Heat Pump Help Continued (more info)

Alright guys, it's me again and I have an update on my heat pump problem. A few days ago I posted that my outdoor fan was not running and I wanted some help with that problem. First of all, I am running a York heat pump, according to our York man, it is a 2 1/2 ton system about 11 years old (installed in 1994) Now, the outdoor fan wasn't running and after the heat was on awhile, it would start blowing cooler air and the EM Heat light would begin flashing. My father removed the outdoor fan motor and took it to a place to have it tested. It is also the nearest place to purchase new fan motors. Well, the fan blade was frozen tight onto the motor shaft and my father couldn't get it off. He even tried penetrating oil to loosen it, but no go, so he had to take the motor, blade and all, to have it checked. They claimed the motor was working fine, although they couldn't turn it up to full power since the blade was on there and they didn't have anything to hold the unit in place with the blade spinning, but they did check it to see that it worked. We came on back and put the fan motor back in place, and removed the capacitor and took it up to our local York person to have it checked. He checked it and said it wasn't as good as he'd like for it to be, so he gave us another capacitor and checked it before we left with it. He said it was a good capacitor. Now I don't know if this matters or not, but the capacitor was smaller (sizewise) than the one we took up there, but I am assuming it was the same 'kind' of capacitor (he said it was a 10, I don't know if this is measured in amperes, or volts, or what) Well we put this new capacitor on and still...no fan. To be honest, I am not really sure that the compressor is kicking on either. We turned the unit on in the house, and went outside and kicked the breaker on, and the unit starts up (blower motor and everything) and we hear a click noise down around the compressor, but I don't think it kicks in. Would the fact the fan isn't kicking on not allow the compressor to kick on? Could the fan motor still be bad, even though it checked out? If not the fan motor, and not the capacitor, what else could the problem be? I asked the York guy if he thought it might be the compressor, and he said it was doubtful. He said he had never had to replace a compressor on one of those particular units. Your help is invaluable. Thanks again.

 

Have you checked your contactor (inside outdoor unit) for line voltage (240v) and low voltage (24v) ?

You can disconnect the condenser (outdoor unit) fan and then set t-stat and turn on power and easily tell if the compressor is working.

Do you feel comfortable using a VOM to troubleshoot for power ?

I'm in W. TN also.

Take care,
CoolBreeze

 

Check the breakers and the outdoor disconnect for any tripped breakers or blown fuses. Also on the outdoor unit see if there are any reset buttons coming off the refrigerant lines.

 

I did forget to mention this. After we got back with the outdoor fan unit, my father tested the voltage before plugging it back up. There plug had three wires coming into it, I think maybe a yellow, black, and brown? Anyway, we tested the voltage with the system on and we were getting 240 volts at the plug. Now, I am not sure if he checked all three wires but I know we were getting 240 on at least one of them. I am not sure how to check the low voltage for 24 volts, would that be on the plug coming into the fan motor or would that be a different place...say, coming into the compressor maybe? I don't know what the contactors are but I will certainly do my best to find out and check them.

 

Hi,

If you'll look where the main power wires/conduit comes into the outside unit (condenser) from the disconnect, then follow those two main wires to their termination point, that will be your contactor. You'll have the Line voltage wires coming "into" it and the Load voltage wires coming out of it going to the compressor and outdoor fan motor.

On the back side(s), you should see one small wire on each side or two small wires on one side.

With the power on and t-stat calling for cooling, see if have 24v across those two smaller wires.

If you have 240v coming INTO the contactor from the disconnect (Place meter leads on the two power wire terminals) and 24v across the two smaller wires (low voltage circuit) BUT, do not have 240v coming out of the contactor, the contactor is bad.

If you have the 24v at the contactor coil (2 small wires), you should see/hear the contactor pole pull in.

Can you tell me what county you're in in W.TN. ? I'm in Tipton County.

Take care,
CoolBreeze

 

I am in Weakley county. I am not sure where Tipton is exactly but I don't think it is too far from here.

I don't think I will have any daylight to check this until this weekend because I work until 5 or 5:30 and rarely get home before 6 at which point it is really too dark for this. I will reply back here after I am able to check these wires out and/or replace a part or two. I have a question though. If the outdoor fan motor were indeed bad, would it cause the compressor not to kick on, like a safety measure to protect the compressor?

 

Hi,

Tipton County is the next county north of Shelby County (Memphis). I've got friends up your way and my wife's family is from that area.

If your unit has a High Pressure Switch and the ODF stopped working, when the head pressure got high enough, the high pressure switch would kick out the compressor.

Where the main power/conduit comes into unit, those two wires will go to one side (Line Side) of the contactor. If you look at the 3 wires coming from the compressor, 2 of those will go to the other side (Load Side) of the contactor.

Where those 4 wires connect at the contactor , 2 on top and 2 on the bottom ( the 2 from the disconnect will be LINE/INCOMING and the 2 from compressor will be LOAD/OUTGOING), is where you check for voltage (one lead on each wire terminal for LINE and repeat for LOAD.

Check for 240V on LINE side, then check for 24V on the smaller backside wires. If you have these 2, you should hear/see it pull in and have 240V on the LOAD side.

This will give great insight as to what may be happening.

Take care,
CoolBreeze

 

You sure the defrost board there is OK???

ED