The best place to ask is your local repair shop, one that is certified to handle and dispose of refrigerants. Depending on the type of failure, the entire sysem may Need to be flushed to rid it of any debris. Little pieces of stuff can ruin a compressor. If you do not know the history of the repair, that 'after market' compressor may have been a usesd one from a salvage yard. It could also have been a rebuilt or remanufactured unit. A rebuilt is that has been refurbished by replaceing the obvious failed parts to make it work again. A re-manufactured unit has been taken apart and all parts worn out of specifiaction replaced. Questionalble bearings and seals are replaced. A re-manufactured unit, on the average, is better than a rebuilt one. However, both will contain used parts and may not have the same life as a new one.

I think you mean condenser and not compressor. The answer to your question is maybe. The problem is moisture may have gotten into the system. Did an HVAC tech disconnect it or did you do it yourself? The valves on the condenser need to be closed in order to keep the moisture out. How old is this condenser and the coil? Reconnecting an old condenser and pulling the vacuum and recharging it may cause a leak. I tried doing this with an a condenser I had temporaily disconnected. It worked fine when first reconnected, but it developed a leak. The HVAC contractor warned me this could happen.

They must always explain to you precisely what the compressor problem is, plus show you; a generalized statement is NOT acceptable! A lot of condemned compressors when sent back to the mfg'er for warranty turn out to be okay. His statements sound fishy to me...

- 1 year warranty on compressor-only option could be a dealbreaker. don't like that. Clarification: If the unit is under warranty, you would get the balance of whatever the manufacturer warranty is. So depending on that, it could even be less than a year. Because this was tied to a new construction unit, it is probably 5 year part only. It's very rare for new construction to register the unit. If you are the second owner it would be 5 year part regardless if it was registered or not. (*these are current rules that may change in the future) -what are the ramifications of mismatched Goodman/non-Goodman? None, provided the person doing the work knows what they are doing. It will not be AHRI certified install, but AHRI numbers only work out by what? --The person doing the work knows what they are doing. If you do an AHRI certified install you will have a matched system if that is your goal, but the cost to do so will cost more. I do it all the time and I live in a hot sticky climate in Katy, Texas. (Ultimately it depends on the goal of the home owner.) If you want a longer lasting solution then replace the whole system... but that is going to cost more. Things like selling the home, wanting to turn it to a rental, longevity of how long you plan to live there all come into play. - Is it unbalanced if condensor is 3-ton and original was 3.5 ton? I believe the 3.5 ton was oversized. 1600 sf ranch. It sounds over sized, but there's more that goes into determining proper sizing than just merely stating square foot numbers. If it really needs 3.5 ton and you put in a 3 ton it won't keep up when you need it most: heat wave. Considering you're in Massachusetts reducing capacity a bit probably won't hurt you any. Provided of course the work is done properly. (<broken record talk, put it on repeat) -I was considering getting 2nd opinion on compressor failure. Not sure its worth the $ and super hard to get service techs. Maybe if I give you a little rundown you can comment on if it sounds like 2nd opinion warranted: ....When we came back to the outside unit, it was super super loud and not its normal sound. He had some gauges hanging off it and I think he said it was overcompressing. He concluded that the compressor malfunctioning burnt out the contact thingie (my word not his!) Does that sound legit? Sounds like a lack of experience or the inability to properly explain things in a non-technical manner so you can understand it. Compressors do not 'over compress' -- technically it's impossible without breaking something then there is -no compression-. You can get a second opinion but if you don't find someone with 'real world' experience you'll probably get sold on something. That's what these kinds of service providers are banking on. I service the Katy, Texas area. ----------- Unfortunately it is the busy season where prices are higher, and the quality of installation drops. I don't have any of those problems... I have time to post here don't I? You mean to tell me you mismatch equipment to fix it and you still don't have any trouble in a hot and sticky climate like Katy, Texas? I post here all summer long, what does that tell you?