My two year old top-of-the-line Bryant 284 ANV system, installed by a top-of-the-line dealer (they sponsor a MLB team) failed a little more than 2 years after it was installed. This is when I found out the Bryant Red Shield 10 year warranty is for parts only - and they won't even sell me parts.

The top-of-line indoor control was showing a Code 66-41 VFD Control Relay Open Lockout. The service manual is very detailed for this code giving steps to determine if the problem is: the relay on the VFD board, the cable between the VFD and the PCM board, or the PCM board itself. I followed the steps and determined the problem was the PCM board, it was only sending 7.3v to the VFD relay instead of the specified 12v.

Since the only way to get a new part was through a licensed installer, I called them. I said I am only interested in an emergency service call if they have a replacement PCM board on their truck. The service scheduler made a note of that.

The next day the service tech showed up and of course wanted to confirm my findings. I checked in with him about 45 minutes later. He had followed the service manual and determined the problem was the cable - they didn't have a cable on the truck AND it was backordered, they would schedule a return trip in a couple weeks when the cable was in stock. I asked if I could check the cable with my meter. After I proved the cable was OK he determined one of his leads wasn't plugged into his meter all the way or something. I left them to continue their diagnosis and checked in 30 minutes later. Now with the help of tech support over the phone they had determined the problem was the VFD drive. He acknowledged that the PCM board wasn't putting out enough voltage but said somehow, he could not explain how, the voltage for the PCM comes back down through the VFD drive. At this point I'd had enough and said "I will bet you $100 the problem is the PCM board". He declined the bet but would replace the PCM board at my insistence, but if I was wrong I would have to pay for the PCM board and another service call. They did not have a replacement PCM board on the truck like I requested, but, if I paid right then for the $269 emergency service call and half of $550 estimate for them to return and perform the service, the part would be delivered within 3-4 days and they could schedule time to come back. When the board showed up on my doorstep I swapped it out and within 30 minutes had cool air blowing. I called them back to cancel the service call and mailed them the faulty part.

My question: Is it reasonable for me to pay $544 for - nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. If I had not insisted on the correct diagnosis, they would have replaced the cable, them the VFD, and only then maybe the faulty board - all the while I would have had no AC.

And I was not at all happy with the quality of top-of-the-line Bryant construction. It looked like a high school science fair project with loose cables running everywhere and connectors not up for outside conditions. When I took the old board off I think I found the problem. A spider had made a nest that bridged the board and the enclosure. The spot where the nest touches the board looked corroded. You can also see the conformal coating was just haphazardly sprayed on and it beaded up and did not cover the solder in many places - you know where it is most needed.

Spider damaged Bryant AC control board