A quick look at a chronic problem

[Cwik]

So I had a call today (my day off) from the cafe my wife works at. They were complaining that their AC was not keeping up, normally I won't go out moonlighting, but their strapped for cash and I needed breakfast.

The first thing I noticed when I walked up to the condenser was that it was on the inside corner of 2 brick walls, one 40' and one 15' there was a garbage can leaning against the side of the unit and a third wall 15' away made for no airflow in that area whatsoever. the unit was throwing off plenty of heat, its stuffy little corner was probably 30 degrees F warmer then the area in the parking lot nearby. Also the condenser fins where covered with dirt so I hosed it off. The liquid line was hot, about as hot as a cup of coffee, and the suction was somewhat cool.

I took a walk inside, I had a 13 degree delta T, the air filter was very dirty, and the evap. coil was somewhat dusty and had a little mold growing on it. The unit was suspended above a drop ceiling and rather then having the return hooked up to the return vent it was just drawing air from the area above the drop ceiling. (the return vent was just left open) I'm going back to replace the air filter and give the evap coil a quick cleaning, I had to cut my visit short because they were opening up so I was unable to go any further.

The building is pretty old, its poorly insulated, has large windows high ceilings a few stoves in the back.
They said in years past the system has struggled to keep up, it seems to me that on top of a horrible installation the unit might be undersized.

Any thoughts?

[Sledge]

filth and mold? and you eat there?

I would find a new place for breakfast.

[Brian_UK]

"Any Thoughts"

Yes, they don't want to spend any money on the unit, they haven't in the past, so walk away as quickly as you can.

Give them a brief report on what you found, what you've done and what you think needs to be done. But qualify it by stating that they need a 'Company' to look at it and quote for works required.

Do not warranty anything that you have done already.

[icecube51]

hear hear to Brian, whit those people its always the stinky unit that let them down. Never the money the saved on neglect of service. i bet they have a fancy car that needs service on every unidentifiable sound they hear.

Ice

[paul_h]

"Any Thoughts"

Yes, they don't want to spend any money on the unit, they haven't in the past, so walk away as quickly as you can.

Give them a brief report on what you found, what you've done and what you think needs to be done. But qualify it by stating that they need a 'Company' to look at it and quote for works required.

Do not warranty anything that you have done already.
Agree, it's like that because they never get any maintenance done, and probably got the cheapest quote to install it.
They don't care about it, and quoting to spend money on it is a waste of time.
I do get a fair bit of decent work when people sell their businesses and need to get everything fixed as a condition of sale. But aside from that, most jobs are "please get it going cheaply as possible" to "if it breaks down completely, I'll find the cheapest fix to get it going", and shades in between.
Most established businesses aren't that interested in anything that isn't quick and cheap for comfort cooling for customers.
And there's always someone out there willing to oblige on that count, so the quick look at a chronic problem is normal every day stuff that should be left at that :D