when your system is running well the air coming from the vents ( supply) should be on average about 20 degrees cooler than what is going up into the return. digital thermometer use giving you what is know as a 20/20 split will let you know you are not too far off on freon or you are correct. best way to check your refrigerant is by way of subcooling, (subcooling chart or number listed on the unit) gauged by way of gauges or for absolute precision a field piece digital reader, about $300 bucks. I have two of them bad boys.
Go outside when the compressor is running and put your hand in the stream of air that is coming up from the fan. Better yet, use one of those digital meat thermometers. If you have enough refrigerant in the system, the air should be > 100 degrees F, around 120 degrees IIRC. If it’s only slightly above ambient, you need some refrigerant.
The air coming up from the fan is around 88. Ambient is around 84 so maybe I do need refrigerent.
What about the cool air coming out of the registers inside? It reads around 60. Shouldn’t that be cool enough?
yes and no, depending on your house temp the heat being pulled from compressor via that fan outside will change. as for your supply vents blowing at 60, yes it should be cool enough and you are not going to get much lower than that as 60 degrees is actually pretty damned good for a fully charged system. you were not that low on freon, not at all.
It should be “beer can cold”. if not you probably are low of refrigerant. it if is hot or frosty then you have issues SHUT OFF.
best of luck
when a system is really low on freon the low side aka the suction side will turn literally to ice as will the evaporator coil and freeze up so you are giving incorrect information, just letting you know.
I said that. reread my post. Ice does not necessarily mean low on charge. it can also be inadequate air flow over evaporator. you are giving incorrect information, just letting you know.
well this is fun. you re-read my post where i said to keep the return filters clean as any clogging of the airways will result in freezing. i did go back and re-read your post last night and i caught what you said then, felt no real need to fix my post then but the low side being hot isn’t correct in regards to freon. your low side, the bigger of the two lines-it being 7/8" in size on 3 tons and up residential and not to mention the one of the two that is wrapped in armor flew/insultube to keep condensate driping all along it, will never be hot under any circumstance actually unless you know something i don’t which you probably do so let me have it…
your high side, the the smaller of the two lines and usually 3/8" on anything 3 tons and up in residential, will normally be hot when the condensor is running. that’s the side that shoots out the liquid from the compressor up to the evaporator.
you ramble.
you still have not shown where I was wrong.
you ramble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKDVLSDgMM8
Lord, I was born a ramblin' man
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can
And when it’s time for leavin’
I hope you’ll understand
That I was born a ramblin’ man
My father was a gambler down in Georgia
He wound up on the wrong end of a gun
And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus
Rollin’ down highway forty-one
Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can
And when it’s time for leavin’
I hope you’ll understand
That I was born a ramblin’ man
I’m on my way to New Orleans this mornin’
I’m leavin’ out of Nashville, Tennessee
They’re always having a good time down on the bayou
Lord, them Delta women think the world of me
Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can
And when it’s time for leavin’
I hope you’ll understand
That I was born a ramblin’ man
Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
Lord, I was born a ramblin’ man
you weren’t wrong so to speak but i don’t see where the low side would be hot, ever. unless your condensor catches fire and your the freon is burnt inside the lines so i guess i’ll ramble a bit longer and come full circle and say that well, yes, you were wrong there as i just said in my earlier post, no reason a suction side would be hot.
speak, jester.
Fatmouse always give good insulation advice. good idea to check for supply that came loose.
go outside to condenser. make sure fan is running if not SHUT OFF. There are 2 copper lines going into condenser. check the larger one that is covered in black insulation. It should be “beer can cold”. if not you probably are low of refrigerant. *** it if is hot*** or frosty then you have issues SHUT OFF.
when would it ever be hot even when not working properly is what I want to know…
*** it if*** is hot or frosty then you have issues SHUT OFF.
“…ti fi” daer dluohs ti, ereh gnorw erew uoy osla.
just saying.
Fatmouse always give good insulation advice. good idea to check for supply that came loose.
go outside to condenser. make sure fan is running if not SHUT OFF. There are 2 copper lines going into condenser. check the larger one that is covered in black insulation. It should be “beer can cold”. if not you probably are low of refrigerant. it if is hot or frosty then you have issues SHUT OFF.
when would it ever be hot even when not working properly is what I want to know…
if the charge is low the suction line will freeze up. If the unit is devoid of freon the suction line will actually become hot because there is no refrigerant to provide cooling. The compressor gets its only cooling from that freon. The compressor will run until its thermal overload opens up. It will cool down then start back up. It will cycling until it burns up the windings.
again you (partly) are wrong, the compressor gets it’s cooling from the fan. don’t mess. if the unit runs low on freon, the limit switches will cut the compressor off and save the compressor from burning its windings. what did you think limit switches were for?
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/xcP_2006/DSCN2496.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/xcP_2006/DSCN2495.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/xcP_2006/DSCN2497.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/xcP_2006/WorkTruck002.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/xcP_2006/WorkTruck003.jpg
it was fun while it lasted.
Sorry to piggyback, but it seems like there are some HVAC educated folks in this thread…so I’ll spare the LR from another HVAC thread 
That said, here’s our (intermittent) issue. Thermostat set to AUTO, it’s going, everything’s good and cool, then I notice it seems like it’s starting to get warmer in the house. Air handler is still blowing - but now it’s virtually room temp air coming out. Lo and behold, the outside unit has shut off. In other words, the air handler is staying ON for an infinite amount of time after the unit outside has stopped - even switching the thermostat (programmable version, FWIW) to OFF will not shut off the air handler. I have to go to the breaker panel and turn it off there.
After I turn it off at the breaker, I wait a minute, switch it back on, then turn the thermostat back to AUTO and to the desired temp - bingo, air handler and outer unit are back in sync and we’re good for a while. Can’t pinpoint when/why it happens, but I’d say about 1-2x week.
“Ok, so call your HVAC guy.” I did. He came, but since it wasn’t acting up in front of him, he had no idea what it might be. No idea. While I appreciate that he didn’t just start throwing parts at it (charging me for this and that)…I can’t believe he hadn’t a clue what the problem might be?! Best I can do is call them when it happens again - in the meantime, anyone have any tips? Thanks in advance.
tiny screwdriver, pull the faceplate of your t-stat off. these wires do have 24 volts running through them so do not let them touch anything other than for what I’m about to tell you as it sounds as if your t-stat is on the skits if your tech didn’t find your freon levels low and the limit switches were not cutting off your outside unit.
disconnect the red wire from it’s “R” terminal in the t-stat along with the green wire or whatever wire they have on the “G” terminal and the either blue or yellow wire from the “Y” terminal. with a small wire nut, put all three of those together, that is your cool and you are controlling the system, not the t-stat any longer. see what happens then. if the system stays running altogether without a problem, your t-stat is bad.
Terminals in t-stat
R=24 volts /power
G-blower/fan in handler
Y-cool/condesnor
do not let these wires arc all over the place or you will blow your fuse (3 or 5 amp) in your board, make one solid connection.
I gotta go and that is a rough draft of how to check a t-stat.
connect the red wire or whatever color they are using on the “R” terminal together with the green wire or whatever color wire they have in the “G” terminal first for the blower. you will know if your blower comes on as well, it will just come on and air will blow through your vents and you can hear it. then add the wire from the Y terminal which is your calling for cool, your outside unit and go check.
the t-stat would be telling the condensing system to shut off meaning it’s reading that its reaching the desired temp which would be the problem in regards to the t-stat but usually whe that happens, the time delay (anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes) will allow for the blower to keep running after the condensor shuts off and then the blower will shut off too so if the blower is still running well after that amount of time and your receiving “hot” air, well, that’s why I’m thinking it’s a control problem. now if you bypass the t-stat and everything comes and you leave it like that for some hours and the outside condensing unit shuts off again (without a temperature reading from the t-stat when stat is bypassed it has no reason to shut off outside of limit switches/freon charge or thermal overload) then it could be your muther board/cpu up in the air handler or it could be a run capacitor going out in the condensor, overheating and going out. it’s hard to tell without a meter and without being right there. all sorts of problems in regards to why a condensing unit shuts off. remember, your system has time delays so not always on in sync.
if digital t-stat, try putting in new batteries first.
good luck.
again you (partly) are wrong, the compressor gets it’s cooling from the fan. don’t mess. if the unit runs low on freon, the limit switches will cut the compressor off and save the compressor from burning its windings. what did you think limit switches were for?
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/xcP_2006/DSCN2496.jpg
I apologize. I didn’t realize I was debating with a junker. Nice truck Fred Sanford
so you are saying the freon provides no cooling to the compressor? The fan does not cool the compressor it cools the freon in the condenser. It then flows to the inside where it passes thru a expansion device which flashes it to low pressure/temperature. It flows thru the “A” coil where it absorbs heat from the household air and flows back to the compressor where it is compressed to a high temp/pressure gas. The cooler gas is what cools the compressor. How the heck can the fan cool the compressor if the compressor is wrapped in a noise blocking foam? if you had been in the junking business longer and maybe looked at some of those units you were junking you would know that most residential units don’t have limit switches! Nice try junior.
why would you post a picture of your boss’s phone number on the internet?? that is dumb. honestly. you should delete that picture with phone number and the one with a license plate. Especially if you are gong to go online and pick fights with strangers.
Sorry to piggyback, but it seems like there are some HVAC educated folks in this thread…so I’ll spare the LR from another HVAC thread
That said, here’s our (intermittent) issue. Thermostat set to AUTO, it’s going, everything’s good and cool, then I notice it seems like it’s starting to get warmer in the house. Air handler is still blowing - but now it’s virtually room temp air coming out. Lo and behold, the outside unit has shut off. In other words, the air handler is staying ON for an infinite amount of time after the unit outside has stopped - even switching the thermostat (programmable version, FWIW) to OFF will not shut off the air handler. I have to go to the breaker panel and turn it off there.
After I turn it off at the breaker, I wait a minute, switch it back on, then turn the thermostat back to AUTO and to the desired temp - bingo, air handler and outer unit are back in sync and we’re good for a while. Can’t pinpoint when/why it happens, but I’d say about 1-2x week.
“Ok, so call your HVAC guy.” I did. He came, but since it wasn’t acting up in front of him, he had no idea what it might be. No idea. While I appreciate that he didn’t just start throwing parts at it (charging me for this and that)…I can’t believe he hadn’t a clue what the problem might be?! Best I can do is call them when it happens again - in the meantime, anyone have any tips? Thanks in advance.
do you have a float switch in either your evaporator coil or secondary drain pan, possibly both? if you do and it’s wired into the condensor it will shut it off or "trip’ it shut until the built up pool of condensate water drains out thus causing your condensing unit to go out and come back on after you reset it which you actually don’t have to do as it resets itself but that switch has to be back down and in normally closed position meaning the condensate water would’ve had to have drained, letting the “float” aspect of the switch to come back down and connect, allowing continuity again and if there is water in the drain and the float switch is open (condensor not running) and you go outside and reset your breaker and it comes on then that isn’t the problem as the switch would still be open UNLESS the water has drained in that time. each time water builds up enough to trip that float switch it will cut off your outside unit IF it is wired to that piece of equipment.
if this is the case you have a simple drain problem as in they’re clogged and they need to be blown clear.
eh, i’ve exhausted myself talking to myself. let me know what happens.
again you (partly) are wrong, the compressor gets it’s cooling from the fan. don’t mess. if the unit runs low on freon, the limit switches will cut the compressor off and save the compressor from burning its windings. what did you think limit switches were for?
I apologize. I didn’t realize I was debating with a junker. Nice truck Fred Sanford
so you are saying the freon provides no cooling to the compressor? The fan does not cool the compressor it cools the freon in the condenser. It then flows to the inside where it passes thru a expansion device which flashes it to low pressure/temperature. It flows thru the “A” coil where it absorbs heat from the household air and flows back to the compressor where it is compressed to a high temp/pressure gas. The cooler gas is what cools the compressor. How the heck can the fan cool the compressor if the compressor is wrapped in a noise blocking foam? if you had been in the junking business longer and maybe looked at some of those units you were junking you would know that most residential units don’t have limit switches! Nice try junior.
why would you post a picture of your boss’s phone number on the internet?? that is dumb. honestly. you should delete that picture with phone number and the one with a license plate. Especially if you are gong to go online and pick fights with strangers.
I’m not rich, the truck works fine as i’ve had her for some years now and I quit Blue bell last year but that was my work truck and you’re stupid. the compressor gets hot compressing the gas to a liquid. it’s in the evaporator that the heat is extracted from the freon and from the fan is the heat extracted from the compressor, that heat absorbed from in your home. the refrigerant is an oil, keeping the compressor lubed so if it’s low on oil then it shuts off, thermal overload. heat is extracted from an “A” or “v” or slab coil and a cooler gas is running back into the compressor but that is again where the heat is concurred, dumbass. the blanket you refer to is only a sound blanket, nothing thermal, heat still transfers. what do you think would if your electric fan motor in your vehicle went out and all you had was your radiator coolant?
Yawn
.
Thanks, will give all this a go eventually and let you know how it turns out.
Yawn
there’s my girl, open wide.