Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - fan motor acting up ?

I have a heat pump that heats the upstairs portion of my house. On occasion I will come home or I will wake up in the middle of the night and hear the unit in the attic running, and the unit outside, but the fan will not be blowing air. I have let it run for 5 or so min. on occasion to see if it would work itself out, but it never would. So to correct the problem, I would go to the thermostat and switch the unit from heat to off and then back to heat after a few min. I do not know if the fan cut out in the middle of a heating cycle, or if it just never started up at all when the unit itself came on. This does not occur very often, maybe 3-4 times this winter so for. Maybe more and I am not there to correct the problem and it finally shuts off and corrects itself. Anyone ever heard of a similar occurrence or have any suggestions on what I may be able to check myself to correct the problem without have to consult a professional. As a side note, it does seem to happen when the weather is colder outside. Not that the temp would have anything to do with it, but that the longer run cycles may? Any suggestions?

I don't understand what you would be hearing in the attic if it were not the fan. Can you give us any more information? Is the duct work in the attic flexible by any chance?

I'm confused to. If you're hearing it run and it's not blowing air something is fishy.

I think that the unit I have is a ?split unit?, if that is right. Part of the unit is outside and the rest is located upstairs in the attic of the 2 story house. So when the unit runs, I can hear the portion that is in the attic running if I am upstairs. Does this sound right?

Do you have any air comeing out of the registers in the upstairs when you hear this noise. Is the air filter clean in the unit. Will the fan turn on when you go to fan on at the tstat Does the out side unit compressor and fan run?
We need info info here so we can try and help you.

ED :confused:

Which fan are you talking about the indoor fan or the outdoor fan?
The indoor fan blows hopefully warm air inside.
The outdoor fan blows cold air outside and when the unit is in defrost mode will turn off and then start up again. It does this when it has run for a long time and the coil has sensed that it is cold enough.

The blower fan is the one that has the problem occasionally. When the problem occures, the unit in the attic and the outside unit will be running but the blower fan does not run and there is no air comming out of the registers. I do not know if it does not start up at all when the tstate kicks the unit on or if it cuts out sometime during its cycle. The fan/unit outside seems to be working fine along with the unit in the attic, its just the blower portion of the unit that blows the hot air through the registers that seems to have the problem on occasion. As another side note, the last time it occured, I had turned the tstate down a few degrees for the unstairs cause it was a little to warm for my blood. A day or 2 later when the blower fan was not working, I cut the unit off completely and cut it back on and moved the tstate back to its origional position and have not had a problem with it since. I hope this makes since. The air filters are clean, I replace them on a regular basis. I have not switched the unit to the fan on position at the tstate. Since I have been able to just switch the unit off and back on again and have it operate properly, I have not tried the unit in the fan only mode. Thanks for the replys and help.

When its on and no blower. Will the fan turn on at the tstat with the fan on switch??

ED ;)

I ahve not tried that. The next time that it acts up I will give that a try and see what it does. if it does come on, would this be pointing at a specific problem?

We are trying to find out if its like in the fan motor there or is it in a relay or control.

ED ;)

Gotcha. It has still been running fine with no problems. It will probably die the next time that the weather gets cold as heck.