AC & heat pump
AC Keeps Tripping the Breaker? Stop Resetting and Read This First
One trip is an event; repeated trips are a message. Weak capacitors, seized fans, dirty coils, shorted compressors and tired breakers, in diagnosis order.
Formerly Adam & Sam Brothers RepairEdmonds · from the Bowl to Five Corners
Edmonds AC and heat pump repair, salt air included
Outdoor units near Puget Sound take a beating from salt air, and plenty of Edmonds homes sit within reach of it. We repair corroded fans, coils and leaks first, and install new central air or heat pumps when the old unit is done.
- Drive time
- Twelve to fifteen minutes west on Edmonds Way (SR 104).
- Heating mix
- About 50% gas and 47% electric heat.
- Also covering
- Woodway and the Esperance enclave inside Edmonds.
- $85 diagnosticBecomes part of the repair price when you say yes. If you pass on the repair, that visit is all you pay.
- Up to $18 offAny repair requested through the online form. The diagnostic itself is never reduced.
- No-charge site visitInstalls are quoted in writing, equipment and installation work in one number.
Edmonds was platted in 1884, but most of its housing went up on the hillsides in the 1950s and 1960s, when the largest annexations happened; about 42% of homes date from 1960 to 1979, and 25% from the 1960s alone. The southern neighborhoods joined in the mid-1990s, and hilltop condos followed in 2007 and 2008. Many of those houses face the water, and the view is part of the problem for cooling equipment. Salt-laden air off the Sound settles on condenser coils and fan motors in the Bowl, Seaview and along the bluffs, and over the years it eats thin aluminum fins and corrodes fasteners and electrical connections.
The result is a specific repair pattern: outdoor fan motors that seize earlier than they would inland, coils that develop pinhole leaks, and wiring terminals that loosen as corrosion builds. Our technicians repair the part that failed, show you what the rest of the unit looks like, and tell you when corrosion has gone far enough that another repair is a poor use of money. Heating is split about evenly, 50% gas and 47% electric, so an Edmonds house may have an AC on a gas furnace or a heat pump on an electric one. Refrigerant leaks and recharges are handled in-house by our own technicians, and the common electrical parts and fan motors ride along on the van, so a corroded fan motor is often replaced the same day.
How salt air and age show up on Edmonds units
Outdoor fan turns slowly, then stalls on warm afternoons
- Likely cause
- Fan motor bearings and windings corroded
- What we do
- Replace the motor and inspect the blade, mount and wiring for the same corrosion
White powdery crust and flaking fins on the coil
- Likely cause
- Salt corrosion eating the thin aluminum fins
- What we do
- Assess the coil, clean it gently, or advise when replacement is due
Cooling gets weaker every season
- Likely cause
- Pinhole leak in a corroded coil or tubing
- What we do
- Pinpoint it with a detector, repair or replace the coil, then recharge
Unit works one day and is dead the next
- Likely cause
- Corroded terminals or a contactor with oxidized contacts
- What we do
- Clean or replace the corroded connections, tighten terminals, and test the contactor under load
Heat pump short of heat in January
- Likely cause
- Low charge from a leak or a weak defrost cycle
- What we do
- Check pressures, watch a full defrost cycle, then fix whichever cause we find
Rust streaks on the cabinet and base pan
- Likely cause
- Long exposure to marine air
- What we do
- Check the base pan, brackets and mounting, and plan replacement timing with you before something gives way
Waterfront wear, Esperance and Woodway
Not every Edmonds house sees the same wear. A condenser at a Westgate, Perrinville or Five Corners home a mile or two inland lives a normal life; one on a deck facing Brackett's Landing or the ferry terminal does not. When we install near the water, we recommend outdoor units with coated coils where the manufacturer offers them, place the unit away from direct spray and wind off the Sound, and use corrosion-resistant fasteners on brackets and stands. Near the shore, a coil rinse during a regular tune-up, from $149, does more to extend a unit's life than almost anything else. Inland units still collect pollen and leaves, which the same seasonal cleaning handles.
Esperance, the unincorporated pocket inside Edmonds, is mostly 1950s houses, and about 67% of them heat with gas; Woodway next door is even more gas-heated, on large wooded lots. In both, a heat pump outdoor unit paired with the existing gas furnace, or a new central AC, is the usual cooling project. Older Esperance houses tend to have compact furnace closets, so we confirm a new coil fits before quoting a heat pump on the furnace. Edmonds, Esperance and Woodway get electricity from Snohomish County PUD and gas from Puget Sound Energy, and we check which heat pump programs or rebates from either apply to your home before you decide.
The drive is twelve to fifteen minutes along SR 104, whether the job is downtown, up on Firdale or along the Highway 99 corridor near Swedish Edmonds. Edmonds is also a convergence-zone city, with plenty of raw, wet winter days when heat pumps defrost often, and a unit with a corroded coil struggles more in exactly those conditions. Hillside view homes add one more wrinkle: outdoor units are sometimes set on decks or narrow side yards, and we plan safe access for service before we quote.
Edmonds repair and install starting prices
Cooling and heat pump repair in Edmonds starts at $285, and near the Sound that usually means a fan motor seized by salt air or a pinhole leak in a corroded coil. If the unit is too far gone, a new central air conditioner starts at $5,000. Think of these as the starting points for pricing in our area, not a quote; the exact repair price is written into the estimate you get after the diagnostic, before any work. Install prices include the equipment and the installation, and the visit to measure and the written install quote are at no charge. A coated coil or a stand for a waterfront location is listed as its own line in the estimate so you can weigh it.
- AC / heat pump capacitorfrom $285
- Contactorfrom $285
- Heat pump defrost boardfrom $300
- Outdoor fan motorfrom $425
- Refrigerant leak repair and rechargefrom $500
- Heat pump reversing valvefrom $1,100
- Indoor (evaporator) coilfrom $1,500
- Compressor (out of warranty)from $2,200
- Diagnostic visit$85, included in the repair
Starting prices for the north Seattle area, 2026. The $85 diagnostic is included in any repair you approve, and the exact price is in the written estimate before work starts.
System, installed
- Central air conditionerfrom $5,000
- Heat pump outdoor unit onlyfrom $5,250
- Inverter (variable-speed) heat pumpfrom $6,000
- Heat pump with air handlerfrom $7,000
Install prices start here, equipment and installation included, before any utility program. Multi-zone systems are priced after a visit. We do not charge for the site visit or the written quote.
When corrosion makes the call
In Edmonds the condition of the outdoor coil often decides the question before the failed part does. If a fan motor or contactor has failed but the coil is clean and solid, repair it; that unit may have years left. If the coil fins crumble at a touch and a leak has already been fixed once, another leak is coming, and paying for refrigerant again is hard to justify, especially on an R-22 system. For gas-heated homes in Esperance and Woodway, replacement usually means a heat pump outdoor unit matched to the furnace, which adds efficient heating for modest extra cost over a straight AC. For 1960s electric-furnace houses up the hill, a full heat pump system replaces both the furnace and the cooling. Along the bluffs we also check how the unit is mounted, since a rusted bracket or base pan can force a replacement even when the machinery inside still runs. We show you the coil, price each option, and leave the decision to you.
Common questions
Does salt air really affect my AC?
Yes, for units within reach of marine air. Salt settles on the coil and fan, draws moisture, and slowly corrodes aluminum fins, copper tubing and electrical contacts. Units near the water in the Bowl or along the bluffs can show it within a decade, sooner on the windward side of the house. Regular coil cleaning slows it down.
Do you serve Woodway and Esperance?
Yes. Both are part of our Edmonds area, twelve to fifteen minutes from our shop. Most homes in both heat with natural gas, so we often add a heat pump outdoor unit to the existing furnace or install a new central AC. We repair whatever is already there as well, including older units on R-22.
Is a coated coil worth paying for near the water?
When the outdoor unit will sit in direct marine air, usually yes. A coated coil resists salt corrosion for longer and costs relatively little next to a coil replacement down the road. Inland, a few blocks up the hill, standard coils do fine, and we won't push the upgrade where it doesn't pay.
Which utilities and programs apply in Edmonds?
Snohomish County PUD provides electricity in Edmonds, Esperance and Woodway, and Puget Sound Energy provides gas. Which heat pump programs or rebates apply depends on your current heating and the equipment, so we check during the install visit and explain the requirements. We don't promise rebate amounts.
My AC stopped working on a hot day. How soon can you come?
Call us or book online in the morning, Monday through Saturday, and a technician can usually be there the same day. Edmonds is twelve to fifteen minutes from our shop. Fan motors, capacitors and contactors are on the van, so many repairs are finished during that visit.
Talk to Adam & Sam
From the Bowl to Five Corners, Woodway or Esperance, reach us at (425) 570-9520 by phone, or use online booking. If you approve the repair, the $85 diagnostic is included in it, and booking online cuts up to $18 from the repair. Install site visits and quotes cost nothing.
From Sam’s repair notes
AC & heat pump
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AC & heat pump
Outdoor AC Fan Not Spinning: Capacitor, Motor or Contactor — the Stick Test Tells
A still fan on a humming condenser points to one of three parts. Why the stick-start trick is a warning, not a fix, and what each repair involves.
Schedule a repair
Request a visit from Adam & Sam
Send the basics and we call you back with an arrival window, most days the same morning.
- $85 diagnostic Becomes part of the repair price when you say yes. If you pass on the repair, that visit is all you pay.
- Up to $18 off Any repair requested through the online form. The diagnostic itself is never reduced.
- $10 off A second appliance’s diagnostic when we check it during the same trip.