A good leak detector is a big investment and one of the more important tools a tech has on the truck. One thing that I have learned is that with leak detectors care, maintenance, and testing is a huge part of finding leaks the first time.
In this troubleshooting situation, the equipment is a gas pack that has been in service for 18 months. What is the underlying cause for the poor performance of this unit?
The equipment in this month’s troubleshooting situation is a split system that has only been in service for two years, but there is a lot of history — several service calls since the equipment was installed, and an on-going complaint that the system just doesn’t keep the ranch-style home comfortable.
In HVAC, we rarely need to have a deep understanding of electrical design. But there are a few cases where a little understanding can go a long way in identifying issues before they cause trouble, and that is the intent of this short article.
In this troubleshooting situation, the equipment is an air source heat pump and the customer’s complaint is that even though the thermostat is set at 70° F, the temperature in the conditioned space remains near 65°.
One common customer complaint about their central HVAC systems is that the a/c system is running but not providing any cool air to the controlled space. One of the most common reasons for this situation is that the a/c condenser or evaporator coil has frozen over. This term or phrase literally means that ice has formed on the heat exchanger, preventing the transfer of heat since the ice is acting as an insulator.
In this troubleshooting situation we have a customer who reports that when they turned on their nine-year-old electric furnace at the beginning of the heating season, they considered that the run cycles may have been excessive.