A solo episode of the Ask Derek Cole podcast (Episode 73) in which host Derek Cole answers listener questions about uneven airflow in mobile/double-wide homes (crossover ducts and four-point tie-ins) and why replacing a warranty-covered compressor can still be costly (uninstall/reinstall work, refrigerant recovery/disposal, vacuuming, filter-drier replacement, nitrogen use, labor and equipment costs, and trade-offs between cheap vs. quality installs).
Questions this episode answers
Episode 73.
Derek Cole.
Chapters
Hey, on this episode we talk about not getting airflow in your mobile home. And why is my warranty compressor costing so much? You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show. Hey, this is Derrick Cole. Welcome to episode 73 of the Ask Derek Cole show. Answering your home and energy questions. And yes, we're filming this on a Wednesday. Obviously I was out of town yesterday. Something happened in the background, but we're gonna not pay attention to that. We're actually building on to the back. We're building, we're building in the back. It's the warehouse and we're building offices in the warehouse. So it's kind of weird. So if you hear banging noise or, or anybody screaming, that's why the front part of my mobile home stays cold while the back part gets too hot to sit in. Why is this happening? So with mobile homes, we do a lot of mobile homes, mostly double wides, do a few single wides, but mostly double wides. With the mobile home you have basically, if you can visualize the top of your mobile home looking down from Google space, you have two tracks of duct work and then move on. You have the front track and you have the back track. Now connecting those two tracks is what we call crossover duct. So we go in to replace a system. Often times the crossover needs to be replaced because something has happened to it. So that kind of sounds like what's happened here. You're getting the air on the front, but the crossover duct to go to the second track is not connected or has a hole in it, not getting the air where it needs to go. So that's why you're hotter in that side of the house versus the other side. Also we do a lot of mobile homes is and I talked to a contractor last week about this because he was not aware you could do it. Is we do what we call four point tie in. So we replace. We leave the tracks in the duct because obviously you can't, you know, mess that up. But we put in two boxes on each track so you have four points and then we tie it in so you have better airflow. But to answer that question, it's probably a crossover duct problem which we can handle and look at. And typically when we replace a system, the crossover needs to be replaced. That's why you ladies see that in the notes quite a few times. So we do a double one is because over time it deteriorates, get damaged or has a cat or a squirrel, whatever is under there, messing it up. A What? Ducked? You say deaf. I heard deaf. I said duck. She's a duck person. I'm gonna say duck. I like Oregon ducks too. Alright. Why does it cost so much to replace my warranty compressor? That is a good question. We get that question quite a few times when we have that situation. Just because your compressor is under part warranty, it doesn't mean everything else is covered. Now you get a price. Let's say that's labor, but it's really more than just labor. You actually have to uninstall the old compressor, install new compressor, solder back in made the fittings, get our all the refrigerant out of the system, dispose of it, pay somebody to get rid of it. After you dispose of it at their house, you then take it back here or you pump it into a bigger tank and that tank gets taken away by another company that properly disposes of refrigerant. Because once the compressor is bad or damaged or has a burnout, that refrigerant is no good for it anymore. So all that has to be done. You have machinery to do that with. Obviously the machinery costs money. All that refrigerant disposal costs money. You have to go back with new refrigerant, clean refrigerant, weigh the refrigerant in. You have to use a micron gauge to actually pull a vacuum on the system to make sure there is no air. Anytime you open a closed system like your H Vac, when you do that, they have a filter dryer. Now the dryer catches any impurities in the system before it gets to the critical components. So anytime you open a system that has to be replaced as well. So you go through all these steps to make sure it's installed properly, which probably will take you four or five hours depending on the location. So I've told customers before, you know, why are you this? And this company is this. And this company is this. Look, there's a lot of corners you can cut installing a compressor or a coil or something major like this. You can cut corners. You cannot use a micron gauge. You can leave moisture in the system and not take it out. Okay, it's going to work for a little while and then you have another failure. You cannot properly dispose of refrigerant. I mean a lot of companies, I don't know what to do with the refrigerant, but it's not collected. So they break EPA laws by not collecting and whatever. You know, it's cheaper not to do that. Yes, it's cheaper not to that it's cheaper not to have all this equipment to make sure it's done properly. But it goes back to the reason it costs so much is because, at least for us anyway, it's a quality installation. We stand behind it. So yes, the compressor is under warranty, but there's a lot that goes into replacing a compressor. I mean, it's a critical component. It's the heart of the system that's failed. So to replace it correctly and spend the time to make sure it's done correctly costs money. You have to have all these tools in place. So yes, you can pay for it now. Like I always say, pay for it now or pay for it later, but you're going to pay for it. So if you don't have somebody doing a quality install of that compressor and cutting corners, then you're going to pay for it again sooner than later. So we take the time and do it correctly. Yes, it does cost a lot more money. You have to go through a lot more steps and you have to use things like if you're really interested in this, let's get really identical. If you want a YouTube sorting a unit or sorting copper, you should have, you should be flowing nitrogen in that line. That way you don't have soot and sorter. Everything can pass down in the system. We do that now. Does nitrogen cost money? Yes, it does. So that's another corner you can cut to make the price cheaper. So it goes back to you get what you pay for. I think that's it. Alright, so that's episode 73 of the Ask Derek Cole Show. I kind of got on my horse right there and rode that one out. But the main point being, guys, there's always somebody to do it cheaper. Always somebody that would do it cheaper. But to get cheaper, you have to understand what you're giving up to get cheaper. There's always a trade off. There's price, quality. What are you giving up to get to that cheaper point? So I'm not saying overpay for anything. But then again, if you got to say, okay, this custom, this company's at 200 bucks, this company's at 500 bucks. This company's been around 70 years almost. This company's been around two years. What's missing? What's the difference? Why is there a gap? So see you next time.
