Carrier Serial Number: Where To Find? How To Read?

There are reasons why you should know your Carrier Serial Number. It contain information in what year the unit was manufactured, as the easy way to identify the carrier ac age is due to the serial number.

Knowing your system age is important because it can give you substantially about whether you might be able to repair or replace the system with a new one.

Carrier Serial Number Location

You can find the carrier serial number on a rating plate sticker attached to the inside of the unit on the left side near the top. Remove the metal door of the outdoor unit. look into the interior of the metal door – you might see a label or tag with the carrier serial number and the model number also.

How to Read Carrier Serial Number

Below are the most common styles or format of carrier serial number and how to decode it.

  • #4006A17330
  • #0180A12345
  • #W4D14008
  • #A912345
  • #24ACA336

New Carrier units (air conditioners, heat pumps, furnaces) use a 4 digit number of first four serial number to determine the age. The first 2 are the week of the year and the second are the year.

Older Carrier units used many different styles in their serial numbers and have changed over the years. It will be a little hard to figure out exactly the carrier ac age from old carrier serial number.

We’ll show you how to decode each carrier serial number styles in the following examples.

New Carrier Units

Nine Digit Alphanumeric Serial Number

#0100V1234 (01 = week | 00 = year | V = plant | 1234 = seq number)
Week: 01 = First week of January, 52 = Last week of December
Year: 00 = 2000, 01 = 2001, and so forth.

Ten Digit Alphanumeric Serial Number

#0180A12345 (01 = week | 80 = year | A = plant | 12345 = seq number)
Week: 01 = First week of January, 52 = Last week of December
Year: 80 = 1980, 81 = 1981, and so forth.

Old Carrier Units

Seven Digit Serial Number (for units manufactured before 1970)

#1987654 (1 = year | 987654 = seq number)
Year: 1 = 1961, 2 = 1962, and so forth.

Nine Digit Serial Number (used from 1970 – 1980)

#760198765 (76 = year | 01 = week | 98765 = seq number)
Year: 76 = 1976, 77 = 1977, and so forth.
Week: 01 = First week of January, 52 = Last week of December

Six Digit Serial Number (used in 1973 only)

#312345 (3 = year | 1 = calendar quarter | 2345 = seq number)
Year: 3 = 1973
Calendar Quarter: 01 = 1st quarter, 02 = 2nd quarter, 03 = 3rd quarter, 04 = 4th quarter

Five Digit Alphanumeric Serial Number

#4A567 = January 1974 (4 = year | A = month | 567 = seq number)
Year: 4 = 1974, 5 = 1975, and so forth. 4 = 1984, 5 = 1985, and so forth.
Month: For A through M (omit I), A = January, B = February, and so forth. For N through Z (omit O), N = January, P = February, and so forth.

Eight Digit Alphanumeric Serial Number

#A598765A (A = month | 5 = year | 98765 = seq number | A = plant)
Month: A = January, B = February and so forth.
Year: 5 = 1975, 6 = 1976, and so forth.

Eight Digit Alphanumeric Serial Number

#A6A00001 = January 1976
#N6A00002 = January 1986
Month: For A through M (omit I), A = January. For N through Z (omit O), N = January, P = February, and so forth.
Year: 6 = 1976, 7 = 1977, and so forth. 6 = 1986, 7 = 1987, and so forth.

Seven, Eight, and Nine Digit Alphanumeric Serial Numbers

#16V123456 (16 = week | V = year | 123456 = seq number)
Week: 01 = First week of January, 52 = Last week of December
Year: V = 1968, W = 1969, X = 1970, Y = 1971, A = 1972, B = 1973, C = 1974, D = 1975, E = 1976

Carrier age by serial number

New Carrier Units also shown the date of manufacture directly on the data tag (as shown in the image above). So you don’t have to bother to decode the serial number nomenclature anymore.

Now that you know the Carrier age from serial number, you must figure out wether to repair or replace your unit. If your HVAC system is nearing the end of its lifespan, we can help you find an experienced HVAC technicians. They will help find the right HVAC system for your home’s price range and needs.

Still unable to find or to read Carrier Serial Numbers? Just drop your comment below and we will be happy to help you.

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About Mas Broto

Have been in the heating and air conditioning (HVAC) industry for over 20 years. He is person that will grow and thrive to learn more about the HVAC industry throughout his career. Mas Broto is also a blogger, who's dedicated to bringing you the best knowledge to get ahead in the game of life.