Can This Air Conditioning Problem Be Repaired?
My air conditioner stopped cooling the house. A contracter opened the unit and found the muffler had started to disintegrate on the inside. He says that the particles which broke loose from the muffler clogged the compressor valves. Since the particles from the muffler are circulating throughout the entire air conditioning system now, he says that the whole air conditioning unit, both inside and out, must be replaced. Otherwise, if you just replace the compressor, then the particles from the muffler still circulating around could clog the compressor again. Now, I'm having a hard time understanding that a new air conditioner is really the best option in this case. My air conditioner is 20 years old. Who's to say that the compressor just didn't die of it's own wear? Also, what does the inside of an air conditioner muffler look like? Are there really enough particles inside to continuously damage a system? Also, if the muffler particles really caused the problem, then how do you know how long it took the particles to clog the compressor? If have no idea about pricing. But let's say a new system is $2000 and a new compressor is only $300. If it takes 2 years for the particles to clog the compressor, then I'd rather replace the compressor every so often then shell out all the money all at once. Anybody with a lot of experience in air conditioning know anything about this? What's your input on this??? Is there a way to simply clean the lines? Will a new compressor do the trick? Or is a new unit the only viable solution in this case?
Answer:
Get a second opinion. There is no such thing as a muffler on an air conditioner. There is a drier that does sound like what you describe. I have never heard of this happening. I repeat get a second opinion but 20 years is old for a ac unit. I off hand can't recall a standard AC with a muffler but I've seen a lot on heat pumps. Lennox units built in the mid to late 70's. A dryer would not be factory mounted inside the cabinet so it would be easy to tell if it were a muffler even if you are not sure what a muffler is.