choice of compressors and service

[giovanni]

Thanks guys for all the responses. All of you hit it right on the head. "POOR MAINTAINENCE" On our Carrier 30GT unit...
Service crew only responded when we had a problem. Only once a year for maintenance and that was only to clean the fins. I later learned to clean them once a week with plain water but the damage was done. Their cleaner was too caustic and caused severe damage to fins years ago before my time there. On one of our service calls at night the machinery had gone down and when the owner of the service company responded and saw me reading the operating and trouble code manual and said " why are you wasting your time with that" I knew we were in trouble.
We went back to Carrier for service and maintenance but it was a little too late. We now have a rental unit (trane 200 ton with 2 screws, I think they bought out a small division of trane units) which is doing fine. We will probably get a permanent unit from Carrier once the engineers size up the building. I think it might be a 30GX with screws.

Thanks for all the help and tips from everyone. Reading other posts from this site regarding maintenance, oil changes and checking the quality of oil after changing it and other matters really has helped in our decision.
Fortunately the owner and manager has learned that trying to save a few dollars changing service companies ( we will stick with the manufacturer for service and maintenance) costs alot more in the long run.

Just a tidbit of information for anyone who has thought of it.... We were sold a bit of goods on compressor "snake oil --- compress sheild" and of course the guarantee of picking up 70 to 100 tons of cooling and a year guarantee on all 7 compressors. Well in a period of 5 to 12 months 3 compressors went south and in that time didnt see any increase in operating quality or savings on electric costs. Just food for thought......

Thanks again

[Brian_UK]

Thanks for the update Giovanni and glad that the problems are getting resolved.

[US Iceman]

Just a tidbit of information for anyone who has thought of it.... We were sold a bit of goods on compressor "snake oil --- compress sheild" and of course the guarantee of picking up 70 to 100 tons of cooling and a year guarantee on all 7 compressors. Well in a period of 5 to 12 months 3 compressors went south and in that time didnt see any increase in operating quality or savings on electric costs.

Have you asked the firm who sold this "wonder chemical" to fulfill their warranty?

If it sounds to good to be true, then it is extremely questionable. The very definition of "snake oil" salesmen.

[giovanni]

US Iceman, of course after purchasing the product I was asked to do some research. I found theri site on the web and some US energy sites trying to verify the validity of the stuff... once again to much to late... The sell was a good one I must say. The owner sort of got an even swap when they wouldnt replace the compressor until the snake oil was paid for. So I guess you could say it was a wash

[giovanni]

Brian it was a very costly learning experience for them. As the saying goes you get what you pay for. As of now they put me in charge of the system and will make most of the decisions. At least they will listen to my input this time around... Dont know if I want that responsibility. LOL