FL_johnk
Jul 19, 2009, 12:01 PM
Just wanted to sanity check on a problem I'm having with the AC in my Orlando, FL, home:
A year ago we had to replace the outside compressor unit of our Carrier System. We wound up replacing it with a Trane, as that was the best deal from the contractor that we were working with. They said there wouldn't be a problem since the inside and outside units were both rated around 2 tons. Control is provided by a Carrier WeatherMaker Two-zone Controller. The original system is just over ten years old.
When we installed the unit a year ago we were told we had a slight leak in our coils that would mean we'd have to recharge yearly or so. We didn't have the money to replace coils or alternatively, the whole upstairs unit at the time. The contractor told us this was no big deal, we just wouldn't be in an optimal situation but would definitely need to keep the coils in-mind and look at replacing the upstairs unit in the future.
About a month ago I noticed that the pitch of the sound from the blower upstairs seemed to get lower and a bit louder. A few days later, we stopped getting cold air. We put in a service call as we expected to have to get a recharge. The serviceman arrived and recharged the unit, saying he put in five pounds of refrigerant. Our babysitter was home (suffering) at the time. When we got home that evening it was noticeably cooler, but started warming up a bit... We checked the coils and they were iced over. We assumed it was because of the high ambient humidity and the fact that when the recharge/service was completed, someone set the thermostat for the low 70's. We shut the system down, let it defrost, and a few hours later restarted the system (when the coils were dry to the touch). We set the thermostat for around 80 (ambient temperature was about 86 at the time).
The unit ran for about 12-14 hours and we had another icing problem. Ambient temperature was around 82 and rose to about 84 this time. 12-14 hours later we iced up a third time, but the ambient was lower when we shut down to de-ice. During the thaw, we had a thunderstorm and we're pretty sure we had at least one hit within a mile (it's weird, I know, but when I see the flash I start to count by habit... I work outside a good bit). No other electronics were effected, but when we tried to restart, our unit wouldn't come back on. We shut down the power, checked the fuses, checked the switch on the filter, checked all the wires to make sure we hadn't pulled something loose, checked the overflow sensor on the condenser drain trap, flushed the line with vinegar, and tried turning on a few times. After a couple of tries, I went to check this site to see if I could find a thread that made sense of all of this... About five-to-ten minutes later, the unit seemed to kick on by itself (we had left it on).
So my questions are these:
1) Could the lightning strike have been why we couldn't restart the AC unit? Did cutting off the power reset something in the digital "brains"? Is there a good way to diagnose something like this and a more reliable way to reset the unit? Needless to say, we were a little freaked out when it didn't come back on.
2) Is this icing of our coils something we should expect? I have been operating under the assumption that it's just the high ambient humidity in the house and the fact that the AC unit has a lot of catching up to do... Would you expect that to be the case? And if that is indeed what we're seeing, is there a better way to manage this than trying to drop the temp in the house a couple/three degrees at a time and having the unit freeze up?
3) Is it possible that the tech overcharged the refrigerant and this is causing the icing problem? If so, is this something that will fix itself, especially with the leak? Or is it something I need to call and have a follow-up done?
Sorry for the whole "War and Peace" thing, but I figured too much info is probably better than not enough. Appreciate any help y'all can give on this one...
A year ago we had to replace the outside compressor unit of our Carrier System. We wound up replacing it with a Trane, as that was the best deal from the contractor that we were working with. They said there wouldn't be a problem since the inside and outside units were both rated around 2 tons. Control is provided by a Carrier WeatherMaker Two-zone Controller. The original system is just over ten years old.
When we installed the unit a year ago we were told we had a slight leak in our coils that would mean we'd have to recharge yearly or so. We didn't have the money to replace coils or alternatively, the whole upstairs unit at the time. The contractor told us this was no big deal, we just wouldn't be in an optimal situation but would definitely need to keep the coils in-mind and look at replacing the upstairs unit in the future.
About a month ago I noticed that the pitch of the sound from the blower upstairs seemed to get lower and a bit louder. A few days later, we stopped getting cold air. We put in a service call as we expected to have to get a recharge. The serviceman arrived and recharged the unit, saying he put in five pounds of refrigerant. Our babysitter was home (suffering) at the time. When we got home that evening it was noticeably cooler, but started warming up a bit... We checked the coils and they were iced over. We assumed it was because of the high ambient humidity and the fact that when the recharge/service was completed, someone set the thermostat for the low 70's. We shut the system down, let it defrost, and a few hours later restarted the system (when the coils were dry to the touch). We set the thermostat for around 80 (ambient temperature was about 86 at the time).
The unit ran for about 12-14 hours and we had another icing problem. Ambient temperature was around 82 and rose to about 84 this time. 12-14 hours later we iced up a third time, but the ambient was lower when we shut down to de-ice. During the thaw, we had a thunderstorm and we're pretty sure we had at least one hit within a mile (it's weird, I know, but when I see the flash I start to count by habit... I work outside a good bit). No other electronics were effected, but when we tried to restart, our unit wouldn't come back on. We shut down the power, checked the fuses, checked the switch on the filter, checked all the wires to make sure we hadn't pulled something loose, checked the overflow sensor on the condenser drain trap, flushed the line with vinegar, and tried turning on a few times. After a couple of tries, I went to check this site to see if I could find a thread that made sense of all of this... About five-to-ten minutes later, the unit seemed to kick on by itself (we had left it on).
So my questions are these:
1) Could the lightning strike have been why we couldn't restart the AC unit? Did cutting off the power reset something in the digital "brains"? Is there a good way to diagnose something like this and a more reliable way to reset the unit? Needless to say, we were a little freaked out when it didn't come back on.
2) Is this icing of our coils something we should expect? I have been operating under the assumption that it's just the high ambient humidity in the house and the fact that the AC unit has a lot of catching up to do... Would you expect that to be the case? And if that is indeed what we're seeing, is there a better way to manage this than trying to drop the temp in the house a couple/three degrees at a time and having the unit freeze up?
3) Is it possible that the tech overcharged the refrigerant and this is causing the icing problem? If so, is this something that will fix itself, especially with the leak? Or is it something I need to call and have a follow-up done?
Sorry for the whole "War and Peace" thing, but I figured too much info is probably better than not enough. Appreciate any help y'all can give on this one...