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Jealous Cow posted:Aprilaire 600 humidifier question: Nah, that works. The humidifier shouldn't be running when your furnace isn't anyway, unless you live in the desert or something. use some plumbers putty or something if the hole not being sealed bothers you.
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# ? Oct 15, 2018 22:42 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 19:05 |
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So how much napalm would you bring if you got called out to work on this mess? Particular the middle back? Spotted at a crappy apartment complex. I'm used to seeing mismatched units at apartments, but uh... one wasn't even on the pad, it was on a couple of bricks. I'm guessing they poured a pad that was barely big enough for the ~early 1980s units that were originally there? <insert Saul Goodman joke here.. maybe even 4 of them> randomidiot fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Nov 5, 2018 |
# ? Nov 5, 2018 09:15 |
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STR posted:So how much napalm would you bring if you got called out to work on this mess? Particular the middle back? the lack of foresight needed to get to that point is amazing.
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# ? Nov 6, 2018 04:46 |
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Qwijib0 posted:the lack of foresight needed to get to that point is amazing. unfortunately not. commonplace.
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# ? Nov 6, 2018 14:07 |
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MRC48B posted:unfortunately not. commonplace. I see how you get there at a condo building when people hire their own cheap installer who doesn't think about other units but if you're handling maintenance for all of them
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# ? Nov 6, 2018 15:20 |
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This was at an apartment, not a condo, so it's the property manglement that approved that mess. Definitely a lack of foresight even when it was built though - the pad was obviously barely adequate for the units that were originally there (that back left probably has a similar footprint). The apartments I'm in originally had similarly sized units (a large chunk of the property still has the original units, but from 2004), but put them on loving giant pads (they're clustered as well, like most apt buildings). As they've died off and been replaced, the newer units get bigger and bigger - but there's still plenty of room around them to work on them... because the developers poured large pads for them. That had to be fairly terrible to work on even with the original units.
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# ? Nov 7, 2018 08:31 |
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My Rheem furnace is not staying lit. It lights for a couple minutes and has a solid green and a flashing orange light. After a couple minutes, it kills the flame then waits and relights only to shut off after two seconds before locking out with a flashing green light. In burner compartment, there are two sensors which I think are flame sensors, except one has 1 probe the other has 2. The single probe appears to have a replaceable connector, the two probe appears to be permanent. Since the single probe was burried deep, I chose to pull out the two probe sensor and try to clean it, first just by scraping off the soot, then I tried 80 grit sandpaper. Did I actually "clean" a flame sensor or something else? Unfortunately, I didn't try the system before attempting to work on it so I am not sure if what I did made the furnace better or worse. *I attempted my fix last night and I have turned the furnace on this morning, thus far it has ran for about 20min without shutting off, has a solid green light and the amber light stays on and flashes off once about every 10 seconds. I am assuming the crazy flashing patterns when it first started are like a normal system test? I am still paranoid that it will lock out at any time and I'm really not sure what part I tried to clean. Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 14:07 on Nov 13, 2018 |
# ? Nov 13, 2018 13:41 |
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Crotch Fruit posted:My Rheem furnace is not staying lit. It lights for a couple minutes and has a solid green and a flashing orange light. After a couple minutes, it kills the flame then waits and relights only to shut off after two seconds before locking out with a flashing green light. Was the green light blinking a set number of times then pausing? My crap brand one blinks X number of times to indicate the failure. There is a code on the inside of the metal access panel. Like 3 times-pause for draft failure, 4 times for lack of flame, etc.
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# ? Nov 13, 2018 16:36 |
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It was blinking 3 times and then pausing but as of this morning it was staying on solid. I left the house with the furnace running, I think my furnace is fine, but I still intend to call a tech to come by during normal non $$$emergency hours$$$ like every previous year. At this point, I am mostly just paranoid that the sandpaper I used might have been to aggressive, google said if you scratch the probe it could shorten it's life.
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# ? Nov 13, 2018 17:09 |
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Crotch Fruit posted:It was blinking 3 times and then pausing but as of this morning it was staying on solid. I left the house with the furnace running, I think my furnace is fine, but I still intend to call a tech to come by during normal non $$$emergency hours$$$ like every previous year. At this point, I am mostly just paranoid that the sandpaper I used might have been to aggressive, google said if you scratch the probe it could shorten it's life. Lookup the code. If you think you damaged the sensor you can save a bunch of money buying one right now before it's an emergency. You already know how to replace it seemingly.
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# ? Nov 13, 2018 17:14 |
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Back home, furnace is a Rheem RGPP-07EAMER. House was heated to the service temperature, I tried bumping it up 2 degrees to turn the furnace on and came down stairs to see a slow green light, one blink every to seconds. Google seems to think my furnace model does not exists and suggests I search for RGPS instead, but a "blink code" website for Rheen said that 1 blink every 2 seconds is a 1hr lockout. A heating company is coming out this afternoon since it was cold as hell this morning and I'm 50% sure I have no idea what I am doing. *edit* and I found a manual which clarified the part I was trying to clean was an igniter, not the flame sensor, the flame sensor is much more of a pain in the rear end to get to. The fact that it ran longer was apparently purely coincidental.
Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Nov 13, 2018 |
# ? Nov 13, 2018 19:00 |
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There should be a wiring diagram for your unit on the back of the cover door. There will be a box with the codes for your unit that explains what they mean. An installation manual I searched up that may be the right model suggests 2 blinks is a pressure switch issue, but you should check that your model uses the same codes to be sure. The first thing the furnace does should be turn on the draft fan. Before the gas ignites do you hear the draft fan start? If you do, it is probably a pressure switch that needs to be replaced. If you don't, it's probably the draft fan/assembly that needs to be replaced. It could also be a relay on the control board.
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# ? Nov 13, 2018 19:32 |
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I do hear a fan start before ignition, and after ignition sometimes it hums along as if everything is OK, but sometimes the flame light blinks rapidly and the flame goes away immediately. I did find the circuit diagram with blink codes. For the OK (green) LED - on is normal, 1 blink = 1hr lockout, 2 = pressure switch stuck open, 3 = limit switch open, 4 = pressure switch stuck closed 5 = twinning fault (I'm don't even know what twinning is). For the flame LED, off = no flame, rapid = unexpected flame, slow = marginal flame, steady = normal flame. I believe it blinked 4 times rapidly before shutting off, I think it was an unexpected flame but that seems a little odd that would occur right after a call for heat.
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# ? Nov 13, 2018 20:39 |
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Crotch Fruit posted:I do hear a fan start before ignition, and after ignition sometimes it hums along as if everything is OK, but sometimes the flame light blinks rapidly and the flame goes away immediately. I did find the circuit diagram with blink codes. For the OK (green) LED - on is normal, 1 blink = 1hr lockout, 2 = pressure switch stuck open, 3 = limit switch open, 4 = pressure switch stuck closed 5 = twinning fault (I'm don't even know what twinning is). For the flame LED, off = no flame, rapid = unexpected flame, slow = marginal flame, steady = normal flame. I believe it blinked 4 times rapidly before shutting off, I think it was an unexpected flame but that seems a little odd that would occur right after a call for heat. You may need someone to look at the control board. If you know what you're doing you can poke around with a meter and check the flame sensor, etc. If you're not up for it or don't have a meter with micro amps, you can turn off the power and do the basics before calling; make sure the board is seated right and all the connections are good, and make sure the flame sensor is well located in the flame.
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# ? Nov 13, 2018 23:29 |
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I have a voltmeter and probes, but I'm not certain I have enough skill to comprehend the circuit diagram enough to troubleshoot the board. As much as I would like to try to DIY it more, I would also like to not see my breath when I get out of bed in the morning. Hell, even that wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't have a 4 year old and 2 year old that love to kick their blankets off at night regardless of how cold it gets. In addition, the next thing I need to troubleshoot is a gas fireplace. . . Eventually a technician is supposed to show up sometime later tonight, hopefully not under the $$$emergency rate$$$. My fireplace has been off for 4 years, pilot light out, gas valve off, not used at all. I turned the gas on, I turned the flame level down to low, I turned the other knob marked off - pilot - on to pilot and held it down for a minute before hitting the spark, eventually I learned how to make a flame appear when I am holding the pilot in. What I have not learned is how to keep that flame going when I release the pilot - I suspect this must be a thermo couple right near the pilot? I will try to take a picture of the pilot area later, preferable after the furnace guys leaves, I think DIYing a fireplace might send the wrong impression to a licensed(?) HVAC technician. Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Nov 13, 2018 |
# ? Nov 13, 2018 23:52 |
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Crotch Fruit posted:I have a voltmeter and probes, but I'm not certain I have enough skill to comprehend the circuit diagram enough to troubleshoot the board. As much as I would like to try to DIY it more, I would also like to not see my breath when I get out of bed in the morning. Hell, even that wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't have a 4 year old and 2 year old that love to kick their blankets off at night regardless of how cold it gets. In addition, the next thing I need to troubleshoot is a gas fireplace. . . Eventually a technician is supposed to show up sometime later tonight, hopefully not under the $$$emergency rate$$$. you need to hold the pilot down until the thermocouple heats up and it stays lit by itself. as for your furnace, you probably want to clean that flame rod.
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# ? Nov 14, 2018 00:36 |
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As for the gas fireplace, I held down the pilot light for about 30 seconds at a time multiple times, I think I held it long enough to warm up the thermopile. As for the furnace, the technician has come and left. The igniter, which I sanded, is fine. The flame sensor had a little soot, promptly removed with steel wool (I thought this part would be a pain in the rear end to remove but the tech got it out in less than a minute thanks to a foot long nut driver). The furnace however is (was) shutting off multiple times due to the temperature limit switch, the switch was set for 160F. A temperature probe above the condenser coils was also measuring 160F when it would shut off. The tech first attempted switching the fan speed from medium to high to get more air, this did not decrease the temperature. I checked all the vents in the house to make sure they were all open to allow enough heat to escape, all vents were already open. Next, the technician checked the AC coils to make sure they were clean and free flowing and also checked the blower fan. At this point, the technician advised switching the temp sensor to a 170F sensor, I have mixed emotions on this decision but at least the thermometer probe stayed at around 163 to 164 and worse case scenario if I see it continue to shut off I will know the problem is elsewhere. Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 15:21 on Nov 14, 2018 |
# ? Nov 14, 2018 03:12 |
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I guess this is more of a general duct work question, but with my basement furnace, every time it shuts off you hear a loud bang from the intake duct expanding since there's no more suction. Is there a good way to stop that? A thinner air filter so there's less suction pressure to begin with, drill a hole in the side for relief, or install some kind of brace so it can't contract when it starts up?
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# ? Nov 22, 2018 08:20 |
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the third option is going to be your best bet to stop that oil can effect. You can use some thin flat bar or angle iron from home depot and screw it to the outside of the duct where it is flexing.
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# ? Nov 22, 2018 15:24 |
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davebo posted:I guess this is more of a general duct work question, but with my basement furnace, every time it shuts off you hear a loud bang from the intake duct expanding since there's no more suction. Is there a good way to stop that? A thinner air filter so there's less suction pressure to begin with, drill a hole in the side for relief, or install some kind of brace so it can't contract when it starts up? sounds like you have an incredibly undersized return.
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# ? Nov 22, 2018 18:36 |
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Smackdillion posted:sounds like you have an incredibly undersized return. It's possible. I don't know what's required. The basement stays pretty cool in the Summer so we only use it in the Winter. I think the filters I buy for the air return are 20"x20", but the ducts go around the wall along the utility room, so they're much taller than they are wide, so it's that tall wide side that's flexing I assume. Is it not more likely it's just the cheapest, flexiest low quality type of duct, or are they all pretty much the same? I ask because the people that renovated and flipped this house were super eager to cut costs. Bracing it seems like an easy option if I isolate which part is flexing and it's on the wide not attached to the wall.
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# ? Nov 22, 2018 18:48 |
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Update to my previous furnace issues: The last time the tech came out, he was quite thorough but ultimately ended up switching the temperature limit switch from 160F to 170F since it was tripping and shutting off the furnace. The fan speed was also increased to high in an attempt to reduce the temperatures. I finally purchased a thermometer. I have a pin hole in the duct above the coils where the tech and I inserted a thermometer, sure enough after running about two minutes, the thermometer read 170F and the furance clicked off flashing that limit switch was tripped. My furnace is running to hot and shutting off, I had an HVAC company look at it and that didn't work. My next option is to call them back as soon as possible since they said they warranty their work for 30 days, I'm not certain that doesn't mean they won't find a new problem and charge me even more. I mean I think the technician was thorough and knowledgeable, I just think this type of problem is either one that is not solvable (he said it might be a problem with my ducts) or difficult to track down. Is there anything else I can look for? Is it time for me to replace my furnace?
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 04:19 |
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does it run hot with the filter removed? lots of the 1" filters are too restrictive with undersized ductwork, you may just need to use a cheap barely-a-filter fiberglass one.
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 04:26 |
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You have an airflow problem. It's not something we can easily solve via internet. I can give you a list of stuff to check, half of which you will probably not possess the equipment to measure. Your only real choices are to either keep calling them back until they solve it, find someone else who can, or replace the furnace, which if it was able to vote in the midterms may be a good move.
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 04:32 |
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The current filter was installed about 1.5 months ago, I think it might have been $15 at Wal-mart, it's a Filtrete Merv 9. Right now the thing is extremely gray and also bowing a bit from the suction. . . The last filter that was in the unit lasted em, about a year if you can count being sucked through to a point of nearly jamming the blower motor as "lasting". I suspect vast quantities of unfiltered air have passed through my HVAC system, the tech did check the AC coils and said they looked fine. I will go buy a cheap minimum legal qualification of a filter to try to test the air flow again. My furnace is 13 years old and thus not legally illegible to vote in the midterms. *EDIT* I heard my furnace click on, I ran over and pulled the filter and jammed my EDIT 2* The furnace is running like a champ sans filter, thermometer is not going over 130F. I will keep monitoring it for a few more days just to be safe. Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Nov 27, 2018 |
# ? Nov 27, 2018 05:31 |
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Not an hvac tech but in my personal experience those thicker filters can cause problems in systems not designed for them My last house and prior apartment I had to use those cheap fiberglass filters to keep the airflow where it was supposed to be. I just changed them every 30 days. My new place uses these big aprilaire 210 filters that are good for 6-12 months or so but cost a small fortune to replace
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 08:11 |
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Crotch Fruit posted:The current filter was installed about 1.5 months ago, I think it might have been $15 at Wal-mart, it's a Filtrete Merv 9. Right now the thing is extremely gray and also bowing a bit from the suction. . . The last filter that was in the unit lasted em, about a year if you can count being sucked through to a point of nearly jamming the blower motor as "lasting". I suspect vast quantities of unfiltered air have passed through my HVAC system, the tech did check the AC coils and said they looked fine. I will go buy a cheap minimum legal qualification of a filter to try to test the air flow again. My furnace is 13 years old and thus not legally illegible to vote in the midterms. A filter should be changed well before it bows from air pressure. If you went from a fiberglass to a pleated you'll have to change the filter more often. A year is probably too long for most people anyway. Also, don't ever hire that HVAC company again.
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 13:11 |
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I will admit that I went far too long on the previous filter that was left in for a year. I think turning up the blower might have been what caused my filter to bow this time. Is it realistic to assume that leaving the old filter in too long might have caused there to be more dust in the house lesdi gto clogging the new filter early? How should I determine the amount of airflow necessary for my system?
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 13:18 |
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Check filter once a week, change as needed until conditions improve. Using a lovely fiberglass filter increases your risk of clogging up your a/c coil, as well as having a lower indoor air quality. I end up changing mine every 2 months, and I get the filters in bulk for $3 each
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 14:46 |
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Crotch Fruit posted:I will admit that I went far too long on the previous filter that was left in for a year. I think turning up the blower might have been what caused my filter to bow this time. Is it realistic to assume that leaving the old filter in too long might have caused there to be more dust in the house lesdi gto clogging the new filter early? How should I determine the amount of airflow necessary for my system? The main thing that causes unexpected filter problems in my experience is switching from fiberglass or washable to pleated, which will almost always need a more frequent interval. Otherwise, getting new pets, leaving windows open a lot, or sometimes landscaping changes can add load to the filter. Somebody also told me recently that the wildfire smoke can load up a filter, but I have no experience with that. You'll have to feel it out for a little while, but just check visually. I've had some places that if I wasn't there 4 weeks to the day it would freeze up and I'd get a service call anyway (doctor's office lobby), and others where I was changing it just on principle after a year. When it starts to look loaded up and not just stained with dirt, it definitely needs to be changed.
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# ? Nov 27, 2018 14:57 |
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Since the discussion here with pleated filters has me a little concerned since my unit is from the mid-90s, is a pleated filter that you replace monthly during the summer and every other month in the winter acceptable? I replace monthly in the summer as I have two cats and it runs continuously to keep the house cool. In the winter my unit runs significantly less. I just turned it on today for the first time in 10 days. Hence the longer filter changes during the winter.
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# ? Dec 1, 2018 00:34 |
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th vwls hv scpd posted:Since the discussion here with pleated filters has me a little concerned since my unit is from the mid-90s, is a pleated filter that you replace monthly during the summer and every other month in the winter acceptable? If you haven't had problems, then it's probably fine. The main things are you don't want to run without a filter and get your coil/heat exchanger dirty, you don't want to restrict airflow and freeze up the coil with a clogged filter, and you really don't want to get the filter so dirty that it gets sucked into the blower and breaks stuff and also dumps the dirt into the system. e: Honestly the best you can hope for from lots of people is that they remember they have a filter a couple times a year or have a seasonal service visit in Spring and Fall. Quarterly changes are usually recommended, but sometimes that's more than you need and sometimes it's too little.
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# ? Dec 1, 2018 01:52 |
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davebo posted:I guess this is more of a general duct work question, but with my basement furnace, every time it shuts off you hear a loud bang from the intake duct expanding since there's no more suction. Is there a good way to stop that? A thinner air filter so there's less suction pressure to begin with, drill a hole in the side for relief, or install some kind of brace so it can't contract when it starts up? Just as an update if anyone was wondering, I put some paint cans next to one duct that keep it from flexing outwards, and a bottle of car wash liquid on top of the thin part that was flexing. Cheapest fix I've ever done.
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# ? Dec 4, 2018 22:18 |
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davebo posted:Just as an update if anyone was wondering, I put some paint cans next to one duct that keep it from flexing outwards, and a bottle of car wash liquid on top of the thin part that was flexing. Cheapest fix I've ever done. That's great, but it sounds like you have undersized ducts, so you should get that fixed, or at least looked at. I can understand not addressing it though, it won't be a cheap fix. Is your furnace somewhat new? You should definitely look at this once you are replacing the furnace. Undersized ducts are costing you money in additional energy cost running the fan, and likely lowering the overall efficiency of your furnace.
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# ? Dec 5, 2018 18:00 |
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Hey all, control wiring question. I have an older Trane heat pump with electric backup heat that I want to install a new Honeywell 2 heat 1 cool tstat on. I've found some reference online to what I've got but want to double check. On the old tstat, I think B is common, X2 is emergency heat, W is aux heat because Trane. So on the new modern Honeywell - R- red C - grey O - orange G - green Y - yellow W2 - white E - black And cap off the brown (outdoor tstat, not used). Yes/no? Edit: well it appears to work fine! angryrobots fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Dec 6, 2018 |
# ? Dec 5, 2018 22:08 |
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A chimney sweep visited my house today, the guy smelled like a chimney and looked near identical to the first Google imeage result for "chimny sweep". He advised to replace the (in his words) "spaceship thing" (pilot burner) but he was not able to successfully remove it. He tried trying with a screwdriver and even vise grips but it wouldn't move. He advised he would need to charge $300 to replace the burner and thermocouple assembly, or I could order the part on Amazon for way less. So we discussed in detail all the steps to replace the parts, then he left me with a spare pilot burner cap just in case I got the old one off, and after a liberal application of WD-40 I did take the part off. The new pilot burner produces a much larger flame and actually stays lit, unlike the previous one. I am only slightly disapointed the chimney sweep didn't try WD-40 but I do admire that he provided advice on how to fix it myself. He also left a parting gift, a bag of rockwool. He suggested I could put break it up and put it on the main burner and it would look a little like embers. Google seems to suggest that Rockwool is the new Asbestos and will kill me and my children in our sleep. Should I actually be worried? If I do use it, it would stay inside the fireplace. Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 13:11 on Dec 6, 2018 |
# ? Dec 6, 2018 05:22 |
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We have an actual technician coming over today, so we'll see what he says, but I wanted to get a goon opinion as well. For the past month or so, we've frequently been getting alerts from our Ecobee thermostat that the Aux heat has been running too long. It didn't happen last year, and not a whole lot has changed about the house (I had a few theories but they're not really worth mentioning, I'm pretty sure they were wrong). We live in North Carolina so it is not exactly arctic temperatures around here, and we've barely had anything that could be considered cold snaps yet. There are definitely things about the house that need fixing to help with the HVAC efficiency, but again, there's no clear reason it would be worse than last year. What is the likelihood that the Aux heat is working but the regular heat is not? I don't know much about how this works, is that even possible? I'm looking at the Ecobee's history graph, and it does kind of look like that. Indoor temperature drops below the threshold, regular heat comes on, temperature keeps dropping, Aux heat comes on, temperature rises, heat goes off. Repeat. Here's one sample of what I'm seeing very frequently:
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 17:35 |
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Sir Lemming posted:We have an actual technician coming over today, so we'll see what he says, but I wanted to get a goon opinion as well. For the past month or so, we've frequently been getting alerts from our Ecobee thermostat that the Aux heat has been running too long. It didn't happen last year, and not a whole lot has changed about the house (I had a few theories but they're not really worth mentioning, I'm pretty sure they were wrong). We live in North Carolina so it is not exactly arctic temperatures around here, and we've barely had anything that could be considered cold snaps yet. There are definitely things about the house that need fixing to help with the HVAC efficiency, but again, there's no clear reason it would be worse than last year. I mean, is there hot air coming from the registers with regular heat on? ALL of the registers? What kind of system is your regular and aux heat? It's plausible that your regular heat has failed in some way the ecobee isn't learning about, or you've sprung a leak somewhere, or you really need to change your filter.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 17:43 |
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H110Hawk posted:I mean, is there hot air coming from the registers with regular heat on? ALL of the registers? What kind of system is your regular and aux heat? I always seem to leave key details out of my initial posts, sorry. Also I wasn't sure if I could find a model #, but I just found it, it's a Goodman GSH130301AC. Typical outdoor HVAC unit with heat pump. I don't think there's any sort of secondary heating device. Right now, the heat seems really borked, it got noticably cold overnight and is not improving. But I guess what makes this situation a bit of an outlier is that today (and last night) it's over 50 degrees outside, which I think means it won't activate the Aux unless manually overridden. (I tried that, but didn't really get noticeable results -- though I did this hastily before leaving for work, so maybe I needed to wait it out.) So it's the worst of both worlds, if my theory is correct, because it's not cold enough outside to kick it into high gear, but the regular heat seems to be doing nothing. I have definitely noticed times where it says the heat is running but I don't actually feel anything through the vents. Eventually it happens, but that could be the aux heat. I haven't done a definitive A/B test to see if it correlates though.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 18:07 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 19:05 |
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Sir Lemming posted:
I'm assuming you have a heat pump with electric (or other fuel) backup. There's a lot of variables, but that pattern looks typical for a HP when the temperature outside gets below freezing or low enough that the HP isn't able to produce enough BTUs to raise the indoor temp. Then, the ecobee hits the temp differential limit or runtime limit and cranks on the aux. Does this issue only happen below 40F? Was there freezing rain or some other condition at that time that could've made the HP less efficient? When was the last time the HP was serviced? It may not be running at full efficiency.
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# ? Dec 31, 2018 18:13 |