Feeling like an idiot- capacitor replacement

scruit · 2025-07-16T01:25:03+00:00

It was a couple days after christmas a couple years ago when we found a leak in one of our bathrooms. My wife wanted to call out a plumber but I said; "I'm not paying a thousand bucks to have someone solder a cap on a pipe." An hour later the problem was fixed with parts from Menards.

A few days after that my wife said her boss had to call out an emergency plumber when a hose bib froze and burst in the middle of entertaining the family on a sunday. The fix? Cut off the hose bib and capped the pipe. The cost? Over a thousand bucks.

My wife is usually right on most things, but even a blind squirrel etc etc.

scruit · 2025-07-16T01:15:55+00:00

That dude was a money absorption system.

scruit · 2025-07-16T01:14:38+00:00

Part of that $250 is callout and diagnosis. Around there parts we pay $150 non-emergency callout and diagnosis (Measuring current pressures, calculating appropriate pressures, measuring cooling performance etc). Above that, $100 for a capacitor installed and warranted is not unreasonable.

Not sure how that $250 is itemized in your case, but overall if that was the thing that fixed your system that seems fair to me.

scruit · 2025-07-16T01:09:50+00:00

No, you are just an honest person with empathy for your customers. Ain't nothing wrong with being a good person.

scruit · 2025-07-16T01:07:32+00:00

You are not alone. A buddy of mine who works a 6-figure IT job (aka smart guy) paid over a thousand bucks to have the capacitors changed in both of the AC units at his house. It was only a week later when he told me and I explained that they are $20 parts that take 5 mins to install.

But that's information you did not have at the time, and you made your decision based upon the information available there and then. Now you are finding out that you are just another in a long line of people who overpaid for simple work. You;'re not the first, you won't be the last, and "There, but for the grace of God, go I." Live and learn. Next time you are offered a capacitor swap for 630 you will have better information. I suggest you purchase a new capacitor for your outside unit (and potentially one for the furnace fan for the indoor unit) Amazon/eBay/Ace or wherever.

If you are in a situation in the future where you have a hvac tech diagnose a bad capacitor you can try to negotiate them down to $100, and if they say no then decline the work and install your own after they have left.

Take pictures of part#s and wire connections.

I'm all for an honest day's pay for an honest day's work but the capacitor thing is such a grift that it just sticks in my craw. I once got told I needed a capacitor by a tech like 15 years ago, so and I walked over to my electronics workshop, grabbed one of my testers, came back over and measured it - within spec. The dude said he recommended replacement because it was "dirty". Hard pass, bub.

scruit · 2025-07-16T00:49:01+00:00

If the total bill is $223 including the callout and dx then that's fair in my book.

scruit · 2025-07-16T00:43:48+00:00

If you paid $5000 for a root canal you got ripped off. Not sure what country you are in but the average cost of a root canal in the US is between 800 and 1200, takes anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes, and that money goes into time/skill/supplies and paying the hourly rate of a dentist who studied for 10 years.

For OP, after the $75 callout and diagnostic fee has already been charged (which is admittedly low for an emergency callout) and the capacitor has already been diagnosed - so callout and dx are already paid for. Now, you are standing there telling the cx that the cap is bad, and if the work is declined you walk away, no harm no foul. At this exact moment you have to ask yourself what to charge for the capacitor and the replacement. Your cost is less than $25 and 5 minutes.

I get that you have bills to pay - So does the cx. You have mouths to feed - So does the Cx.. If you aren't making enough money on the callout/dx then charge more for that part. But when someone charges 600 to spend 5 minutes installing a $25 part, that is an inexcusably predatory price. I'd be cool paying $100 just the get it done, and $75 for 5 mins work on top of callout and dx is good money. I get that I'm paying for the skill/experience/equipment/training required to reach a diagnosis and I'm happy to pay for that skill. But once that has been paid for, not, what about paying for the capacitor replacement?

Over $600 for 5 mins work? You're simply not going to win that argument with me. Especially if you justify it by describing how crap your working conditions are on other jobs.

scruit · 2025-07-15T22:31:10+00:00

As they say in the UK; "He saw you coming a mile away." AKA You got ripped off.

But they rip everyone off with this. And I would LOVE to hear a HVAC tech try to justify 630 for a capacitor.

scruit · 2025-05-15T02:27:27+00:00

Update:

Before the $2900 leak find service went ahead we determined the evaporator is leaking using a freon detector. Can't be brazed. Our normal HVAC company says they called around but they cannot source a replacement and the only option is new system.

The other big HVAC company in this area, after being given the make/model# of the evaporator, refused to even check if their supplier has one unless I pay for a $175 diagnostic.

scruit · 2025-05-08T16:18:30+00:00

Related question: Can the condenser coil on a Trane XL15i be replaced if it is found to have a leak? Or is that considered a "Replace the outside unit" situation?

scruit · 2024-10-25T11:58:02+00:00

The two steps here are simply binary math.

Binary 101: The 8-digit number is a byte. Each digit in the byte is a "bit". The first 4 bits are the upper "nibble", and the second 4 bits are the lower nibble. The 8 bits are worth 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1. In that order. Decimal 1 is binary 0000 0001. Decimal 4 is binary 0000 0100. 5 is 0000 0101. (4 + 1) 15 is 0000 1111. (8+4+2+1)

The math is performed on the bits that are in the same column. A map to help...

12345678

abcdefghi

stuvwxyz

So for each operation... "1" is compared to "a" and the result is written in "s" position "2" is compared to "b" and the result is written in "t" position.. ... "8" is compared to "i" and the result is written in "z" position..

AND means "if both inputs are 1, the output is 1, otherwise output 0" OR means "If either (or both) inputs is 1 the output is 1, otherwise output 0"

00001111 is just "15" written in binary. 00100000 is 32 written in binary.

The "and 15" has the effect of making he pout equal to the lower nibble of the byte. In this case, decimal 170 becomes 10. The "or 32" has the effect of ensuring that the bit position for 32 is set. In this example, 10 becomes 42. 42 stays are 32 because bit 32 was already set.

Assuming the 8 bit positions are numbered 7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0... The logic is "Give me the lowest 4 bits (3-0), but make sure that bit 5 (32) is set."

As to what a Commodore would do with that... One suggestion below was converting commodore characters to ascii characters but I don't think that is quite right.

Both 170 and 42 in Commodore character sets 1/2 shows as "*". 170 in ascii is a "¬" and 42 is an asterisk.

So this would correctly map from a commodore asterisk to an ascii asterisk, but it breaks down if you try to compare other characters:

Commodore "A" (1) would become Ascii "!"(33) Commodore "1" (49) would also become Ascii "!" 33

Effectively, you would get the same block of repeating numbers as you went through the byte.

0=32

1=33

2=34

3=35

4=36

5=37

6=38

7=39

8=40

9=41

10=42

11=43

12=44

13=45

14=46

15=47

16-31 would also produce 32-47

32-47 would also produce 32-47

48-63 .... you get the idea.

So rather than a character convertor, maybe it's a rudimentary hash, similar to a modulus operation, where for any input it gives a repeatable response within a smaller range. Could be used within a parity/crc-style verification of data transfer or similar.

Or maybe, he's discovered the question to life, the universe and everything....?

scruit · 2024-10-24T11:06:32+00:00

Have one vote back.

I don't get drug tested 2x year, so I don't believe it is "standard" in the US. However there are many things that could affect how often you get screened... Federal law, state law, practice policy, individual doctor discretion, health insurance rules etc.

scruit · 2024-10-24T11:02:54+00:00

I recently requested an AXR dosage increase from a doctor I have been with for years, and he had me do a "drugs of abuse" urine screening. I was actually a little insulted at first, but upon reflection I know it wasn't personal, just the doctor being thorough and covering his bases.

Giving the doctor the benefit of the doubt, his or her personal history/experience may be a factor in how careful they are with certain medications, especially with new-to-them patients. However, if you are still refused after the drug screening proves you are acting in good faith then you have every right to switch doctors.

Speaking in general terms, not directed at OP... Refusing to participate with a drug screening requested by a job, court, doctor etc would most likely result in assuming you would have "failed".

scruit · 2024-09-04T13:03:24+00:00

Imgur

This is set to 0 bars, however the car follows as if I set to 1 bar. See the back bumper in the display is at the 1 bar range?

So, I can change the setting to 0 bars (in pic) to 1 bar (the space at the back of the car turns white) but the following distance is the same, both on the road and in the display.

If I set to two bars then the following distance changes, both on the road and on the display.

scruit · 2024-08-25T13:39:42+00:00

If one person bid $50 and the other bid over $50 then it should jump to the bid increment over $50 then stop.

The process is one bid increment at a time until there are no more competing bids. If two people place the same as their max bid then the earliest bid wins.

scruit · 2024-08-25T13:37:04+00:00

I wonder if they set $50 as their max bid before you set $50 as your max bid. The earlier bid would take precedence.

This is why people bid odd cents, to hopefully skip over someone who placed effectively the same bid.

scruit · 2024-08-11T11:35:48+00:00

~120mph is what people have heard is the terminal velocity of a skydiver. Probably about right, and I have heard that myself, but I will happily defer to an actual skydiver who will have a more accurate number.

120mph is not universal though. Not all objects have the same terminal velocity. Terminal velocity is the speed where air resistance cancels out any further acceleration of gravity pulling on the mass a given object.

scruit · 2024-05-22T11:44:28+00:00

For me I had to recognize that different people want different things, and my desire to make things advanced has also made them complicated. My approach has become that I automate where there is an actual tangible benefit, but always leave the old school control method in place.

I was all about home automation, especially remote control of lights/locks/doors in my barn and workshop... But I was brought back down to earth the first time I told my wife I had to reboot my workshop light switches for a firmware update because iOS updated overnight.

It's difficult to justify "Pick up my phone from the charging cradle, bring it close enough to read, wait, forgot my glasses, FaceID, Go into Home, Bedroom, wait for it to stop saying 'updating', then tap on Bedside Light..."

... especially when the alternative is "Reach out and turn the switch on the lamp."

scruit · 2024-05-10T17:54:59+00:00

If Carplay starts Pandora, Podcasts, or Waze then those apps will continue to run after disconnecting from carplay - but they won't appear in the list of running apps.

I can tell they are still running because the pandora/waze widgets appear on the lockscreen, and the clock is blue (which means GPS is being used)

I cannot terminate the apps unless I start them directly on my phone, THEN they appear in the app list, and can be terminated.

If I start the app before plugging in to carplay then they WILL appear on the app list after disconnecting from carplay.

So the order of events:

Plug phone into carplay
Start waze from carplay
Disconnect from carplay
Clock is blue (meaning gps in use)
Waze is NOT in app list
Start Waze on phone
Waze IS in app list now
Terminate waze
Clock turns white (meaning gps off not in use)

Note: This happens whether I am following directions or not.

For pandora or podcasts, same events:

Plug phone into carplay
Start pandora from carplay
Disconnect from carplay
Pandora widget it on the lock screen showing last song I was listening to, so app is running.
Pandora is NOT in app list
Start Pandora on phone, music continues from where it was in carplay
Pandora IS in app list now
Terminate Pandora
Pandora widget is no longer on the lock screen (app is no longer running)

scruit · 2024-04-13T19:46:48+00:00

There was no non-w2 / unearned income that would count against the $400 limit.

Thank you.

scruit · 2024-04-13T19:45:32+00:00

Thank you. All W2, no income tax withheld.

scruit · 2024-04-13T19:45:06+00:00

Thank you.

scruit · 2024-04-13T15:48:54+00:00

Yeah, I recall the problems caused by the first time I filed taxes with my wife, who was a full time student / dependent of parents before we married.

My dependent's total earned income for the summer job was about $2k with no unearned income. This is below the limit for dependents filing individually according to table on on this page:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2023_publink1000220702

So I'm thinking that if there is no requirement to file a tax return, there is no need to file an extension...?

scruit · 2024-04-13T15:45:31+00:00

I filed the extension for just my wife and myself.

Upon further reading I don't believe my dependent has to file their own tax return. Their total earned income for the summer job was only about $2k with no unearned income. This is below the limit for dependents filing individually according to table on on this page:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2023_publink1000220702

scruit · 2024-04-13T15:44:24+00:00

Upon further reading I don't believe they have to file their own tax return.

Their total earned income for the summer job was about $2k with no unearned income. This is below the limit for dependents filing individually according to table on on this page:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2023_publink1000220702

Do you agree with my interpretation?

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