3 year old package unit heat pump outside for the downstairs of this house. . I tested the cooling (it was above 90 degrees here yesterday) and it seemed to be working properly. I turned it off and waited around 5 minutes.
I turned on the Emergency Heat and tested it. It appeared to be working properly.
I turned off the Emergency Heat and let it sit about 5 minutes. Next. I turned on the cooling to the original setting the homeowner had it on and it just blew hot air.
I tried shutting off the breakers to the heat pump thinking that it might be a computer error and that maybe it just needed to be reset.
Nothing worked. I called a local HVAC company over and they said that the capacitor and contactor needed to be replaced. . $415 out of my pocket later everything was working fine.
Any ideas at all on what might have caused this?
What was the source of the emergency heat was is electrical strips or gas back up.
Did you try to operate it in the normal heat mode. It sounds a little strange to me that both the cap and the contactor both crashed and burned at the same time
It has heat strips (no gas)…I only operated it in the Emergency Heat mode…I never test Heat Pumps in the regular heat mode when it is hot outside, not even for a few minutes… I only test Emergency Heat…I figured someone may have had a similar problem in the past.
That means it had to of hung in the emergency heat mode if it was blowing hot air. The contactor has to pull in for the compressor to operate in both cooling and the heat mode. I would of tried it in the normal heat mode for my own satification.
If it broke because you changed the thermostat setting, it wasn’t your fault. You just paid for a repair/service call on behalf of the seller - got reamed pretty good by your HVAC guy too. Probably $30-$50 for the parts.
It is what it is…absolutely had no choice…I was alone at the house when it broke. No one would ever believe that I didn’t do anything wrong. It was a very hot day and I called 5 HVAC companies before I could find someone who wasn’t completely booked up for the entire day.
Yeah, I know exactly what caused this. A greedy, dishonest HVAC company that needed to scam you out of $415.
It’s doubtful the capacitor and contactor both blew at the same time. More like they replaced the capacitor, and that wasn’t the problem, so they replaced the contactor, and viola-they guessed right (this time). Sounds like they just decided to keep replacing parts until it was fixed, without diagnosing or troubleshooting, since you were paying the bill. :roll:
Replacing either of those should have been about $175-$200 tops.
I would definitely remember that company and never, ever recommend them to anyone!
If it was hot air it could have been a list of problems
Stuck heat sequencer
Reversing valve did not switch over for some reason. May be low voltage problem
If it was a 410a system and blowing room temperature air the scroll plates in the compressor may have separated. They do this to protect the compressor. They seal themselves back up within a few hours. And work properly. This is actually normal. If the compressor was running before you turned it to emergency heat it is very unlikely you caused a problem at all. Sounds like you did nothing wrong. The first problem I see is replacing the capacitor and the contractor sounds like throwing parts at it. If you didn’t see the contractor pitting. It was more than likely fine. If it were pitted you didn’t cause it. If the tech didn’t use a meter to check microfarads on The capacitor it was probably fine as well. And how in the world cod you have broke the capacitor in the first place. Makes no sense. Pal you didn’t break it. The truth is if you had left it off for a hour or two then turned it back on it would have been fine. I have 25 years of Hvac experience. And I’m a licensed Hvac contractor. Sorry pal you got taken.