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I must have missed how long you have been in the hvac business.
Good luck with your problem....you'll never get step by step for DIY from me...you have to at least have some knowledge. Waiting two years to even pull the meter out is what tips me off that you need to call someone.
By the way they are going to tell you to consider replacing...
I have a 1630sq ft house with a 2-zone system. 1-zone is a bonus room upstairs; the only upstairs room...it has a 14X20 return and 2 vents. Downstairs has 2 14x20 returns on a 2-ton heat pump. I currently run the 2-zones as 1. I have pleated returns; almost the best you can buy...am I wasting money? In the summer our system cools to about 75 degrees and can't keep up when it is near 100 outside. Upstairs is unlivable this way but if I let that zone run independently it takes away from downstairs cooling (it is usually unoccupied anyway). The same can be said for heating too but I find the cold easier to compensate for.
Does that make sense? I hope so; and thanks for your help!
Not sure exactly where Mouldin is but most of SC has a design temp of 90-95 degrees. If it's 100 or close outside your system should run constantly....and should lose ground.
The pleated filters are fine if the returns are sized properly. The way you mention your system it most likely is with 3 returns that size for a 2 ton system. Pleated filters actually help out a lot when sized correctly...they keep the equipment much cleaner than the woven fiberglass.
I've got two systems, they are York, quite new, only 6 years old. Our whole subdivision has had problems on and off with their a/c. Right now my bottom unit has a leak somewhere that I have to get checked out. Every season, I have to call someone to check on one or the other units. It's so frustrating that something new can have so many issues. I swear this builder bought our a/c's at a fire sale!
I remember the appliances that my grandparents and parents had, they never had trouble. Ours are all disposable these days. UGH.
Location: When things get hot they expand. Im not fat. Im hot.
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Know anything about PTACS? No real problems and Id like to keep it that way. I dont think its cooling as well. But then again it could just be hotter. I basicly use it for cooling and emergency heat if the pump kicks out on the boiler.
I slide out the filter and rinse it off but I havent done much else. Ive had it about 3 years. I know I should have done some of this other stuff before but things have been hectic around here. Im thinking I should be cleaning the coils etc. Anything I should keep my hands off of when I do this? Any other tidbits of useful information?
I've got two systems, they are York, quite new, only 6 years old. Our whole subdivision has had problems on and off with their a/c. Right now my bottom unit has a leak somewhere that I have to get checked out. Every season, I have to call someone to check on one or the other units. It's so frustrating that something new can have so many issues. I swear this builder bought our a/c's at a fire sale!
I remember the appliances that my grandparents and parents had, they never had trouble. Ours are all disposable these days. UGH.
Sounds like poor instillation practices. The HVAC co should be able to verify if the system has acid in it. Acid is formed when moisture is not removed during instillation. Under the temp extremes an A/C system see's the moisture quickly forms acid and start to eat away internally. It's called Formicary Corrosion corrosion.
Look at the connection joint for the copper lines the black scale looking material is oxidation. Under high heat and exposure to ambient air oxidation forms very quickly...To counter that problem one must use nitrogen when brazing. Most like it's in the instillation manual.
Have you contacted York? I would get a petition of how many people actually are having similar problems and then get a hold of them so you have hard evidence of what appears to be mass instillation errors.
It should be very easy for them to make a call on what was causing it. I know a tech rep. from york that is more than a genius and could easily determine if in fact it was error due to instillation. So they have qualified people to asses problems. It's sometimes hard and they want you to go through your local dealer and have the local dealer contact them regarding the problem.
You should not have to put ref. in every year. Are they not able to find the leak? If not find someone else who can....they aren't looking hard enough.
I have a simple question. Okay, my house is one story about 1300sq.ft and has a heat pump. Last winter I noticed the copper pipe going into crawl space was insulated, but once I got into the crawlspace it was exposed, and when I put my hand on the pipe it was warm (with the unit running). My very first thought was I'm losing heat from this pipe. I went the the hardware store and bought some pipe insulation and put on it. After I did that I noticed that copper pipe got pretty hot. Was it the right thing to do to put that insulation on there? I haven't had any problems.
Yes, it is; it is smaller than the 2-car unheated garage though. Mauldin is in the Upstate; straight west (or is it south?) on 85 by Greenville.
Do you know if there is insulation in between the floor and the bonus room and if so what is the value of it? Do the windows get direct sunlight in that room? Can you or do you have curtains and blinds?
Sorry for taking so long to answer I been fighting a stomach bug/virus.
G'vill's design temp is 91 degrees. If the system was designed using ACCA procedures or similar when it's above 91 your system should start to lose ground. I wouldn't be real concerned if it isn't keeping up in those 99/100 degree days.....it's the trade off for effciency. If it's a two stage system sometimes they design the second stage to handle temps sliughtly higher than design conditions because you can get the best of both worlds.
Know anything about PTACS? No real problems and Id like to keep it that way. I dont think its cooling as well. But then again it could just be hotter. I basicly use it for cooling and emergency heat if the pump kicks out on the boiler.
I slide out the filter and rinse it off but I havent done much else. Ive had it about 3 years. I know I should have done some of this other stuff before but things have been hectic around here. Im thinking I should be cleaning the coils etc. Anything I should keep my hands off of when I do this? Any other tidbits of useful information?
Cut the power to it and definitely clean the coils even if they look clean debris over time that makes it past the filter fills in the gaps. Don't do anything that can bend the coils over. Use a good degreaser def. not anything with acid. Something like purple power diluted with water is fine. I wouldn't use anything like soap that may leave residue on the coil. Also check the fan for dirt build up if you can see it. Vacuum any dust or debris other than those things the only stuff left is checking electrical parts which I don't normally recommend because of the knowldge needed to properly diagnose them....and the danger factor.
Sounds like poor instillation practices. The HVAC co should be able to verify if the system has acid in it. Acid is formed when moisture is not removed during instillation. Under the temp extremes an A/C system see's the moisture quickly forms acid and start to eat away internally. It's called Formicary Corrosion corrosion.
Look at the connection joint for the copper lines the black scale looking material is oxidation. Under high heat and exposure to ambient air oxidation forms very quickly...To counter that problem one must use nitrogen when brazing. Most like it's in the instillation manual.
Have you contacted York? I would get a petition of how many people actually are having similar problems and then get a hold of them so you have hard evidence of what appears to be mass instillation errors.
It should be very easy for them to make a call on what was causing it. I know a tech rep. from york that is more than a genius and could easily determine if in fact it was error due to instillation. So they have qualified people to asses problems. It's sometimes hard and they want you to go through your local dealer and have the local dealer contact them regarding the problem.
You should not have to put ref. in every year. Are they not able to find the leak? If not find someone else who can....they aren't looking hard enough.
Actually, we just found out we have a lead last month. I asked my neighbor on the same day because I saw a heating/air guy at her house that day too,lol. She had said that she had a leak for 2 years and was just getting freon added but now her compressor burnt out so she had to get it replaced.
I didn't have the guy check for the leak that was out at the time because I wanted to get a second opinion from our regular guy.
Now we are actually putting the house on the market as we are moving out of state so I'll probably just list "as is" on the a/c because i don't have the time or gumption to get it fixed right now!
My next door neighbor has had the same problems and a couple others that I know of. I will have to pass on the info about petitioning York and seeing what they can do...thanks
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I dont think its cooling as well. But then again it could just be hotter. I basicly use it for cooling and emergency heat if the pump kicks out on the boiler. 
. Okay, my house is one story about 1300sq.ft and has a heat pump. Last winter I noticed the copper pipe going into crawl space was insulated, but once I got into the crawlspace it was exposed, and when I put my hand on the pipe it was warm (with the unit running). My very first thought was I'm losing heat from this pipe. I went the the hardware store and bought some pipe insulation and put on it. After I did that I noticed that copper pipe got pretty hot. Was it the right thing to do to put that insulation on there? I haven't had any problems.
