America's new millionaire class: Plumbers and HVAC entrepreneurs

This already happens. The most common AC repair needed is a new capacitor. It's a $20 part.

Call your dad's business, you probably get a quote for $100-ish and it's fixed in ten minutes.

Call a PE owned shop and they are likely to tell you that your entire system needs replaced. Quote $5-$8k.

Reports like this are already common place, and the roll-ups of former small-businesses in industry like HVAC that the PE people celebrate will only make this worse for customers.

Still worse, a brazen attempt to service an older R-22 system with R-410A, which would have completely destroyed a heat pump that I ended up getting an additional 5 years of serviceable life out of (after dismissing that clown on the spot).

Other ridiculous mistakes I've had to deal with are incorrect wiring of air handler emergency heat source during initial installation that prevented system from cooling; and on that same heat pump system less than a year later, discovering an improperly secured lug within exterior disconnect box that eventually created enough heat to fry ~6 inches of insulation before failing open and killing power to compressor (in retrospect, city inspector not only should have caught this, but should have required the contractor to replace the disconnect box altogether to remain in compliance with prevailing residential building code).

The grift has gotten so bad over the years that a few friends---a professional ME and electrician---have gone out of their way to earn § 608 tech certs[1] to legally purchase refrigerant and have sufficiently tooled themselves up to handle common failure modes.

[1] https://www.epa.gov/section608/section-608-technician-certif...

Tldr hot weather is hard on them. They have a finite lifetime and suffer most when you need the AC the most.

Think of them like a car starter motor or transmission (for old ICE vehicles).

Assuming we’re talking motor start capacitors anyway. For most of them, every time the compressor starts they see a dead short at 240v for a couple milliseconds, typically in the 10,000+ amps range.

And most people use their AC the most when it’s hot and nasty out. Which doesn’t help.

I guess from before the days of Unicode?

µF == the same thing, but tends to be the ‘more correct’ modifier used in electronics and engineering, rather than industrial parts supplier catalogs.

Going to Ferguson.com and ordering a replacement capacitor to have on hand for $30 works even better.

It’s literally just turning off the power to the compressor, using a screwdriver to open the panel, unplugging the old capacitor, and plugging a new one in.

The channel https://www.youtube.com/@WordofAdviceTV/videos has saved me a lot of money.

On a complete tangent on the topic of “home maintenance you should know”, hot water tanks should be purged yearly (to get rid of the debris collecting on the bottom), and have a sacrificial anode rod to stop corrosion and should be replaced every ~3 years (magnesium) or ~5 years (aluminum)

They tend to cost more, and tend to be larger than their polarized kins. They're not advantageous in circuits that always have some DC bias, so they only get used where it is necessary.

0: https://www.bennic.com.tw/en/ec/index.asp

In HVAC world, the practical differences between a motor start cap and a motor run cap are price, physical size, and longevity.

A start cap is cheaper, but is meant only for intermittent duty and is unsuitable for use as a run cap.

Meanwhile, a run cap costs more but can serve as a run cap or a start cap.

All things (except for outliers like the McLaren F1) are built down to a price.

They just don't make things like they used to. :)

Please don’t give out dangerous advice, if you want to risk electrocution, that’s your choice. Don’t encourage others to perform work unsafely.

Note that this is only the case if you have been doing this already from when it was new. It isn't necessarily a great idea to try to purge on an older water tank since the valve can start to leak if you open it and it hasn't been used in a long time.

Maybe print the instructions and leave it with capacitor or watch a couple YouTube videos first.

They looked at it for 5 minutes, told me it's too old and needs to be replaced.

It needed a $5 sensor which I replaced myself after doing some basic testing. There are so many grifters in the trades. It is so hard someone honest, that is going to show up on time and do the job.

I almost want to start or buy a construction business.

The UX to make this consumer replaceable looks more like

1. Add a bleed resistor to the capacitor (its default state when unplugged should be discharged)

2. Use a modern consumer grade connector (ie sealed molex or deutsche)

If you really don't want to run the risk of being electrocuted, it might just be worth the 250 dollars to have someone who does this sort of thing all day to come and do the repair.

Regardless .. discharge the cap, blown or not.

Clear the chamber, even if you removed the magazine and checked it yesterday.

etc.

The general principles of health and safety are intended to be largely overkill and mostly not strictly required, they're in place for that one time that kills or injures.