is the 3rd summer for this new Trane unit. It's an upstairs unit. I just got the report from my smart thermostat. Last may unit ran in cool mode 55 hours, this May ran for 195 hours (kids basically live upstairs and I rarely go up there). Called installer, they came out and checked it. Low refrigerant, asked them to find the cause since this unit has had issues since we moved in (TXV, noisy high pressure line, cycling etc). Bottom line, the A-coil is leaking after 2 summers and 1 month. Saw it with my own eyes.
Coil is under warranty, but the labor is on me. Quoted a discounted price of $700 to replace coil, which they claim the majority is refrigerant cost + labor. This is a hard pill to swallow. 2 summers of problems on a new unit and now I'm on the hook for $700 1 month into summer 3. Does this sound reasonable? I was under the impression they recovered the refrigerant and reused it so not sure why the big charge there.
 

tyromeo55

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
May 31, 2007
Messages
4,762
Reaction score
1,338
Location
Tulsa
Considering the PITA job that it is, $700 is a great price on the labor.


Have you ever done one? The case stays in place and the coil pulls right out. Normally it’s not a pain in the ass it’s easy as pie. Just takes time.

$700 is not a horrible price even though it is a hard pill to swallow.

Half days labor is 400-500 Plus $200 ish for Freon (your short on Freon even if you reused what is still there), sill-foss and misc little parts.

I’m going to guess that it is 410a and they are wanting to do an exceptional job

410a Freon is a blend and separates at an uneven rate so the stuff remaining in the system is going to be out of whack. All new is best even though not absolutely nescescary They should put in a new drier since they are opening the system up and POE oil is hygroscopic
 

tul9033

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
2,109
Reaction score
41
Location
Tulsa
Have you ever done one? The case stays in place and the coil pulls right out. Normally it’s not a pain in the ass it’s easy as pie. Just takes time.

$700 is not a horrible price even though it is a hard pill to swallow.

Half days labor is 400-500 Plus $200 ish for Freon (your short on Freon even if you reused what is still there), sill-foss and misc little parts.

I’m going to guess that it is 410a and they are wanting to do an exceptional job

410a Freon is a blend and separates at an uneven rate so the stuff remaining in the system is going to be out of whack. All new is best even though not absolutely nescescary They should put in a new drier since they are opening the system up and POE oil is hygroscopic


Thanks Ty, the freon was in a pink can if that helps. The solder joint that connected to the coil was covered in oil and looks to be leaking there as well. Didn't get any bubbles there, but the sniffer did hit on that area. The pipe insulation around that area was totally saturated with oil.
They did charge the unit to get me cooling.
They initially quoted $1300, but when I called back and questioned the oil around the other solder joints the owner dropped it down to $700. Not that I think they were pulling a fast one, I felt he was trying to make it easier on me.
 
Last edited:

Podman

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Nov 6, 2010
Messages
748
Reaction score
220
Location
Claremore
I had a new Rheem ac and the a-coil sprung a leak after a couple of years. They replaced it for free and has been trouble free
ever since. I would think the Trane guarantee should have got it fixed for free too. I had a choice between Trane or Rheem.
After listening to your problem, I'm glad I picked Rheem. Hope your new coil lasts a long time.
 

saddlebum

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
7,860
Reaction score
3,428
Location
Tulsa
New house in 2015, this is the 3rd summer for this new Trane unit. It's an upstairs unit. I just got the report from my smart thermostat. Last may unit ran in cool mode 55 hours, this May ran for 195 hours (kids basically live upstairs and I rarely go up there). Called installer, they came out and checked it. Low refrigerant, asked them to find the cause since this unit has had issues since we moved in (TXV, noisy high pressure line, cycling etc). Bottom line, the A-coil is leaking after 2 summers and 1 month. Saw it with my own eyes.
Coil is under warranty, but the labor is on me. Quoted a discounted price of $700 to replace coil, which they claim the majority is refrigerant cost + labor. This is a hard pill to swallow. 2 summers of problems on a new unit and now I'm on the hook for $700 1 month into summer 3. Does this sound reasonable? I was under the impression they recovered the refrigerant and reused it so not sure why the big charge there.
Is it in the attic?
 

JD8

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
32,828
Reaction score
45,806
Location
Tulsa
So I JUST had this exact problem and the coil is on its way for our upstairs unit on Monday. My guy is charging $500 for the labor but I just bought a downstairs unit from him too, so there's that.
 

tul9033

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
2,109
Reaction score
41
Location
Tulsa
Is it in the attic?

It is in fact in the attic.

I had a new Rheem ac and the a-coil sprung a leak after a couple of years. They replaced it for free and has been trouble free
ever since. I would think the Trane guarantee should have got it fixed for free too. I had a choice between Trane or Rheem.
After listening to your problem, I'm glad I picked Rheem. Hope your new coil lasts a long time.

I was telling the tech I was surprised a Trane would have these problems (several years of TXV's being bad) as I thought they were one of the best. He said he really liked Rheem. He said Rheem did have a bad year of leaky A coils, but Rheem replaced them parts and labor.
Of course had I bought the extended warranty the labor would be covered.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom