AC Repair — Portland, OR
Honestly, most ac repair questions can be answered over the phone. Save yourself the dispatch fee — call first, ask second. Family-run, second-generation if you count my dad. We've watched fifteen national "plumbing chains" come and go in Portland and we're still here.
What this service includes
Most AC repair calls come down to one of six causes: low refrigerant from a slow leak, failed capacitor, failed contactor, dirty condenser coil, blower motor failure, or compressor failure.
The diagnostic determines which. We run refrigerant pressures (high and low side), superheat/subcool calculation, voltage at the contactor, capacitor microfarads, and a temperature-split test on the supply and return.
About 60% of summer no-cool calls turn out to be one of three things: low refrigerant ($240-$650 to find and seal the leak, plus refrigerant), bad capacitor ($165-$325 to replace), or dirty condenser ($95-$195 to clean).
Compressor failures are the expensive ones — $1,800 to $3,800 typically. On any unit over 10 years old, we walk through the math on repair vs. replace before quoting the compressor swap.
What's specific about Portland jobs
If you're inside the city limits, we're typically there inside an hour during business hours. Outside the metro, plan on a bit longer.
Sample job
Last spring we got a call from a homeowner near the outskirts Portland. Ac fan running but compressor not engaging. Diagnosis: failed dual-run capacitor. We replaced the capacitor with the correct microfarad rating, system started immediately, ran the test, and were out the door in the same visit. Total: $1450 including parts.
Fair pricing for this work
Diagnostic visit runs $90 – $130. Capacitor replacement runs $165 – $325. Refrigerant leak find + seal + recharge runs $240 – $650. Condenser coil cleaning runs $95 – $195. Contactor replacement runs $185 – $340. Blower motor replacement runs $420 – $880.
Related work
- AC Maintenance & Tune-Ups in Portland
- Furnace & Heating Repair in Portland
- AC Installation & Replacement in Portland
- Mini-Split & Ductless Systems in Portland
- Ductwork Cleaning, Sealing & Repair in Portland