Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Heil heatpump ac questions, please help

I built my house new in 1996, Heil heatpump came with the house.
Anyone that can help i'd appreciate it , im so glad I found this forum.

My ac (for 2 summers now) been on the fritz. It will stay on a few days and work fine then just regular air coming through the vent. I turn it off and back on and sometimes it will work again. Sometimes I turn the heat on for a few minutes then turn off and wait an hour and the ac works again.


My cousin is hvac certified but isnt familiar with this model so he couldnt help me much. He mentioned something about a switch I could flip everytime this happened and it would temporarily solve the problem. He currently has the owners manual.




I paid a professional to take a look ($85) and of course after looking at my unit for 10 minutes determines it needs a new compressor which he will only charge me $1800 , parts and labor. I was kind of afraid he would tell me that but still have my doubts.




The only thing different Ive noticed the last couple of years was alot more water running out the drain pipe than previous years, dont know if thats good or bad.



Heil model# PHADZ4N1K2

mfg. NPHAD24N1K2

Style PHAD24N1K

mfg. date was 3/96 would I have any kind of warranty and if so would I need a reciept?


Thanks

I also forgot to mention the heat works fine . I live in South Carolina so I don't ever have to work the heat to much. If a compressor is bad would it affect the heat also?

Is the out door unit running the whole time when you don't get the full cooling?

How does the lines feels?

KBRAKE34

First of all, if your heat pump is operating fine in heat mode and your AC sometimes, then I doubt this is a compressor issue.

I would find a good dealer that knows and services Heil Heat pumps. This could be several different things like a contactor, capacitor, or even a bad reversing valve. Just can't diagnose from long distance.

I doubt if you have a 10 yr warranty but you may want to contact Heil and ask this question.

My opinion.

http://www.heil-hvac.com/

Jay,
yes its running, atleast the fan on top. I think my cousin said it had 2 fans and the 2nd one would stop when this problem happens. How does the line feel? Im sorry but I dont know anything about heat pumps and this may be a stupid question but what line?


Tigerdunes thanks, Im hoping its not the compressor so your reply does make me feel a little better.

Two fans? maybe 2 speed.

The lines is the copper line coming from the house to the unit.. large one with black foam should be warm/hot in heat, and small line should be air temp.