HVAC Question

[bluelifer]

I'm sure you hvac dudes are balls to the wall this weekend, but I'll pose my query just in case you're bored.

2012 Arcoaire package unit

Came in from yard work this afternoon to a balmy house. Heard the unit running, but no air coming though the vents. Turned it off at the thermostat, went outside and popped the cover off to find the compressor and coils frozen up. Let them thaw, cleaned the dirty coils, replaced the filter and started it back up. Compressor and fan came on, but no blower. Switched the power off at the unit, opened the blower panel to check it out. No visual clues (to the layperson), blades turned easily by hand and belt seemed to be intact. After a few more mins of poking around, I restored power, came inside and turned the blower to the ON position and it worked. Then turned the ac on and it worked as well. Everything worked fine for 30-45 mins and then the blower stopped again. So I shut it back down and that's where I'm at now. Any ideas?

 

[anthonys735]

Sounds like a similar problem to BBH. If the fan is intermittent the coil will freeze up under demand.

 

[bluelifer]

Noticed that after I posted. Probably out of my capacity to fix myself.

 

[anthonys735]

Granted we don't service a lot of package units, that would seem to be a hell of a coincidence as it's not a very common cause of freeze ups.

 

[Bill Derington]

Blue lifer, I sent you a message.

 

[jtrue28]

@anthonys735 My outdoor compressor fan motor sounds like it is getting ready to go out. We were told a couple of years ago it was leaking oil, but since it is "sealed" you have to replace the whole motor. What should I expect this to cost us? It's a 13yr old Goodman unit...probably 3-3.5 ton. I felt the top of the unit yesterday, after it had been running all day....very hot to the touch. The other unit, right next to it, wasn't hot at all. Sounds like high pitched squeaking sound, intermittently. It's still running for now, but need to see about getting it fixed. Thanks!

 

[anthonys735]

Few hundred bucks.

 

[UKserialkiller]

Anthony,

question.

Let's say you wanted to cool off a room that has no windows and no AC vents in the ceiling. What would you recommend the best way to cool it off?

 

[anthonys735]

Trick question? Would you like a permanent solution or temporary? Permanent would be to get a vent/return in there.

I don't know anything about those portable room AC's. If those are vent-less I suppose that would be the easiest in that situation.

 

[UKserialkiller]

Trick question? Would you like a permanent solution or temporary? Permanent would be to get a vent/return in there.

I don't know anything about those portable room AC's. If those are vent-less I suppose that would be the easiest in that situation.

Gotcha. The room is under the downstairs walkway in the garage where there is no AC vent. Just wondering how difficult it is to connect the AC upstairs to a vent blowing down stairs. I see what you mean though. Those portables prolly suck and drain more electricity.

Thanks. Ya'll have any Orlando offices?

 

[anthonys735]

If there is access to the room(attic, crawl or basement), adding a supply and return is typically not a big deal. Just depends on the application and getting the vent in there. Only complication would be if there was no way to do it.

Not in Orlando... yet.

 

[UKserialkiller]

Thanks. I'll see what I have to work with. Appreciate the info.

 

[catlanta33]

I did research on the company our home warranty uses. No f'ing way. Too many complaints on them. Hired a good Carrier dealer and the guy came out this morning. It wasn't hot enough to recreate the issue so he's coming back tomorrow afternoon. He didn't find a leak, capacitor is reading fine so he's thinking the fan but doesn't want to change it just to change it until he can see what's happening first hand.

Of course, about an hour after he left it started happening again.

 

[JumperJack]

So if this is an open Q and A, who knows anything about geothermal? I just bought a house with a 15 year old unit. Loved the house but I'm sure this thing is probably due to break down. Should I go ahead and sell a kidney now?

 

[anthonys735]

I did research on the company our home warranty uses. No f'ing way. Too many complaints on them. Hired a good Carrier dealer and the guy came out this morning. It wasn't hot enough to recreate the issue so he's coming back tomorrow afternoon. He didn't find a leak, capacitor is reading fine so he's thinking the fan but doesn't want to change it just to change it until he can see what's happening first hand.

Of course, about an hour after he left it started happening again.

That's all good news. Yeah, a lot of those home warranty companies are using "chuck in a truck" style start up contractors. They will buy you out if you persist. They will also allow you to use your contractor if you absolutely protest theirs. Again you can usually do ok if you're will to spend a little time on the phone and are good at negotiating with people.

Replacing an existing geo with the loops already in place shouldn't be that bad. I mean it's going to be expensive but the hard work is already done. I don't know much about it though, several of my guys are the experts there, but we shy away from that and refer to a few of the local geo experts. Keep it serviced yearly at this point.

 

[UKRob 73]

So if this is an open Q and A, who knows anything about geothermal? I just bought a house with a 15 year old unit. Loved the house but I'm sure this thing is probably due to break down. Should I go ahead and sell a kidney now?

I wouldn't panick just yet. Geothermal equipment generally has a longer life than a traditional split system. While traditional Hvac equipment has a typical lifespan of 12-15 years, geothermal is touted to average 25 plus years.
The most expensive part of geothermal is installing the loops. You already have that installed. To just replace the unit itself is $3500-$8000 depending on tonnage. Not that much different than replacing a traditional split system.

 

[anthonys735]

If you can get a retro geo for 3500 good for you. Probably closer to 8-10k would be a good starting point.

 

[catlanta33]

This guy is getting his *** kicked by my condenser. Funny enough, the gal on the phone called it as dirty coils and he went through an hour plus of diagnosis before realizing it's probably dirty coils.

 

[bluelifer]

I'm sure you hvac dudes are balls to the wall this weekend, but I'll pose my query just in case you're bored.

2012 Arcoaire package unit

Came in from yard work this afternoon to a balmy house. Heard the unit running, but no air coming though the vents. Turned it off at the thermostat, went outside and popped the cover off to find the compressor and coils frozen up. Let them thaw, cleaned the dirty coils, replaced the filter and started it back up. Compressor and fan came on, but no blower. Switched the power off at the unit, opened the blower panel to check it out. No visual clues (to the layperson), blades turned easily by hand and belt seemed to be intact. After a few more mins of poking around, I restored power, came inside and turned the blower to the ON position and it worked. Then turned the ac on and it worked as well. Everything worked fine for 30-45 mins and then the blower stopped again. So I shut it back down and that's where I'm at now. Any ideas?

So apparently mine is a bad blower motor. I had originally hoped it was a capacitor and maybe I could fix it myself, but according to my HVAC dude, this type of motor doesn't have a capacitor. Good news is, it's still under warranty. Bad news is I have to wait another day or so for the new motor to arrive. Hopefully this takes care of it.

 

[anthonys735]

This guy is getting his *** kicked by my condenser. Funny enough, the gal on the phone called it as dirty coils and he went through an hour plus of diagnosis before realizing it's probably dirty coils.

Get on their yearly preventive maintenance and cleaning plan, bubby. Dirty coils will drastically reduce the life of your unit. Also increase your utility bills. SMH.

 

[catlanta33]

Get on their yearly preventive maintenance and cleaning plan, bubby. Dirty coils will drastically reduce the life of your unit. Also increase your utility bills. SMH.

He just left. I even asked him what we can do going forward and he didn't even offer service. Super nice dude but I'm a little surprised he didn't suggest a service plan.

 

[cawoodsct]

Anth, how much roughly, and i understand your roughly will be real rough, would it be to get full air and heat upstairs in my smaller cape cod home? Definitely a project i want to do in next 5 years.

 

[anthonys735]

How many rooms up there? Is there anything existing?

 

[cawoodsct]

How many rooms up there? Is there anything existing?

Jack and Jill room where there is 2 rooms and a bathroom you can enter from both rooms and of course the attic. Nothing existing that i know of, i mean there are vents but hardly any heat or air gets up there. I think some does but not enough to keep the rooms cool and not enough to keep the rooms heated. I need to one day get out of the dark ages and rid ourselves of the ac unit in the window upstairs. Downstairs of course is fine.

 

[anthonys735]

Jack and Jill room where there is 2 rooms and a bathroom you can enter from both rooms and of course the attic. Nothing existing that i know of, i mean there are vents but hardly any heat or air gets up there. I think some does but not enough to keep the rooms cool and not enough to keep the rooms heated. I need to one day get out of the dark ages and rid ourselves of the ac unit in the window upstairs. Downstairs of course is fine.

shoot me an email

 

[UKRob 73]

If you can get a retro geo for 3500 good for you. Probably closer to 8-10k would be a good starting point.

Starting point? Gee whiz. You can get 2 ton units for $2200. You just have to know where to look bub.
http://www.miamihp.com/store.php?gc...OmCTvi3js_UKwil6JWndWXCBzT0qJuTho4aAi308P8HAQ

 

[anthonys735]

Never heard of that company and if I'm paying that before tax I'm not installing it for $3500. Like I said, if you can find it installed for that price, good for you. Have at it. Most HVAC contractors shoot for 25% or less equipment cost, btw. At least that's the standards that the national consultants are pushing. Again, we don't really get into much GEO so...