Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - Rheem Heat Pump

This is my mothers heat and am tryin to describe it as best as I can from her description.

This is a Rheem heat pump Model No. RQMA-A030JK. The outside unit is freezing up and the aux is running also (from what the tstat is saying). I noticed that the outside unit was freezing up before but thought this was normal from some of the readings in the past. Now she is saying that there is a noise hapening outside and I have yet to hear it so can not give any info on this. I am guessing the unit is less then 9 yrs old since it was MFG in 04/98 but have no clue as to when it was installed. The temp outside today was around 55 degrees and there was still chunks of ice inside the outside unit with it not running for about 10 hrs. She has been using a electric heater for now so the unit is not running and causing any damage. Any info would be appreciated or wha I should be looking for. Thanks in advance.

Should be some frost, but not a chunk of ice at 55˚ outside.

Sounds like there is defrost control issues. Does the frost clear away when switch from Heat to Cool?

Not sure I am heading over her house tomarrow and will have more info. I am just trying to get a heads up on what I should be looking for at the moment. Btw should the outside unit still frost up with the AUX heat running? I am not sure if this is happening but I am guessing it is.

Yes, the Aux heat will come one in a few ways.

-Temp is falling behind inside (Frosted coil won't heat well)

-When the system goes into defrost.. (Depends on how it's wired up)

Post back when you return back.

oldtimer,

if your description is accurate, sounds like a refrigerant leak.

Post back and let us know what tech finds.

I assume air filter is changed out on a regular basis.

TD

Sorry things have gotten a little hecktic here and have not really had the time. So far everything seems to function properly correctly for the most part. From what she has said the outside unit freezes up from the rain or moisture. Right now at the moment I am at her house and I check to see if anything was visually wrong and everything sounded and looked ok. I guess it is possible that there could have been a leak that caused a freeze but she does not want me to turn on the AC right now LOL. I guess my question right now would be should the coils condensor freeze up with the fan running outside with the rain with a outside temp at about 45 or so causing the AUX heat to run or could this be another problem?

BTW filters do get changed on a reg basis.

I am new to this so please forgive me if I am intruding. I have a Rheem Heatpump that all of a sudden is not running the outside fan while heat is on. I only seem to be getting the inside airhandler moving air.

We recently had a snow ice storm and I saw the fan blades had frozen to the casing with build up of ice. To me that says the blades were not turning during the storm. I have noticed a lack of warmth recently at odds with last winter when everything was toasty. The breakers both at the box and the cutoff seem to be ok (not tripped). Is there some self diagnostics I can do or is there a reset button on the motor unit itself that I can try to get the outside fan going?

oldtimer
At 45o out side NO the unit cant freeze up. Now if the heatpump is not working right and cant heat the home. Then the AUX can turn on to help heat the home. Then shut off with the outdoor unit still running.


Tejano452 You do have to check that the condenser fan does runs. If not get it fixed. Dont run the heatpump with out that fan .;) If you dont know electric Id say call a tech

For the last two winters when North Texas ice storms went over us our outside components of the heat pump system accumulated ice and froze up. Is this caused by some component failing or by the need to block sleet and ice from hitting the heat exchanger?

Is there a way to place a piece of metal over the heat exchanger input far enough away to avoid restricting air flow but close enough to avoid build up in the heat exchanger itself.

If I were you, if there is an ice storm going on, I'd shut the heat pump off, and switch the t-stat to emergency heat (electric) heat till the storm has passed.

When the storm has passed, go out to the unit and check for ice, if there is ice, run the unit in A/C mode to clear off the ice, and be sure the water/ice is away from the unit before switching over back to heat pump.

My first instinct is you have a leak. Those outdoor temps will not cause frost - you generally need to be at or below 40F for that to start happening and it is also dependent on outdoor humidity.

Clean the filter and see if the system will run in A/C mode.
If you're afraid to run the system, get a tech to check things out.