I see how it's wired on the schematic, but I don't see anything on the line side of the contactor besides the line voltage, that's what has me confused.

I hate to say it but your wrong the crank case heater is hot when the contactor is open not calling for heat or cooling keeping the oil warm in the compressor but when the contactor closes the heater drops out.

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Originally Posted by T-Top

I hate to say it but your wrong the crank case heater is hot when the contactor is open not calling for heat or cooling keeping the oil warm in the compressor but when the contactor closes the heater drops out.

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I found this at the following link. You are correct T.

Compressor Crankcase Heater

"Some manufacturers of AC equipment install crankcase heaters either in the compressor or mount them externally around the base of the compressor. The (2) wires of the heater is wired directly to the 230 Volt input side of the contactor from the main power supply, and is always supplying 230 volts of power to the heater. "

I am going to go out and look at it now. I will let you know what I find out.

Thanks again!

Shoe

What you guys are discusing is over my head. All that I know is that last summer my heat pump turned on by itself (in the heat mode) while the thermostat was in the off position. The only way I could turn it off was by tripping the breaker. I replaced the 10 year old Honeywell programmable thermostat, and solved the problem.

Ok, I went outside and looked at the unit. I do not think that this unit has a crankcase heater unless I am missing something. I am assuming that if there were, that it would be plugged into the bottom of the contactor. There are no cables there. There was a thermal cover on the compressor which I removed.

After I turned on the breaker and the unit kicked on, I checked the voltage coming in and it read 240 (11 and 23). I also checked the voltage across 21 and 23, and it read 120.

Thanks for the suggestion Dr D.

I unplugged the wiring that leads inside the house (disabling the thermostat), and the thing still kicked on when I turned on the circuit breaker. Ugh!! This is weird...

I put some additional pictures up online of the contactor

http://www.shoemaker.us/temp/contactor.jpg

And the inside components
http://www.shoemaker.us/temp/inside1.jpg
http://www.shoemaker.us/temp/inside2.jpg
http://www.shoemaker.us/temp/inside3.jpg

Scott

I also disconnected the wires from my old TS. That did not shut off the HP. It was only after I hooked up the new TS that it shut down. Why, I don't know.

In the pic you sent of the contactor it looks like it is in the closed position. Do you have 24 volts on the low voltage side of contactor?(check yellow and black wires on sides of contactor)

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Originally Posted by T-Top

In the pic you sent of the contactor it looks like it is in the closed position. Do you have 24 volts on the low voltage side of contactor?(check yellow and black wires on sides of contactor)

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Yes, in the picture, it does look closed. I also thought that it looked that way when I posted it. I can assure you that it is open, though. It is brand new and springs back when I manually push it in with the breaker off. There is no contact between the metal contact points until I push it in.

I checked the voltage between the yellow and brown wires (on the sides), and it was not 24V. It was negligible.

Thanks for the help.

Scott

Looks like you have a refrigerant leak by all the oil in the bottom of the condensing unit. Unless it is just old wet leaves. It also looks like oil residue on the copper line in the picture. Interesting.

There is no crankcase heater. I agree, it looks oil to me as well.

If you only have 120 volts at the top of the contactor when it's open, that is OK, it's a single pole contactor so it only breaks one leg. Something is strange here. Pull the small wire off the right side of the contactor, then power it up, does it come on?

No oil, just wet leaves.

I pulled the yellow wire off on the right side, and it still came on.

Ok, disconnect and tape off the two wires on the top of the contactor that are behind the screws, power it up, does it run?

Something is back feeding somewhere.

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Originally Posted by hvacservicetech_07

Ok, disconnect and tape off the two wires on the top of the contactor that are behind the screws, power it up, does it run?

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No, it does not run, but you can hear a hum.

Also, there might be a little oil on the bottom in the leaves. I cleaned out the leaves and some of them were pretty dark. My fingers were a little greasy as well.

You may have a small leak, but that won't keep it running, try switching both yellow and black wires on the top of the contactor, and let me know what that does, I'm trying to pinpoint what exactly is back feeding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hvacservicetech_07

You may have a small leak, but that won't keep it running, try switching both yellow and black wires on the top of the contactor, and let me know what that does, I'm trying to pinpoint what exactly is back feeding.

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OK, Fan started, but compressor only hummed, probably because it was bypassing the capacitor.

In one of your pics it looks like the condenser fan wire is not on the defrost relay. I see the power in but not the black wire for the fan motor. Give us a pic of the top side of the run capacitor so we can see the wires. It is a back feed problem and a easy fix but just hard to do from the PC. Don't give up your close.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T-Top

Give us a pic of the top side of the run capacitor so we can see the wires. It is a back feed problem and a easy fix but just hard to do from the PC. Dont give up your close.

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Here is the pic.

http://www.shoemaker.us/temp/cap.jpg

Thanks again. This is very strange...

Shoe