[Poodle Head Mikey]

Sorry about your husband.

A five year old unit should be under warranty.

What is the specific problem with it which makes it "dead".

What size (cooling capacity) is the present system?

If anyone tells you that you need 1 ton of cooling for every square foot of living space - immediately show them the door and close it tight behind them.

Mobile home systems generally have a very small duct system and use a much higher pressure indoor blower to get the required air flow through the smaller sized air ducts.

Matched systems specifically designed to work in mobile homes are readily available.

The place to start is to find out if the present system is under warranty. You can post the model and serial numbers from the indoor and outdoor units here for review.

Second: find a contractor who will repair your existing system or explain in detail why it can't be done.

Third: you need a contractor who will accurately measure and assess your house before accurately calculating the actual heat gain, and so; the required system capacity. Anything else is just somebody's guess.

PHM
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Currently living in a 2100 sq ft double wide. A york system was installed five years ago. It has since died. I have been told the problem was due to the inside unit being one for a stick built and not a mobile home. With that being said I have had three different contractors come out. They all agreed the inside unit needed to be one for a mobile home due to the duct work and something about static and working too hard.

The first contractor gave me a quote for a 3.5 ton lennox system.

The second contractor stated based on square footage I should be using a 4 ton unit and price a trane system.

The third contractor came out and said that the only unit that could properly be installed was a goodman because they were the only ones who matched the inside unit (coleman) with the outside one. And that a 3.5 ton would be fine.

I am at a loss. I really have no idea about any of this. I have tried researching as much as possible but I'm really not having much luck in regards to NC statues (the third contractor said look up 302.1 but that doesn't pull anything up in regards to the issue at hand). This is something my husband would normally take care of but unfortunately he passed away unexpectantly last December.

So is the third contractor correct in that mobile homes require certain inside units in order for them to match the outside unit. The first two contractors never said anything about it, nor did they mention the type of inside unit they would be installing in their quotes, one sates standard air handler, and the other single stage whatever that means.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The current unit is only five years hold and shouldn't even need to be replaced and I don't want to make a poor uneducated decision and be stuck doing this again in another five years

Thanks in advance!

 

[Poodle Head Mikey]

North Carolina USA somewhere.

Or maybe: North Cumberland UK I guess. <g>

PHM
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Where is this mobile home?

 

[Poodle Head Mikey]

I was remembering this post:

"I have tried researching as much as possible but I'm really not having much luck in regards to NC statues (the third contractor said look up 302.1 but that doesn't pull anything up in regards to the issue at hand)."

It just seemed that the NC statues would only apply to a job sited in NC.

On the other hand; what the hell do I know? <g>

 

[Poodle Head Mikey]

It's situations like these that make me wish for that transporter room thing from Star Trek. <g>

I'm sure the problems are minor - but without my hands and eyes on the system there's nothing I can do. <g>

PHM
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I feel the exact same way at this point. HA!

I appreciate everyone's advice. I will try and find a contractor who can possibly address the outside unit and locate the exact problem and see if it is fixable and fix it.

I know last year I had a gentleman out several times to try and locate the problem. He basically kept telling me it was all in my head and the unit was fine. Little did I know he added a can of something to the unit to help it work better and increased the freon levels as well. He charged me for a new thermostat I didn't need and then later after me continually complaining he recommended getting a new inside unit for a mobile home instead of the current one. At this point I was done. All this was just a couple weeks after my husband past and I was so overwhelmed so I just paid the man, then flipped the emergency heat on and got through the winter.

I was finally able to get the gentleman out who installed the unit, who stated the inside unit needed to be cleaned in order to get a proper reading on the outside unit. He stated he would be back the following week but never showed up and I haven't heard from him since. I got another company to come out and clean the inside unit and that was when the compressor on the outside unit broke. That company said because the coils were damaged and I couldn't find service records of regular maintenance on the unit that York wouldn't honor any kind of warranty at all. Of course I am the idiot girl and figured seeings it was the actual owner of the company that he would be honest and do me right.

I've only lived in this area for five years and have no connections with anyone really. I went on the recommendations of others and all have said new units. I have since called other a couple other companies so I will wait to see what they say. In the mean time the window units are working better than the unit itself as ever worked. Again thank you for help and for being patient with me