Goodman Air Handler runs 24/7/365?

Hey all…I would appreciate some help here. Got a Goodman Heat pump (indoor and outdoor both goodman) Since I bought this house, I noticed the blower motor/fan motor for the air handler inside never stops blowing. The outdoor unit does cycle on and off. Even if you shut the unit off from the t-stat, it still runs…removing the t-stat (luxPro 5-1-1) it still runs the air handler inside.

My first guess was a stuck relay, however…when I opened the unit (in the attic) there was no old school relays in there, just one small comp. board at the bottom and some other components that might be relays, which were mounted onto the chasis on the unit. When following the trail of wires back from the blower motor, it appears that th motor is being supplied with power right from the internal 40amp breaker, however also…looks like this GE 1/2 hp motor is electronically controlled… it starts up kinda slow…then kicks in higher speed. There are several black thin what I would think are control wires there running to a second connectiion to the motor below the power.

The model is Goodman HKR-08CA with 7KW 240v B10375-17(heater right?)

I think Ive ruled out a bad or poorly installed t-stat, I was looking for a stuck relay, but now…im a bit lost…someone help???

  1. Could this be due to the “dip switches” not being set right? I have no knowledge of these switches but I noticed the first switch…up = ON and down…i dont know…i guess …“not ON” Well it was set to “ON”. I turned off the power…switched it to “Not ON” and put the power back on…the fan came right on as before. Maybe not a problem, but just wanted to check.a

3…Ive noticed at times…when the outdoor unit cycles on, there is a loud hissing sound…and sometimes a cloud of steam or mist is shot quickly up into the air. Is this a problem? or…is it just blowing off condensation etc? The sound can be startling at times…It doesnt do it everytime, this was more frequent back in the colder days of winter also.

thanks for your help, either email me or post back here thanks a million.
Michael
mdm6713@aol.com

Be advised I can not trouble shoot over the phone or the INTERNET

You stated you removed the thermostat just the outer section or the sub-base also. It perhaps seem like a simple question but did you check the fan switch on the stat there are two positions auto and constant run and even with the outer section of the stat removed the constant run position will still operate on most stats and run the fan. If the stat is in deed set to auto run then you probably have a bad control board. I would have a hard time believing that a HVAC tech would wire the blower motor direct to the breakers but I suppose any thing is possible. If a home owner has been doing his own work then I might believe anything is possible.

As to the hissing noise at the outside unit that is normal for a heat pump means the reversing valve just changed position and went into to defrost cycle.

Thanks a lot, the tstat was on “auto”, good point but yea im sure of that. As far as the wiring,…honestly…you can trace the wires back…there are 2 thick wires going to the motor, red and black if I remember right, and then about 4 or 5 pairs of really thin almost like telephone wires going to the motor also in a second conector right below. One wire goes to what looks like some sort of relay with those flat plug on conectors on the top and bottom, the same conector that the motor is pluged on, shares a direct connection with one side of the 40amp breaker right there inside it. I noticed that this looked like it might not be a factory connection…because there was a wire nut …with theplug on connection attached…then pluged in…something didnt seem right.

Another thing I forgot to mention, the power coming in, the red and black wires are going to to breaker, the bare wire is going to the equipment chasis, but the white isnt conected anywhere…Im an experienced electrician, just learning about hvac, but i dont think thats right, right?

These things look complicated, but when you break it down, understand how the system works, it really comes back to the basics still.
thanks a lot…and in advance for any followup
Michael

Thanks again for your help

I believe most High Eff HVAC systems have a variable speed blower. Keeping the air moving in a home tends to minimize hot/cold spots. With that said, most units I have owned have had a schematic located on the cover. Did yours have one? In the old days it was pretty easy to trouble shoot things because you could see each control device but now with all the computer controlled stuff with transistors and on-board logic it is hard to see what is going on.

Dick

Yes, there is a schematic, since Im not 100% familar with all the components, its kinda hard to make out. Ill give it another shot when Im back this wednesda, until then Im trying to collect as much ammo/info as i can to figure this thing out.

Can anyone tell me where the next connection is…from…power coming in…to the breaker…leaving the breaker…to a small black device…with multiple electrical tabs…looks like it could be a relay. This tab shares a direct connection with the wires that go the fan. But there is a wire nut conection that doesnt look factory. Does anybody know if the motor is supposed to be connected to the upper or lower side of what Im thinking is a realy?

Lastly…i also found a purple wire, thats connected to one side of that relay…that goes to a connector…with nothing on the other side of that connector, I was thinking…if I unpluged that purple wire, and pluged the fan wire in…that might do it…i didnt check the voltgage on either side of it, i guess testing it while changing the tstat would be the thing to do.

Shouldnt the White wire be connected?

That is a variable speed motor which is controlled throug the circuit board. A trained technician with a special application electronic troubleshooting device is need. This is not Do It Yourself repairable. you can cause very expensive damage not knowing what you are doing.

I have a Goodman 2 stage heating system(heat pump/gas) and it’s only a little over a year old. At the start of the heating season I had to take a stick to my controler card. I suspect there is a problme with the controler card, since Roger White sells a ‘universal’ replacement. Point is, you need a trained technicial, for many reasons including personal safety and equimpment operatablity.

So check if it is under warranty, then give a call to a service tech. Being a heat pump, its use season is 24/7/365, so regular checkups is always recommended since life expectancy can be lower than a straight AC compressor.

tom

I have worked all my life hand in hand with electricians commercial and residential and I can name on one hand the amount of electricians that were good control electricians being you must understand what the control does before you can wire it or make field changes. The wiring to your blower is most usually enclosed within a wire harness and can be traced from the motor to its connecting source which is most commonly a multiple plastic plug connecting on on near the control board as the control board decides which speed either through a relay or the board which is to operate heat or cool, low speed for heat high for cool.

Your white wire should be the common leg (neutral) the colored wires RED, Black, or blue would be the speeds. Brown would be one side of the capacitor if used and the brown with white stripe the other side of a capacitor is the normal colors but may be any color depending on who has been messing with the unit and what colors were available for use???

As stated above your best advice would be to have a Licensed qualified HVAC person resolve your problem as they understand the controls and how they work and if they don’t. Most anyone can be a parts changer but that can be more expensive in the long run.

Hey Guys…thanks some more…The motor does run in differant speeds, but theres only a red and black going to the motor, no blue. Ive changed out motors before where the differant wires gave you differant speeds, but I guess this one is newer, and uses the control wires to adjust the speed. When you first turn on the breaker…then unit starts up at slow speeds, then about a min later cranks up to full speed.

I guess the unit is operating of the equipment ground only at this point, Im not sure where the white wire goes yet, hopefully tomorow after looking at it again and rethinking all the ideas discussed here Ill get lucky!

My background is also is automotive trouble shooting and repair, so Im fairly good in tracing circuts and figuring things out. Ill take some pics if anyone would mind to look…maybe when you see the connections,…how one was spliced…somebody would notice something obvious that I havent. Thanks again for everyones help…ill write back tomorow…hopefully for the last time ;o)
Michael

also…I should have noted…regarding tracing the wires back…from the motor…the wire doesnt go into any plastic connector, I know exactley what your saying though. It makes me feel more like the guy before me set it up hopw he wanted. The motor goes directly to what looks to be like a relay, then right from the same “tap” on the relay directly to the breaker(inside the handler still) therefore being always hot.

Doesnt sound right does it?
thanks again
Michael

http://arnoldservice.com/Electric_heat_sequencer_2_stack_top.jpg

I assume when talking about a heat pump that you have electrical backup heat within the furnace. The furnace heat elements will be 220 volts while the blower motor is only 110 volts and the control voltage will be 24 volts. I posted a pic of a sequencer typically used to operate the heating elements on and off. Sometimes the fan can be operated from this same Stacked relay do you have one of these in your furnace or are you using dual fuel type gas furnace
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http://arnoldservice.com/Goodman%20B18099-13S%20close.JPG

Here is a typicaly control board for a Goodman furnace that can also control the fan motor if it has gone south would require the whole board to be changed out

Getting back to basics… I had a similar problem in the past and it was due to a rodent that had chewed into the thermostat wiring and allowed the 24V supply to short with the call for fan.
While you may be familiar with electronics, its hard to beat some one who works in the field every day. Have you ever had to fix automotive wiring for an HVAC tech?

Hello, thanks for the advice again, let me fill you in on what I saw yesterday.

  1. The White neutral coming in(it is neutral I tested it) is not connected to anything, the only neutral being supplied is The equipment ground. I’m not sure where to hook the white so I was considering grounding it with the bare copper? Should be ok right?

  2. The low voltage trans former is putting out 35.5v not 24v. Im wondering if its also because of the “no neutral” situation since the power wires seems to be thicker than the only ground it has…possibly causing some un-even effect.

  3. White and Brown tied together - Hooked up so the elec. heat and heat pump would work at the same time im guessing, Im sure this is one reason my bills have been so high. I separated them, but however…on the control board…there is still a 35v present on both the taps that are supposed to be hooked up to the tstat(35v is there still after unplugging the white and brown).

  4. The relay…I think for the fan…Is also constantly supplied with 35V…the relay seems to be closed always.

  5. Discovered that If I unhook the control wires(from the control module dip switch wires) that the fan will not run like it did. This probable means nothing but I thought I would mention it. Im assuming its not running only because basically the dip switches aren’t telling it which speed etc.
    Ive got some pics I took, to me seems like maybe…3 or 4 wires…mis- connected,…what the previous homeowner thought was ideal.

I got the proper model# also now,
AEPT-030-00C-1A
Serial 0505029123

Installation and Op. instructions I found. http://site.famousparts.com/goodman/PDF/IO-230F.pdf

Product Specs
AEPT INFO

Good pic of control module
http://www.alpinehomeair.com/view.cfm?objID=B2C85F7D-C5F5-46BE-AF43-680C060E1D62
Thanks again for every bodies help, at this point I need the most basic trouble shooting I guess, trying to figure out the routing of the voltage thats keeping everything constant.

Ive tried to post pics here, not sure if its gonna work…hopefully it does

Michael

It looks like dip switch 3 may be the culprit. Take a look at this link:
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:hbDEgpCRBSQJ:acdirect.com/xcart/images/products/Goodman_AEPT_ss-365.pdf+goodman+aept+dip&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us