Yep I’ve seen both those failures. Very common from what I understand. And preventative maintenance wouldn’t have helped.

I've lived in Florida all my life. I don't know anyone who pays for preventative maintenance. They rinse off the coils a couple of times a year, dump vinegar in the return line a couple times a year, and replace the air filters every 90 days - that's it. We only have the AC guys come out when there is an issue.

AC warranties in Florida are BS.

The coil in my compressor failed last summer while in its last year of warranty, and it was going to be 6 WEEKS for parts.

I had to wait or buy a new compressor. It did not make sense to wait that long to put in a new coil in when everything else in the unit was already almost 5 years old. Especially since only the parts, and not the labor, were covered under warranty. Even under warranty I was looking at about a $1200 labor job.

So, guess which one I chose.

My experience is not uncommon.......

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From what you wrote, I guess you chose the $15K+ replacement rather than the $1,200 repair. That's a $13K+ choice on your part.

6 yr old unit installed & maintained yearly by Munns. I pay $99 yearly plus the cost of new filter from Amazon -approx. $40, which their engineer changes for me. Very satisfied with Munns.

Only a few posts have actually answered OPs question.

HVAC maintenance, how much are you paying? Who do you use?

Please keep in mind most warranties require regular maintenance by qualified technician. Having ben involved with maintenance, warranties and repairs on Elevator and Escalators I had many a discussion about why the "warranty" was void due to inadequate, qualified service.

HVAC systems installed in The Villages do not require regular maintenance by a technician to enforce the warranty.

I will agree that most warranties for almost any product will have a clause that allows the manufacturer to deny a warranty claim if there is "evidence" that the product has been abused or damaged by improper use. For example, you can change your own oil on a vehicle, but if you never change the oil and the engine fails because of this, the manufacturer can refuse to repair the engine. But I have never seen a warranty that states "in writing" that a qualified technician is required to perform regular maintenance. If you know of such a warranty for a consumer product, please post it.

Change the filter and flush the drain tub twice a year yourself.

Where I lived before I had a local company come once a year check the pressure, replace the filter and clean the system for $100 cash.

No one is saying that your choice is wrong, just you might have had a problem that caused the compressor to fail early that could have been corrected if other tests were done periodically. There is no way to tell now but that's the point of this thread.

I have. Two years ago, during a routine maintenance visit, our Munn's technician found the capacitor in our unit was out of spec. He replaced it with a new USA made capacitor at no cost to me.

How old was your system at the time? They probably changed it for free because the part was still under warrenty or did you have a "special" contract with them?

I just purchased my first ever maintenance plan from Sunshine AC after reading a few reviews of their business. I called them out just for some reassurance and to have them look at some work that was done by the installing company (no emergency).

The plan I chose was for 2 visits per year and I chose it after watching the technician do all his work and asking questions. My invoice was a few cents shy of $300.

The technician was here for a minimum of 90 minutes. He took before and after pictures of everything he cleaned and all readouts of testing he did on the capacitor etc. He cleaned the outside unit and the air handler unit in the garage including a thorough flush of the condensate line.

There was some “fur” on the inside of the air handler that really surprised me because I thought I was doing sufficient maintenance to keep that from happening (changing filters and treating condensate line).

Let me state that I know basically nothing about HVAC units but like to do DIY projects whenever I can providing that I feel I can do it without much hassle or questions about my results. To me, there are some things that I’d rather pay someone else to do and some things I would rather do myself. For instance, I won’t pay someone to mow my yard, fertilize it, treat it for pests or disease, trim my hedges and shrubs, treat weeds, etc.

The tech showed me the capacitor reading (41.42) and told me that it should be between 40-45 with a reading higher in the range being preferable. I chose not to replace it during this visit. He quoted me $141 to replace it and gave me the capacitor model number.

The plan I chose includes discounts on parts and labor for work done and some other terms I found beneficial to me.

My system is 5 years old and he sent me copies of every picture that he took and there were many.

I’m happy with all of it and I don’t have to mess around with something I know little about. That’s more free time for golf, fishing or yard work! 😎

We use Kalos and have been for many years. They have several different Service Plans. As for replacing the Capacitor they cost under $20 and it is very easy for anyone who can use a screwdriver to do it yourself. I recommend keeping a spare on hand because that is the most common item to fail.