Anybody here an HVAC pro??

[Maico]

Hey all...I need help with a Heil heat pump before I call a repair man. Runs constantly, rarely shuts off, struggles to maintain 65*, is on AUX heat most of the time yet not very warm at the register vents.

Any suggestions??

[spoon]

I had a similar incident happen to me. My duct work got ripped off by my dog who chased a cat under my house. I didnt find it untill I turned on my heat. Thats where I would start

[Maico]

Unit is located in the basement so that ain't it. All flex duct work is new. I suspect the AUX coils or defrost circuit board but it's just a guess.

[spoon]

I'm all tapped out then.

[Thorpe]

Whats the outside ambient airtemp? Georgia is cold right now? (probably running outside the parameters a heatpump will function in = balance point temp) Time to flip it into Emergency heat mode... Thats why we dont have alot of HP's in MN, too dang cold, too dang often... Just checked the weather in your neck of the woods, its more than likely just getting too cold for the HP to tranfer heat, not enough heat outside, to bring any BTU's inside... You southern guys arent used to this weather are you? (kinda fun for us Northerns to watch the news, and chuckle...)

[Maico]

Hey Thorpe...ambient temp @ 5:20 PM est is 28*. I've been told that Heap pumps are more of a warm climate heat source but it was in the house when we bought it sooooo....

I flipped it to emergency heat mode and all is good now. Tell me this...what is heat mode vs aux heat mode vs emergency heat mode??

Southerners! LOl! I'm actually a transplanted yankee. Lived in MI for 38 years...born and raised there...before moving here to N. Georgia 5 years ago. Still got my '95 Ski-Doo 780 Mach Z sitting under the cover down here too. (wink) Also have a '73 Speedway 650 im' workin' on too. Might even make Memories at The Mile at the Soo next year.

[Billy Golightly]

HUh. Mine has ben blowing cold air the last 1-2 degrees of the thermostat. For example, if its 64 in the house and I bump it to 70, by the time its gets to 68 it starts blowing cold air. Eventually it goets to 70, but it blows cold air the whole time it does it. Wonder if this is the same thing going on.

[Thorpe]

Heat source is when the HP is absorbing heat from outside and pumping it in. Hard to believe, but you can pull heat out of 60 degree outdoor air, and warm your house to 70 with it. Aux heat is essentially turning little electric heaters on in your duct work. (boosters if you will) Emergency heat is likely turning on a fossil fueled furnace, taking your HP out of the system. HP's only work in a certain temp range... They are great in design, but dont work for squat at 28 degrees! (hence the emergency backup)

Billy-- when you are working your HP and struggling to pull those last 2 degrees, I would imagine that you are reaching that balance point as well... A common complaint with HP's is that people feel cool air at the registers... Whats the outside ambient temp in FL about now?

[Billy Golightly]

Mid to low 30s right now. We've had single digits on a few occasions already this year. I don't know what the "cutoff" is but I've wondered what caused this in the past and this seems like a pretty good possibility.

[bigbadktm]

man am I hating this mid 60's weather here in southern Cali....lol sorry, but i WOULD like a lil snow once in a while

[Thorpe]

There is no "specific" number where it cuts off, that would cover all models of HP's, but the cooler outside it gets the efficiency certainly tanks. Under 45 degrees, its not really doing much, and has to run aux. heat to try and keep up. Depending how much power the electric heaters draw, flipping it into fossil mode (emergency heat) may cost you less, until the storm passes and things get back to normal weather-wise...

HP's are great 99.5% of the time. Welcome to that remaining 0.5% of the not so great time... Good news, dont bother to have anyone come look at your machine, just wait for the weather to warm up a bit...

[Dirtcrasher]

Heat pumps are for down south because the temps stay relatively high. Instead of the outside unit being hot and the indoor cooled (AC), they have reversing valves to swap that a scenario.....

There is a sensor on your coil to put it in defrost mode.

Emergency heat is just electric heat back up, expensive to run but takes the chill off.

Make sure your filters are brand new (so many people ignore them) and both the evaporator coil (in house) and the condensor coil (outside) have been cleaned. They sell crap you can spray on them and hose off and into the condensate pump inside and outdoors doesn't matter where the water/clnr goes............

Do not run the indoor fan with the cover off, it lets the motor exceed high speed......

[tri again]

Hey all...I need help with a Heil heat pump before I call a repair man. Runs constantly, rarely shuts off, struggles to maintain 65*, is on AUX heat most of the time yet not very warm at the register vents.

Any suggestions??


ok, a couple quick points. in non heatpump mode. aka when it's using regular glow red electrical heating elements.

There are thermosensors in the wall of your air handler (furnace box) that can be checked for continuuity. and tells the sequencer if the box is hot or cold.

The sequencer tells the elements to heat and the fan to blow, elements to shut off and blower keeps running to blow the leftover heat out of the box and then shut off.

but it's all connected and dependent on a 'call for heat' from the thermostat.

Here's my favorite fix and it worked for my g.f.'s machine.

Heat would come out of the registers for a good 1/2 minute and then drop to a 'warmer than ambient' 60 degrees inside. (30* outside)

The thermosensor in the output box was getting too hot because the air filer was clogged.
It would heat up for 1/2 min or so and kill the elements.

So check register temp immediately for the first few minutes.

I personally had a sequencer go bad and it ran the house up to 120 degrees while we were out riding at the dunes.

We had turned the t stat down to 60 when we left, 2 year old sequencer decided to lock on and the only way the heat was limited was by the overheat sensor in the output box.

so now we throw the main breaker whenever we leave the house.

hmmmm...wonder what THOSE engineers do on their lunch breaks, and the committee of 12 who also thought that was a good idea?????

[Dirtcrasher]

Why didn't the high limit take out the heatstrips? You'd just need to wire one in series with the low voltage crap and it would take it all out.

Rather than turn a breaker off everytime you leave the house........

[Thorpe]

Heat pumps are for down south because the temps stay relatively high. Emergency heat is just electric heat back up, expensive to run but takes the chill off.......

Here in MN, most HP's are coupled with N.G. furnaces for emergency, rather than electric... Outside temp isn't as high as it normally would be. As DC mentioned, filters, filters, filters... Change them!

[tri again]

Why didn't the high limit take out the heatstrips? You'd just need to wire one in series with the low voltage crap and it would take it all out.

Rather than turn a breaker off everytime you leave the house........

Yeah, the overlimit sensors in the hotbox cut off the heat strips at 130 degrees, their idea of fail safe.

I just can't find it in my heart to trust this stuff.

The parts guy told me about someone who came home to wilted plants and a dead dog because of a defective sequencer. But the dog was old anyway, he said.

The heater I replaced was actually an old international harvester made in 1963.
Threw great heat but just lost the blower motor bearings and took out the housing.

The new furnace flipped out in under 2 years .

[tri again]

sorry, I forgot to mention that those parts can be tested.

resistance of the heat elements, make sure you have something other than infinite resistance (broken)

220volts TO the strips. or 110 from each leg to ground.

and dangerously deadly stuff like that you'll see in your manual with the wire diagrams.

Thank the gods for my woodstove and it's companion hotwatertanks.

Fire hasn't gone out since October.

[Dirtcrasher]

Yeah, the overlimit sensors in the hotbox cut off the heat strips at 130 degrees, their idea of fail safe.

I just can't find it in my heart to trust this stuff.

The parts guy told me about someone who came home to wilted plants and a dead dog because of a defective sequencer. But the dog was old anyway, he said.

The heater I replaced was actually an old international harvester made in 1963.
Threw great heat but just lost the blower motor bearings and took out the housing.

The new furnace flipped out in under 2 years .

The thermostat alone should have satisfied and killed the 24V to the white wire.

I've fixed hundreds of 5,10,20 ton roof tops, never failed to fix one. Carrier, York, Trane - You name it :lol:

Resedential is only harder because of the space involved and location of the air handler if it's in the attic but they are even simpler

[tri again]

The thermostat alone should have satisfied and killed the 24V to the white wire.

I've fixed hundreds of 5,10,20 ton roof tops, never failed to fix one. Carrier, York, Trane - You name it :lol:

Resedential is only harder because of the space involved and location of the air handler if it's in the attic but they are even simpler


yeah, I thought the tstat would kill it too but apparently a sequencer stuck ON!! (that one's fixed now so...)


ok
so back to the orig post topic which is the same as GF's heater/handler.

She paid 10 grand and did NOT get the heat pump she paid for....she 'thought' she did.

Anyway, same as orig post but without heatpump, only heat strips.

runs and runs, temp at the floor grates is like 66 degrees no matter how the t stat is set.

30-50 outside temp, inside is like 62-65 and it just runs constantly. new 40$ filter btw, unit is 2 yrs old, new house.

and yes, it IS in a twisted spot in a crawlspace so checking voltages upside doen and twisted is just not my idea of fun with back spasms and footcramps.

Should I just tell her to 'call da guy'?

[Dirtcrasher]

Sounds like one of the strips is burnt out, or sequencer OR it was never sized right to begin with.

Those heaters have there own power source. If you throw an Amp clamp on that wire back at the breaker, amps x volts = watts. Without crawling around anywhere.

I'd bet it's just undersized for this weather. Tell her to get use to it, were broke in New England and keep our heat on 55 degrees anyhow.....

[tri again]

Thanks for the insider tips.

There are breakers on the box itself so we can check the elements for open circuit and also IF there's 220 TO them without having to run back and forth to the main breaker box.

She's pretty darn good with tools and a voltmeter so maybe I'll just hold the flashlight or I'll call the guy and call it an early Valentines day gift.

She's good with a chainsaw and splitting maul so round the clock fires are a way of life for us here too.

I used to make snow at ski areas in new england so I have an idea what you're talking about. (55* inside and glad to have it!)

Is there an easy way to test the sequencer? for voltage or resistance or anything? or just replace it?

thanks (again)