Carrier Heat Pump Repeated Problems

by Clague
(Sanford, NC)

Installed Oct 2009, Model 25HN09 $12,933.

April 2, 2010 first use of AC not working.

April 5, 2010 problem diagnosed. Blown compressor.

April 12, New compressor installed. Installer left, unit still not working.

April 20, 2010. Puron was a "tad low". Unit worked well through the cooling season.

Early April 2011. Unit seemed not to be working. 80's indoor and 50's outside. Tried to cool, de-humidify house, did not work.

April 11, 2011...hot and humid. AC fails to cool house, temperature actually rose when unit came at 78 degrees, continued to climb with unit running. No cool air at vents. Outdoor unit is normally whisper quiet and is making a lot of noise.

10 year warranty. Emailed service team. Told to call 800 #. 800 number took info and transfers me to service. Service tells me NO SERVICE CONTRACT. I blew a fuse, but I am really only dealing with the service writer. Service will be out tomorrow to assess situation.

They do not tell you when you buy that you need to pay $200 per year for a service contract to cover costs in case it needs fixing. They only cover parts and won't tell you what the parts cost.

I will update and keep ya posted.

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Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Do not recommend. NEW
by: Anonymous

We have a Carrier heat pump and it is rare to go two full years without some sort of problem. Our home before this had the same failure rate. I do not recommend.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Cmpressor NEW
by: Anonymous

So I have read all of these stories, why hasn't anyone stared a class action?? Clear.ly the compressors are an issue, I am on my second one
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		2 speed compressors NEW
by: Anonymous

Do not ever buy a 2 stage condensing unit from any manufacturere. They are all prone to failure, often. The heat pump 2 stage usint work a little better than the 2 stage cooling only but they still fail. The top of the line Carrier heat pumps with the variable frequency drives are the best units out there. I got rid of my 2 speed units due to multiple failures. The energy savings and comfort increases I am seeing with the carrier Infinity variable speed compresors is very noticible.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		carrier infinity means infinity of problems NEW
by: Anonymous

3rd compressor on a Carrier Infinity. Will NEVER buy Carrier again
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier is Garbage NEW
by: Anonymous

We bought a brand new house in June 2015 with 2 Carrier HVAC units. Less than 16 months later, one of them is completely blown and has to be replaced. Parts are covered, but labor, which is quite substantial, is not. No one should buy their inferior products. Not only are they moving their manufacturing to Mexico, their products are complete junk.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier Equipment is garbage NEW
by: Adrienne Scott

We installed a new expensive Carrier heat pump/AC system in 2002. Over 14 years we had to replace the Bristol compressor 10 times. The compressor failed again this year (2016) and the HVAC service company said they can't replace the Bristol compressor due to a lawsuit, so we had to replace our whole system. We would never install Carrier again. Carrier charges huge, but gives you junk. If we hadn't taken out a $900 10-year labor charge warranty, we would have been out thousands of dollars to replace 10 compressors. Don't ever buy Carrier! They are no longer using Bristol compressors, but the substitute compressor brand is reputed to be just as bad.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Bristol compressor NEW
by: Anonymous

We have 4 units. Every summer we have had to replace a compressor. This is just not acceptable and is bad business. Does anyone have a class action lawsuit going regarding this?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier, 5 compressors in 5 years NEW
by: Anonymous

We bought a "Cadillac" Carrier Infinity 4 ton system in 2008 from Florida contractor Del-Air for our Orlando home for over $9,000. (The Del-Air salesman assured me that Carrier was better than Trane because the parts are made in America. He even said he had the same unit and loved it.) We have had nothing but problems. Today Del-Air is here installing our 5th compressor (Bristol). Since 2008 they have replaced the thermostat twice, expansion valves twice, the coil and blower motor, the start relay and capacitor more than once. The repairs have been CONSTANT. And in Florida the compressors always blow in June or July and it ALWAYS takes Del-Air 2 or 3 days to approve, order and install (even though we have a twice-a-year, high-end maintenance agreement), so we are in a 98 degree house waiting with suffering pets. This is completely unacceptable, especially now knowing that Carrier and Del-Air know the compressors are bad. It is outrageous they are suggesting that customers pay another $1,000 to change the outside unit to accommodate a different compressor brand. This is their screw-up, not ours. Can you say class action lawsuit? I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY CARRIER, NOR SHOULD YOU!
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier, 5 compressors in 5 years NEW
by: Anonymous

We bought a "Cadillac" Carrier Infinity 4 ton system in 2008 from Florida contractor Del-Air for our Orlando home for over $9,000. (The Del-Air salesman assured me that Carrier was better than Trane because the parts are made in America. He even said he had the same unit and loved it.) We have had nothing but problems. Today Del-Air is here installing our 5th compressor (Bristol). Since 2008 they have replaced the thermostat twice, expansion valves twice, the coil and blower motor, the start relay and capacitor more than once. The repairs have been CONSTANT. And in Florida the compressors always blow in June or July and it ALWAYS takes Del-Air 2 or 3 days to approve, order and install (even though we have a twice-a-year, high-end maintenance agreement), so we are in a 98 degree house waiting with suffering pets. This is completely unacceptable, especially now knowing that Carrier and Del-Air know the compressors are bad. It is outrageous they are suggesting that customers pay another $1,000 to change the outside unit to accommodate a different compressor brand. This is their screw-up, not ours. Can you say class action lawsuit? I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY CARRIER, NOR SHOULD YOU!
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Another Carrier Infinity Compressor Failure NEW
by: Anonymous

We have a 4 ton Carrier Infinity AV/Heat Pump. THe unit has been in place just under seven years. Unit worked fine until last week when the Compressor would start to spin up then stop. Tech came out and replaced starter capacitor in AM. Unit exhibited same issues three hours later - fan would start to spin up then stop. Second tech came out (experienced with Carrier Infinity units) spent about an hour out there, replaced the starter capacitor again but experienced same issue off spin-up/stall. Came in and basically said that Carrier used a crap compressor (Bristol) which would be replaced under warranty or we could spend in the neighborhood of $1000 to get a new compressor unit with a Copeland compressor. The latter is the option he thought was better since the Bristol would fail again in the future. For a $9600 unit you think Carrier would stand up and replace the failed units for early adoptors given this is a known issue. Anyway, this is a warning to potential buyers that you need to ask which scroll compressor your unit will come with Bristol or Copeland. Forewarned is forearmed.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier equipment failure
by: Vince Nardini

I install over 100 Carrier condensors a year, I cant help to think many of these failures are installation related. I see many of these units that have failures installed by Sears.

From my experience if its installed correctly and you commission your job afterwards about any brand including the cheap low quality ones will be reliable.

Im a HVAC contractor for 29 years and If I had failures all I would be doing is warranty work. I cover labor on any warranty repair , your contractor should as well.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Recap of crummy Carrier Heat pump March 2012
by: Clague

Installed October 2009

Spring 2010 blown compressor - part & labor under warranty

Spring 2011 Blown compressor - part warranty, labor not charged (Sears). Service contract purchased for $361 per year.

March 15, 2012. Compressor making loud noise. Unit not cooling. Service call placed. Sears Blue will inspect on March 17 between 8am-5pm, that is the best estimate they could give.

They claim satisfaction guaranteed...I will ask for my money back.

Last comment disappeared.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		March 15 2012, AC Broke AGAIN!!!
by: Clague

Here it is, still winter and first warm humid spell of the year. Turned on the AC and it is very noisy and not cooling...called Sears, with whom I have a service contract, they will be out Saturday. The yearly service contract costs about $1 a day. Any money saved on power by buying this high efficiency unit is wasted because without the service contract I would have to pay for labor to have the unit fixed. Parts have a 10 year warranty.

Carrier Heat Pump installed Oct. 2009. It Broke down in spring 2010, needed new compressor. Broke down spring 2011, needed new compressor. It is broke again.

Sears has a satisfaction guarantee. I want a refund.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier Compressor
by: Bob

I have an Infinity Carrier Heat Pump system. I have had ir 6 years and 3 compressor faikures. It has been bad for about 3 months and when cold weather hit it runs all night and can only get to 73 degrees.

The contractor says the compressor is bad,it should have the complete outside unit changed since It has had 3 compressor gone bad. I was offered a deal to replace the complete unit with an improved unit admitting they do have a problem.

No after 3 weeks of delays they say I don;t qualify. Yesterday the service came out to take a full page of measurements. He didn't know and said he had never had to do that. I am still in a wait and see status.

I think they know they have a problem but don't want to admit the design problem. Not a quality unit as I thought it was.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Carrier Ac units last for five years
by: Anonymous

You Carrier ac units probably had faulty installation. I doubt it be manufacture problem. I?m guessing all 5 Carrier central air conditioner units are installed by one company. What wrong with it? What does the contractor or the technician said?

A lot contractor considers Carrier as one of the top line units. It has problem within five years old. That really surprises me. By the way, your Carrier ac units should be within the warranty period.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		5 Carrier Central Air Conditioner
by: T. C.

We have a very large house we built for our extended family. We had 5 Carrier high efficiency ac units installed to zone the house so every one would be comfortable. Each unit has failed multiple times over the 5 years since we built the house. These were the top of the line units with a top of the line price.

I will never buy another carrier unit or any unit manufactured by United Technologies. Carrier dealers in our area seem to be a very bad value as well. From now on I will buy the least expensive unit available as the premium units are just that a premium price which is not justified by the equipment.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Six year old compressors
by: Bernie

After 6 years I have to replace my Carrier Compressor. One may think this unusual but my neighbor had to the same-our houses were built at the same time. This is most unreasonable and it shows Carrier is putting out faulty equipment.

Anxious to hear from others who are having the same experience.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Do not buy a Carrier
by: Anonymous

I have had my compressor replaced under warranty after five years and still had to pay for the labor and Freon. The compressor was redesigned. Today my compressor went out again. I would never again buy a Carrier. Over priced and unreliable.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		AC out again
by: Clague

From my previous comments you see my AC unit was out from the beginning of the cooling season in early April.

Took a month before cooling system was repaired, work was completed May 3rd. Because the unit was more than a year old I was supposed to have a service contract to cover any labor.

I thought the service contract was $200 per year. I never was charged for the repair but got a call from Sears offering the service contract. At that point I felt they had given me a break and I had better take advantage of their offer. Turns out the service contract is $361 per year, Bill arrived June 3.

On June 9th the AC quit cooling again. I called Sears for service that day and was redirected to the internet site to request service in a "chat" session...there was no "chat" service just a way to enter your request and Sears calls you.

Sears called me, first person is supposed to be a "tech" to diagnosed your problem, there is no diagnosis only questions about what my problem is, he then transfers me to a scheduler for service but before doing so has the gall to give me a long drawn out "no obligation" sales pitch for Sears Home Services.

There is a wait for the service scheduler. The earliest service date offered was June 20th, 1 to 5 PM. 11 days before they come to check what is wrong and I already know from the noise it is another blown compressor.

Three blown compressors on a $13,000 unit less than 2 years old. 10 year parts warranty but you must have a $361 per year service contract in effect to cover labor. That kills any expected energy savings from buying a high efficiency unit.

They say "satisfaction guaranteed"...the only way I would be satisfied at this point is for them to give me a refund. Take the AC and shove it.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Sear Fixes
by: Albert

I was planning to hire Sear to replace my heating and cooling system. It seems after reading review on Sear. I got scared.

We decided to hire HVAC company; instead, of Sear. Thanks for the update.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Update on Carrier breakdown
by: Clague

First compressor replacement arrived leakinking oil, seals not in place.

New compressor arrived. Sears rescheduled and stayed in touch. Bad weather caused installation delay. They had scheduled me for Friday May 6, then late Monday afternoon serviceman called to say he was on the way. They installed new compressor and completed work around 8:30 PM, May 2nd.

Questions remain as to why 2 blown compressors in a year and a half. Hopefully just a fluke.

Sears Home services and the Blue Team has lived up to their "satisfaction guaranteed" they stayed in touch and kept me informed

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