Our administrative staff has gotten very good at being intuitive about what a potential
customer really needs from a Fox Family Heating and Air Conditioning service technician.
With all that fancy HVAC jargon like AC tune-up, diagnostic service call, HVAC inspection,
or safety inspection, how are you supposed to know what it is that you should be asking
for when you call in?
In this episode we’re going to narrow it down to our most needed services.
Let’s talk about how to tell if you need an AC tune-up or a diagnostic service call.
Intro Now, I’m really not trying to bag on anyone
here, but it’s true that some people will call in to Fox Family and say they need us
to come out and do a tune-up on their system.
So, we’ll ask them something like, “Is your system currently working okay?” or,
“Are you having any problems with your system right now?” and they’ll say, “Yeah,
but I notice a burnt smell coming from the registers and not as much air seems to be
coming out.”
Or, “Yeah, but its not as cool in here as it used to be, so I just thought you could
come out and add some freon.”
So, here’s a chance for me to clarify the difference between a diagnostic service call
and an AC tune-up.
The main points we want to identify with you when you call in to Fox Family is, whether
your system is running just fine or if you’re calling because you think something just isn’t
right with the AC.
Folks who call us for a tune up think their system is running just fine, they just believe
in doing preventive maintenance on their system will make their system not only cleaner but
make it last longer.
When we come out on a tune-up, we have a checklist of things we are looking at.
The main components of the system; Your thermostat, your filters, the ductwork.
We’re also checking things like the temperature of the air coming out of the registers in
your rooms versus the temperature of the air going into where your filter is in the hallway.
Then we start really looking into the major motors and devices in the system that make
your machine work.
With our meters and other testing equipment, we can see what’s going on inside the motor.
Is it working too hard, is the right voltage being applied to it?
Is there enough refrigerant in the system?
On top of the mechanical components of the system we look at the drainage system, refrigerant
metering devices, high voltage wiring and tighten connections as needed.
We can also check for shrubs around the AC that might prevent proper heat transfer, make
sure the unit is level, and of course clean the AC as well.
Your utility company and Fox Family thinks a clean air conditioner will last longer than
a dirty one.
If your system isn’t running quite the way you think it should be.
Meaning Friday before we went camping for the weekend, the AC was working just fine
and now the air coming out doesn’t seem to be as cold.
This means you’re calling for a diagnostic service call.
Some people just call it a service call.
Here, your technician will ask you a few questions about your system and go straight for the
problem so you can begin cooling as soon as possible.
They wont really be interested in combing over the entire system with a fine brush.
But they will make sure the rest of your AC is functioning properly so you won’t have
any foreseeable problems.
Having said that, you technician is probably not going to replace your capacitor in the
outdoor unit and also discover that you drain line isn’t functioning properly since you
didn’t say anything leading us to believe something was wrong with it.
Another example would be something like discovering your compressor was bad but two weeks later
your control board goes out because of a fractured solder connection.
That’s something we’d likely see and tell you about on a furnace tune up in the winter
but not really look for when we are just trying to get your system cooling again on a 100-degree
day.
I know there are some weird nuances I’m talking about here, but hopefully I’m a
making sense.
On tune-ups, we are looking for anything that might be running good on your system as well
as what’s running bad, or could potentially break in the near future.
We’re also there to clear the condensate drainpipes and clean the system.
On diagnostic service calls, we are mainly focused on getting you back up and running
as soon as possible.
Technicians will pretty much look around I the unit they are working on.
Like if the AC outside has a capacitor go out and you thought the system was working
just fine until yesterday when you called us, they’ll likely just change the capacitor
and maybe even forego climbing in the attic to do a thorough analysis of anything that
might be going wrong with it.
We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t sometimes, because some folks want to pay
as little as possible to get their system back up and running, and almost find it offensive
if we recommend other repairs that might not actually prevent the system from running today,
but could go out in the foreseeable future.
Others say, “Well, why didn’t you bring that up last time you were here two months
ago?”
Whether you need a simple tune-up or a diagnostic service call, its going to be the same price
at Fox Family so there no better call to have us come out on.
Now that you know the difference, you’ll be better prepared to make the phone call
to your HVAC company and tell them which service you need.
A tune-up won’t correct a broken system, much like a tune up or oil change on a car
isn’t going to fix your transmission problem.
Tune-ups may identify some issues with your system that you didn’t know existed.
At the same time a diagnostic service call may identify the need for regular preventive
maintenance in the form of a tune-up.
If this is your first time watching this channel, please click subscribe down here on the bottom
right, and if you click that little bell next to it, you’ll be notified of all our videos
as they come out.
Thanks so much for watching and we’ll see you on the next video!