We have a Lennox air conditioner that has had a leak the previous 2 years. It is a 10AC30-3P, installed new in a new home in 1994. Had no trouble till 3 years ago. The 1st year, the serviceman said a coolant leak was from a loose nut on the outside unit and it was tighten by the serviceman and coolant replaced. The next year another serviceman from the same company and replaced the capacitor on the outside unit and charged the system. The 3rd year a serviceman from the same company said the compressor was bad and that a leak over the years had caused all the problems and that we needed a new air conditioning unit! We had a new company out now and they say the Evaporator has leak and that is all that is needed!! Our service warranty through the gas company doesn't cover the evaporator, so we took advise from a friend and hired his friend to replace the evaporator for 600.00, 300.00 less than the warranties company. The man worked fast and had the job done in less than 3 hours. The air worked OK for about 3 to 4 hours. I noticed that the aluminum duct around the evaporator was very cold and had water all over it! The compressor then stopped working. I turned off the unit and called the guy back. He came the next morning and I turned on the AC and it worked again, but was not very cold. The service guy said we need a new compressor, as it is going bad and over heating. The compressor was very hot too the tough. I contacted the warranty company and they sent a guy out. He said the freon line is dirty and needs a dryer and virgin freon! The installer did not put in a dryer. Please advise us on how to precede.

Thanks!

I would contact someone who really knows what they are doing. To many stories from to many people. Since the unit is a 1994 it is 13 years old. Could be the time is right for a new higher efficiency unit. BUT make sure the company knows what they are doing when they install it and get a FACTORY long term warranty. If you get a dealer warranty they could go out of business and your warranty is useless.