Dead heat pump, what else do I need?

what I thought was a bad capacitor turned out to be an oil leaking, Freon empty system according to my HVAC guy. outside heat pump (13 yr old) is 4 ton, says its too big for 2100 sq ft two story space, recommends 3 ton. Going to sell this place in 2 months, don't want to spend more than I have to. They want to put new air handler and aux elect in. Can I just replace heat pump and not air handler? That I can do myself if tech does refrigerant. Thanks.

 

So your plan would be to install a new 3 ton condensor on a 13 year old 4 ton evaporator coil ?

I'd imagine your old system used R22 freon while your new system will not unless you will try to locate a NOS (new old stock) replacement condensor. Otherwise you'd need to flush the lines and coil.

 

You don't really need to replace the air handler (provided it lives up to the CFM requirements of the new system) but you should replace the evap coil along with the condenser unit. Mismatched coils and condensers don't work well together.

Alpine is a great place to go for DIY'ers. Their site is full of information for the novice to both pick and self install systems. Install guides and all documentation is there for free download in PDF format. The systems already come precharged for up to 15 feet of line so if you don't need anything longer than that, then all you have to do is evacuate the line and the evap coil before releasing the charge. (It should be noted that Alpine asks that you have a trained HVAC person sign off and do the initial start on self installed systems in order to honor their warranty)

Alpine Home Air Products: Contractor-grade furnaces, heaters, air conditioners and indoor-air quality products at wholesale prices.

 

Was there visible oil in the outdoor unit? If not, nobody knows where the leak is. Honestly, I see far more leaks in the indoor coil than outdoors. Even if the leak is outdoors, it could be repairable.
Dry (no refrigerant included) units for R-22 are readilly available.

 

according to the tech there was oil leaking in the outside condenser. My neighbor is a tech so he'll do the hookup, just wondered if I could get away without changing the handler, but I have no idea where the R-22 leak was so maybe I'll bite the bullet. Already looked at Alpine, thanks for your help guys!