HVAC saga

Well since we put in a couple of window units in May I haven't thought much about finishing the job (been busy) well it's starting to get chilly so I had to get busy. I had two problems after my initial fix. 1 was the evap coil is leaking and 2 the blower motor was getting hot and cutting off (going bad) so I replaced the blower motor and thought all was well--NOPE--the only thing that would come on is the outside condenser unit. Well after trouble shooting the control board is bad. Not sure if that is what started this mess or died due to the other stuff. Regardless we will have heat tomorrow :) Ac still gonna wait until the spring (still mulling what to do) and on the plus side I didn't even come close to electrocution this time :)

Gewber, you know that one of the best HVAC guys around is right here on this board. Mr. Jim has walked me through many a problem that had me stumped. He is the MAN!!!

Haha-yep this one is pretty straight forward. I think the board was burning up when I started having the original problems. If for some reason it doesn't work I'll be giving him a shout for sure. Not much to them thats for sure.

Bet you electricity bill was lower this summer than it was last year. Running a central unit eats some juice.

Many times when a blower motor goes out on thermal it's a bad capacitor and not a bad motor...........capacitors are NOT made like they used to be, but thats a whole nother topic.........Not sure what exact unit you have, but the problem with the board is most likely a bad time delay relay that is incorporated into the board.

Is this a 410A system or 22? many many of the newer 410A coils have a serious problem with developing leaks...... I assume you are referring to a freon leak.

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Originally Posted by Rees Guide

Bet you electricity bill was lower this summer than it was last year. Running a central unit eats some juice.

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Not if it's engineered right. I run two units on 2,700+ sq. ft. for less than $125/mo.

It was a bit cheaper this year. The ac is r22 the condenser is 20 yrs old and the coil is12. From what I understand the coil wasn't a good one to begin with.
Good point on the cap. I put a new one in with the new blower.

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Originally Posted by Tracker123

Not if it's engineered right. I run two units on 2,700+ sq. ft. for less than $125/mo.

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Agreed but most are trying to run one unit in a 1800 to 2200 square foot home, doesn't work very efficient like that. Our electric in the summer months runs just over 100 bucks, around 55 in the winter but we don't keep it cold either, mid 70s year round.

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Originally Posted by Tracker123

Not if it's engineered right. I run two units on 2,700+ sq. ft. for less than $125/mo.

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Agreed but most are trying to run one unit in a 1800 to 2200 square foot home, doesn't work very efficient like that. Our electric in the summer months runs just over 100 bucks, around 55 in the winter but we don't keep it cold either, mid 70s year round.

I run 2 units in around 2k sq ft which one only cools around 500 sq ft for under $200 in the summer and we keep it at 65-69

Mine is actually too big. 4ton unit for a 1056sft

that's 264 sq ft a ton......... I am surprised it runs long enough to reduce the humidity to an acceptable level..........

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Originally Posted by KDAVID1

Mine is actually too big. 4ton unit for a 1056sft

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You don't have ac you have refrigeration,gets the air cool but high humidity.

If you plan on living in the house get it fixed right. You have plenty of money heard they call you the Donald Trump of Desoto County

Or break out your tools and double the size of your house................Although not to cost effective.........

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Originally Posted by midcarolina

that's 264 sq ft a ton......... I am surprised it runs long enough to reduce the humidity to an acceptable level..........

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me too. Don't have much of a humidity issue in the house (which is strange) but it seems to do the job. If and when I change it out I will go with no more then 3 ton.

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Originally Posted by midcarolina

Or break out your tools and double the size of your house................Although not to cost effective.........

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That is what I'd like to do!!!

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Originally Posted by jimfish

You don't have ac you have refrigeration,gets the air cool but high humidity.

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Actually that's pretty correct--when the AC is on it's cold as heck (heater the opposite) soon as it's off (especially the heater) it goes the other way.

Hey--you still have a license :) Trying to buy the control board but the cheaper of the two places wont sale to me :) Guess i'll have to wait until Monday and have my guy at work pic it up for me.

if you want, you can pm me specifics about your home....... outside ambient temps summer and winter what type structure, type of and number of windows, roof material, attic and crawl space insulation......or if it is a manufactured home, I could tell you what size you need to be comfortable and not waste electricity.

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Originally Posted by midcarolina

if you want, you can pm me specifics about your home....... outside ambient temps summer and winter what type structure, type of and number of windows, roof material, attic and crawl space insulation......or if it is a manufactured home, I could tell you what size you need to be comfortable and not waste electricity.

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I appreciate the offer--I already went through all of that stuff earlier in the year so know pretty much what I actually need and can get it for a good price (from a fellow c.commer) just haven't gone that route yet but will be come spring :)

Since my landlord/stepdad wouldn't pay for the repairs on the ac here, since the house will be removed soon. I installed a 12,000 btu unit in the livingroom, a 10,000 btu unit in the bedroom and an 8,000 btu unit in the kitchen. There is a room behind the kitchen so it doesn't get direct heat on the south side of the house. I keep the 2 bedroom doors shut on the east side of the house. So I heat and cool 1 bedroom, livingroom, kitchen, bathroom and hall. During the hot days of summer I will wake to about 65 degrees, but as the day wears on it will be about 75 degrees. There is not insulation in the crawl space. 5" of rock wool insulation in the attic. I haven't been into any walls to see what is there. I'll soon be pulling out the utility heaters for heat.

One more thing, depending on what type of heat you have, It might be as simple as adding a simple fan relay or at most a sequencer to take the place of the board........Really kind of a waste of money to replace the board if you are gonna change out system in the near future.

Also did you check the G terminal where the tstat wires terminate to the board..........most likley on your unit the heat controls the fan operation and in cool the tstat controls the fan......... meaning you need to have 24v between common and the G terminal to energize the fan relay in cooling

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Originally Posted by midcarolina

One more thing, depending on what type of heat you have, It might be as simple as adding a simple fan relay or at most a sequencer to take the place of the board........Really kind of a waste of money to replace the board if you are gonna change out system in the near future.

Also did you check the G terminal where the tstat wires terminate to the board..........most likley on your unit the heat controls the fan operation and in cool the tstat controls the fan......... meaning you need to have 24v between common and the G terminal to energize the fan relay in cooling

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Yep--120 main power, 24 from transformer, no power on the board--it's toast. Tsat and wire are good to go. Outside condenser actually will come on but with no power on the board--nothing inside will work. Board is 80 bucks so not much expense. As far as changing the units--I will more than likely just replace the coil and move on or replace the coil and condenser both (if I can't swallow the price for R22)

But with all that said--best laid plans--lol and with my luck there is no telling

The last I paid for R22 was $360. I filled my unit along with a can of dye to find 9 leaks in the A coil and condenser. It ran for about 15 hours before freezing up again. My son-in-law used some to fill his father's system and it's been sitting here since.
I have a few 14 oz. cans of R12 that I bought before it was out of stock.

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Originally Posted by canebreaker

Since my landlord/stepdad wouldn't pay for the repairs on the ac here, since the house will be removed soon. I installed a 12,000 btu unit in the livingroom, a 10,000 btu unit in the bedroom and an 8,000 btu unit in the kitchen. There is a room behind the kitchen so it doesn't get direct heat on the south side of the house. I keep the 2 bedroom doors shut on the east side of the house. So I heat and cool 1 bedroom, livingroom, kitchen, bathroom and hall. During the hot days of summer I will wake to about 65 degrees, but as the day wears on it will be about 75 degrees. There is not insulation in the crawl space. 5" of rock wool insulation in the attic. I haven't been into any walls to see what is there. I'll soon be pulling out the utility heaters for heat.

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thought you where using the heater pots to heat the house

:hesaid

I have 5 of them ready to go ought to keep the house at 65 degrees.

Well hopefully all fixed. Put the new board in pushed the safety switch in turned tstat to on and bingo blower turned on, on heat ignitor glowed gas flowed and fired up. Happy happy. I'll button up everything after I eat dinner and turn it on to run a cycle and be good to go.

That's great................

Funny I was so quick to turn it on I didn't look for the led until after lol of course it is lit. Just ran a heater cycle and now running A/C cycle. I do have a evap. leak ( do have oil on the copper line too) but making sure it runs proper on all. A/C is cooling but won't be using it until coil is replaced.

If you want to save some bucks and not replace the coil until you are ready to do the complete system, pick up a can of nu-calgon easy seal..............stuff is supposed to work very well on small leaks ( like in a evap coil ) I've never used any cause all I work on is heavy commercial/industrial mechanical equipment. But I personally know techs that swear by it...........

May have to look into that but I think my leak is big although until today it hasnt been tur ed on in 4 months and did cool ( but leaks oil) ac season is about done so will worm with it next spring.

Mike I put a can in my upstairs unit last year and it stopped my leak. Guy my wife works with does ac on the side and swears by it for coil leaks.

I gotta guy that will fix your AC cheap.

Just go buy a new one tight wad!!! Ya can't take it with ya, and you got enough to fill your shoebox of a casket if ya wanted to anyway!!! Lol

don't I wish.
I did sleep in a dresser drawer when I was a baby when we visited my grandparents :)
so they say

Was almost done. Well today I got a bug up my but and decided to move the tstat from the small hallway that heats and cools to fast compared to the rest of the house to the wall in the main part of the house (stays 2 to 5 degrees cooler than the halway.) Well at trip to lowes, bed bath and beyond (the wife wanted a can opener--pffft) and 5 hours of work it's moved. About all I can say from this and everything else about the way this house was built any updates or mods or anything really is more work then it's worth [emoji22]

The small jobs always seem to turn into a big pain in the butt for me...........hopefully the work will be worth it.

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Originally Posted by midcarolina

The small jobs always seem to turn into a big pain in the butt for me...........hopefully the work will be worth it.

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Yep. The way they did the wire originally they pin'd it between drywall and a stud---wth. Found that when I put in a new tstat the first of the year. On this one running the wire it had to go straight down then to the left to get into a small space that appears to be a gap between the drywall and stud--makes no sense. But so far it seems my hypothesis was correct :) now I've got to fix the drywall where the original was :(