Hi,
3 weeks ago our heatpump a/c quit cooling. At that time the outside unit did not go off when turned off at t-stat. Installed new t-stat. Blowing air but still not cooling. But outside unit turns off when turned off at t-stat, Checked electricity everywhere, installed new capacitor because old one did not hold electricity. Got new electric bill, almost tripled in one month, even though no cooling. Have 2 breakers under meter box, 1 labeled a/c, the other one labeled heater. When turning off a/c breaker, meter still runs like crazy, when turning off heater breaker, meter stops. Turn on again a/c breaker only, nothing happens.
Does this mean the a/c breaker is gone, or how do those 2 breakers work together. Checked fuses with volt meter, seem to be working OK.
Can't really afford a service call. This new bill of almost $600.00 will kill us, my husband is on disability, so there is no extra money for anything. If we can't get this fixed, we may not have any heat this winter because we can't afford to get it fixed for quite a while. My bill has always been around $200-$250 a month for a 900 square foot house. And thinking back, the meter always did go around fast when the ac or heater was on.
If anyone can think of anything what could be wrong with this and what we could try to fix this, this would be greatly appreciated.
PS The unit is about 6 years old.

There are many things that could be wrong and it is hard to tell you without checking the unit to get the answer.
One thing is that it could be low on freon. Or a dirty coil, or several others.

Sounds like the heat strips are staying on...

Hello,
Thank you for answering. The first thing I did when I got the high electric bill was to turn off the 2 breakers for my heatpump. Last week I finally had time to check it. After finally finding the heatstrips I pulled the wires off it and disconnected them and taped them off with electrical tape. Then I turned the breakers back on. The heatstrips were the culprit because the breaker was working normally after that. Then I turned the thermostat on cool because it was still hot out. It has been working great for the whole week. 2 nights ago it was cold so I turned the t-stat on heat in the middle of the night. We had warm air blowing until 9 am that morning. Then it started blowing cool, but not cold. The compressor and the outside fan come on for about 10-20 seconds, then they both turn off. No heat. The inside blower keeps blowing on "auto and on 'on'"It did that all day yesterday and today. Today I turned it on cool after the house warmed up enough during the day to do that, and the compressor and outside fan are working perfectly in the a/c mode. Maybe I wired something wrong on the t-stat. We compared the colored wired to the letters on the outside unit to make sure we have them right.
At the moment we have a Rite-Temp t-stat for heatpump, That is is the only one I could find in the whole town, it is NOT digital. My wiring is as follows:

Red wire connected to RC on t-stat (there is already a pre installed jumper by the way RC and RH)
White wire marked W connected to W2 on t-stat
Blue wire connected to C on t-stat (also on C on the outside unit)
Green wire connected to G on t-stat
Orange wire connected to O on t-stat
I put a jumper by the way W & Y per online instruction of my heatpump wiring diagram for t-stat
(Air Ease Concept 1200 Heatpump by Armstrong I guess)

The t-stat requires batteries if C wire is not connected. On my first day of heat I had batteries and c wire connected. When it stopped heating I took the batteries and kept trying with and without, but still no heat. It only said they are not necessary but did not say to not definitely use them.
Also, when I disconnected the heatstrips, something fell out from the bottom of the air handler. It was something black plastic, square of rectangle with the wiring attached to it. It had a round silver piece of metal on top of it (loose, it fell down a few times before I had it back up). And I had a hard time putting it back in, because everything is put in sideways inside a closet and I have a hard time putting my head in and under there. I did take a photo of this. I just don't know how to upload it to this forum. I also don't know what it is called.
Thanks a lot for all your help
Lee

I forgot to mention that when it is in heat mode, the outside insulated pipe which is normally very cold in a/c mode, does turn nice and very warm in heat mode, even though no warm air is coming out of the vents, just the cool air from the inside blower.
Lee

You really need to understand how your system works. It is a heat pump with supplemental resistance heating, that is what the strips and heater breaker are about. Let me paste in some boiler plate from a gas furnace, then I will explain the difference.

Usually there is a 24 volt AC transformer in the furnace with the secondary winding connected to a red wire running to the thermostat and a blue wire, common, to the gas valve, A/C relay, and fan relay. From the thermostat there will be white wire to the gas valve, yellow to the A/C, and green to the fan. The thermostat is wired to switch the power from the red to the white, yellow, and green as needed with the blue completing the circuit. Most thermostats and furnaces have the contacts labeled R, B or C, W, Y, and G for the corresponding wire colors. It may be wired to have the A/C control wires return to the furnace and its controls and then a second wire goes to the A/C unit. Internal wiring may replace the green wire if the thermostat does not give you the option of fan only or continuous fan. Digital or programmable thermostats may need the blue wire connected to them.


To do simple checks like this you do need some tools. A test light, a meter, or a voltage detector might be the best place to start with. I came across the niftiest gadget for trouble shooting, a voltage detector. They work through the insulation of wires. There are several brands. I have a GB Instruments GVD-505A, less than $15 at Home Depot. Touch it to a hot wire, and the end glows red. Find the doodad that lights it on one side, and not the other, and you have the culprit. You do not have to open up housings and expose electrical contacts. You are looking at where your hand is, not where the meter is. Most people are capable of doing repairs and will get it going and not get hurt if they use a little sense. The voltage detector makes it even easier.

On A/C or fan, your system works much like above. On the first stage heat, instead of a gas valve, 3 other things need to happen, the outside compressor comes on, the blower comes on, and the Freon valves reverse to condense the Freon inside rather than outside. The heat goes wherever the Freon condenses. If the heat pump can't heat the house, the strip heaters kick in. They run the bill up fast.

The orange wire controls the reversing Freon valves. Y controls the outside unit. You jumper it to the white so the outside unit runs when the thermostat call for heat. Some thermostats have a terminal to control the strips, but your system may do it at the air handler or control board. The thing that fell out likely is a heat sensor and may actually be what turns on the strips when needed. As I mentioned in my boiler plate, the system is controlled by relays. They can stick, causing many HVAC problems. Also temperature sensors can fail, fall out of place, or get dirty. You need to figure out what each component should be doing, and see if it is. The insulated tube is working as it should with the flow of the vapor reversing with the mode.

To post pictures here, you have to store them elsewhere and give the url. I have my picture of Kate and what I had to do to keep her from chewing my A/C service at http://www.photolocker.net/

http://www.photolocker.net/images/Labman/KatetheAC.jpg