Original Armstrong furnace Co Air conditioner question.

[Mark K]

Hello everyone, on my 75 Argosy, the original roof air just quit, and I believe it is the compressor, as the "klixon" breaker going into the compressor is clicking on & off. I have seen threads that say these units were built like tanks, and can (and should) be repaired if possible. Has anyone else replaced just the compressor? It looks pretty easy, and I don't think the unit would have to come out. Thanks, Mark

[Chas]

Someones definition of easy may not be so easy to others. Do you have a recovery machine, R-22, guages, oxy-acetylene welding torch, vacuum pump and CFC certification?? It may very well just be a bad start capacitor or a low voltage problem, items much easier to fix so check them out first. Other than that the Armstrong compressors can be replaced by someone with the proper tools and training.

Chas

[Mark K]

I am a good diagnostic feller (I think), but the actual replacement would be left to the pros. Do you think it is worth fixing? It worked great up until recently. Thanks, Mark

[davidz71]

Mark,
When I bought my Excella from the PO, he told me that the AC was not blowing cold air, just air. He said it would be fixed before I picked up the unit and felt it was low on freon.. When I arrived he said that no one wanted to work on the unit and was told to just replace it. I brought it from AZ to TN and enlisted help from a friend as we both poured over the service manual that came with the unit. He checked the freon and found it to be just a little low, not enough to keep the compressor from starting up. I checked the thermostat and jumped across the terminals as stated in the manual. Nothing doing. I measured for current and could not find anything within the thermostat. It should have shown 24 volts DC. Checking on top of the AC unit I found that 125 volts AC were coming into it. A transformer on the street side of the unit was supposed to send out 24 volts DC to the thermostat but was only showing 9 volts. Hmmm. I found a new 125VAC to 24VDC transformer at an electrical supply house, bolted it up. As soon as I turned the AC on and the thermostat to 65 degrees the AC compressor energized. That humming was sweet to my ears. A $15 fix beats a new AC any day. Get a service manual and test your unit without frying youself. I can't say it is as easy as my problem but who knows. You heard right, the Armstrong was built to commercial standards and is tough.