Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Inside Blower Problem

I have a heat pump and this summer, I was having problems with the blower. The external unit would kick on, but the blower inside would not. So the line would freeze over. Now that we are in heating season, the same problem seems to be happening. The problem is that this is intermittent. Right now, I can't get the blower to turn on, even when I switch it from "auto" to "on."

Additionally, my condo is still under a home warranty. Of course, every time the service person would come out, the unit would work just fine... :wall: Anyway, after talking to the people and telling them what the problem was, they replaced the blower. It seemed like that solved the problem. But unfortunately it didn't.

I'm wondering if it is a bad thermostat? I have a Honeywell CT3611. Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially if you have experienced a similar type of problem.

One additional bit of info, I just switched it to Emergency Heat and it seems to be blowing properly.

we are having the exact same problem with our unit, if you figure out what the problem is could you please post it.

Thanks :confused:

falcon,

sounds like the switch , ie, auto-fan, on the thermostat is going to the wayside.
try to replace with the same type. you can go to the local hvac place like fergusons or cc dicksons and get what you need without being a contractor.
(at least in n.c.) a whole lot better selection and assistance. (hope the hvac contractors mafia is'nt reading this) also please note it could be a fan sequencer or a worn thermo wire lead in the wall. i've seen all these in describing your problem. hope some of this helps.

barry

Arrgh! So Since I was still under warranty, the guy came out to look at the unit. He didn't like how the inside unit was wired up, so he rearranged it, and BEAUTIFUL! It worked! For about two months! Then last week, same problem. Awful whining sound from the unit in the basement, the Thermostat shows that it should be on, but no air blowing! It is so frustrating...I'm going to try calling the guy to come out again, but I'm not too hopeful. The weird thing is, if I turn the system off after it won't blow, and then I turn the fan from Auto to On, the fan won't kick in either. But if it runs properly, and then I turn the fan from Auto to On, the blower kicks on just fine.


If he won't come out again (since my warranty is expired) I will try replacing the Thermostat. It's a Honeywell CT3611. I really don't need a programmable thermo, so I am thinking about going with just a regular analog thermo. Any suggestions? Will it be difficult to install myself? Thanks!

falcon,

please reread the last post i submitted 11/25/05 .
but when i answered that post you submitted
earlier it had nothing to do with a whining noise.
the work that was performed "under warranty"
and "rewiring" sounds a little fishy to me .
the whining noise that you may be hearing is a blower on the air handler
getting ready to die, meet it's maker,etc. and it would seem
to me that the tech just juiced it up with a lube
just to provide a quick fix.
i am now leaning toward a blower going to the bad instead
of a bad thermo. if you have to pay to have someone
come out Do Not have that co. even darken your door step.
there are a lot of post even within this whole website
that have had terrible experiences with people
doing work under warranty. it seems to me that they will
just jeery rig the system to get it running to make the customer
happy at the time. sorry for the rant and rave,
but some guys just give us guys who try to do a good
job a bad name. what i teach my people is that never, ever tell a lie,
if they don't know or can't figure out the problem, they will always
call a senior tech, they will never "engineer" a quick fix.
let me know whats up, and i hope some of this info has been
helpful.

barry

Thanks Barry...One problem though...In my first post, the first thing they did when I was having problems with this was replace the blower. So the blower is new.

I just have this feeling that there is something that maybe wrong with the thermo because consistently, every time I switch to emergency heat, it blows and heats without a problem. For some reason, inconsistently, the outside unit will kick on, and the blower will not. In the summer, the line going into the inside unit would freeze up because nothing was blowing the cold out of the unit. Now, the same line gets very hot when the blower doesn't kick on.

Considering the blower is new, the unit blows and heats fine when it is in emergency heat, and the problem is inconsistent, does that lean toward the thermostat being touchy and might need to be replaced?

The other consideration is that the system is about 7-8 years old. It is in a rehabed walk-up in Washington, DC (4 condo units in the building) and from what I have heard from one of the long-time owners in our building, the company that did the rehabilitation did a lot of stuff on the cheap (including the heat pump). It's a Goodman, and I have been told that it must have been one of their bottom-of-the-line models. The one long-time owner already replaced his entire Heat pump system.

One last comment, would there ever be an occassion, where the themostat would show the heat pump is "running" (i.e. the little flame icon is showing) and the blower unit is not running? I think the answer is no, because the last time the HVAC Warranty guy was here, and fiddled with it, it never did that until last week. Thanks!

You have a couple of possibilities. Your thermostat may be bad. When the fan switch is in the auto position, there is a connection between the Y and G terminals. Power on Y starts the heat pump. Power on G starts the blower. Power one and the other is powered. So, if it is the thermostat, there is a bad connection internally. The other possibility is the relay in the air handler. With power on G from the thermostat, the relays contacts close supplying power to the blower. This relay could be self contained or part of the printed circuit board. Also, there may be time delays involved which could affect it. All that said, you need a competent Tech to look at it. Good Luck. Oh I forgot. There are 3 kinds of Techs out there. One that is a parts changer and prays he has the right part. One that thinks his fingers are magic and rarely changes parts but gets it to work for awhile. One that correctly diagnoses the problem and fixes it the first time most of the time.

Capitol Falcon,

as always, i , agree with Mr. Thermofridge. this is a situation that needs attention from someone that you can trust. but like i posted 11-25-05
i did suggest that you look at the thermo and a possible replacement.
has the thermo been changed out and you are still are having the problem?
let us know,

barry

Barry and Thermo:

Thank you both very much for your assistance. I have not changed the thermostat, so I think I might pick up a non-digital thermostat and see if that corrects the problem.

One more question before I go and get a thermostat. I've been doing more reading about heat pumps and read about the defrost cycle. Can you tell me a little bit about the defrost cycle? Could it be possible that what I think is a malfunction is actually the system going into it's defrost cycle? Tonight, the heat pump "acted up" again, but I just let it run. It ran without blowing for about 10 minutes and then kicked off. Then about five minutes later, the whole system kicked back on (blower and all).

What I had read about the defrost cycle, it talks about how the air coming out may feel cool to the touch. Is it possible that my unit, when in the defrost cycle, does not blow? Again, thank you both for helping me out!

Scratch my "defrost cycle" thought...It just did the same thing again...

It sounds to me like either the thermostat or the indoor fan relay.Neither of which should be very expensive.

Ok...One other thing to add into the mix. Just today, I saw that the thermostat is showing that the Heat Pump is going into auxilary heat mode. It is definately too warm out for this to be happening. Does that point toward the thermostat again, or not?

And this just in, now the opposite appears to be happening. The Blower in the basement is running, but the outside unit might not be (it's on the roof).

Thanks. -Matt

I replaced the thermostat Yesterday. So far, everything is running properly. Hopefully this has done the trick... Thanks for everyone's help, especially you Barry.

capitalfalcon,

glad to hear that everything is working, and please don't hesitate to use this,and all the forums that this site provides.

barry

Well...Unfortunately, it wasn't the Thermostat. So I'll have to call a technician to come out and take a look and see what the issue is. Once I have found out what the problem is, I'll let you all know. Thanks.

Well...It looks like you all were right, yet again. The Tech came out and said that there was a little too much resistance in the fan delay switch (I may be paraphrasing) so he is replacing it. The best news is that since this has been an on-going issue, my Home Warranty is still going to pick-up the charge, even though the warranty has expired. HOPEFULLY this takes care of the issue. :thumbup: Thanks again for all those that gave me their $0.02 worth. I really appreciate it.