FREE HELP BOOKLET:
I sure hope this is a help to all who view and download it!
-Please call Jeff at 509-627-4459 for all your service needs! |
|
The intent of this booklet is to take the “VOO-DOO” OUT OF YOUR residential furnace, air conditioner or heat pump. The number of BAD technicians and scam artist is incredible and they have done irreparable damage to the credibility of the good people trying to make an honest living. Hopefully the information provided will enable you to make an informed evaluation of the need for a repairman and for work identified by your repairman. Within these pages you will find information that will describe the most common failures and the methods that you as a homeowner can use to prevent them!
First:
Let’s look at the components of you heating and air conditioning system.
You have a furnace or air handler, this may have electric heat elements, a gas burner (propane or natural) or an oil burner. If you have an air conditioning system, you will also have an indoor coil (like a radiator). This is a photo of an electric furnace; this one came from the scrap bin but it lets us see the parts. The triangular thing at the top with the pipe (copper color) is the A coil, the thing in the middle with the wires is the blower assembly; this houses the motor and typically the capacitor. The wires visible on the bottom left go to the electric heating elements and the internal breakers are on the bottom right. 
This furnace is pretty typical of a modern air handler/furnace. The different components can and will be in different spots depending on manufacturer.
If you have Air Conditioning you, will most likely have an outside unit, (very few of you will have a water cooled Condenser within your furnace.) This outside unit is called the condenser or in the case of a heat pump, the outside coil. You can recognize it as a large box with copper or aluminum pipes going all around it and fins of one type or another; in most cases it looks similar to a car radiator. It will also have a fan, either on the top or on the side. Once again this is from the scrap pile. Looks pretty new doesn’t it? This unit was installed as a replacement on and old furnace and A coil, the problem was the technician did not bother to clean the coil before he started the unit up. The plugged coil was the original problem and also the cause of this ones failure!
If you have either a condenser or a heat pump you will have a pair of copper lines connecting the furnace inside and the outside unit. These are a very important part of the equipment package; they carry the refrigerant (commonly referred to as Freon) from the indoor coil to the outside unit. In the pictures below you can see the beginning of the pipe at the left on the outside coil and the end in the right coil on the indoor coil.
See the connections going to either side of the big caps? These are Schrader valves, where the tech hooks up his gages. They are a primary leak source. Make sure your tech uses a THREAD SEALANT! This will be a great help in making sure they DON’T LEAK!
The Thermostat, (you know, the thing on the wall that turns everything on or off). Here is a picture of one.
The filter, it may be housed in the furnace or in a return vent, if you can’t find one YOU NEED TO HAVE ONE INSTALLED BY A LEGITIMATE CONTRACTOR! This is a picture of a return air filter grille (one of my preferences) they hinge on one side and the filter (visible as the shiny metal behind the louvers) goes inside. 
These not only keep the furnace clean but also the duct going to it. The cost of this is about $40.00. Well that pretty well covers the equipment used in making your home or office Comfortable all year round! Knowing this, you now have the tools to start identifying these components around your own home. This is the first and probably the most Important part of what you are going to learn from this book.
The real PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE required by all of these components is keeping them CLEAN! In the next segments I will tell and show you how to and what, to clean. The reason you need to keep everything clean basically boils down to life span of the equipment. If, your like me (and most of the people I perform this service for) you don’t like unexpected bills (like the air conditioner cr—ing out! Which always happens when you need it the most and, as luck will have it, everybody else’s has to, so you have to wait a week for a tech. Now, I am not saying that by following these steps you can eliminate equipment failure, but you can reduce the possibility and in many cases solve the problem without a technician.
Filters inspect and change them regularly! If your filter is dirty, change it! A dirty filter can cause no end of trouble, reduced airflow, freezing of indoor coil and possibly compressor failure. Pay attention here! The number of times I go out and the fix is to replace a filter would amaze you! And cost you an average of $65.00 to do something you can do yourself.
The furnace or air handler (the thing with the fan that moves the air in the house) first, TURN THE POWER OFF TO THE EQUIPMENT! Remove the cover and look inside, you will see a bunch of weird stuff with wires. Are they dusty or dirty? If they are, clean them (a vacuum with a brush is the most common tool used for this). If the inside is really dirty a can of Electrical contact cleaner (available at your local hardware store in the electrical section) will do a good job of loosening the dirt so you can wipe it off with towel. You can also spray all of the electrical connections (where the wires connect to all the weird stuff) this will remove oxidation from these parts and keep the electricity flowing. Furnaces stopped because of loose wires or dirty connections probably amount to 30% of my winter work. The number of techs who recommend replacement of equipment because of this would bother you.
The following pictures show me (and my trusty vacuum and wire brush) and how to clean the indoor coil. Dirty coils are probably the highest cause of compressor failure.
Cleaning a coil with a wire brush
cleaning with a vacuum and brush
Some guys will tell you not to use a wire brush, but in a lot of cases it is the only way to get the crud off. The Blast-A-Coil on the left is sometimes very effective however it has a strong solvent smell that can take hours to get out of the house.
The indoor coil. You can locate this by looking for the copper pipes. Hopefully you have a box with the front screwed on, if not, you will have to open the metal box possibly by cutting a hole or bending back the Pittsburg seam lock. Once you have it exposed you need to identify which way the air moves through it. Look at your supply registers, the air will move through the coil toward the registers. Inspect the coil, if you see light dust/dirt on the air side, vacuum it using the brush. If it is really dirty a wire brush will work, draw it down the coil in the direction of the fins (like brushing hair) a brass bristle pot scrubbing brush works well.
The outdoor coil is easy to clean. If it has louvers that hide the coil you will have to take those panels off to see the coil, if it has a visible coil you can go right to work. FIRST, TURN OF THE ELECTRICITY! Next grab your garden hose and pointing at a 45’ angle down wash it off. If there is a lot of dirt build up you can make a concoction of liquid dishwashing soap and water and pour, spray, brush, whatever, it onto the coil let it sit for 10-15 minutes then hose it off. Use care not to get the electrical portion wet or you must wait for it to dry before turning it back on. This picture shows me (nice legs huh!) simulating washing the outdoor unit. If I really was, water would be coming out of the hose.
TROUBLESHOOTING
I will attempt to provide a (do this) chart, if these steps don’t work you will need to call a technician. Hope fully you will have a good idea of what is actually wrong so you won’t get screwed!
PROBLEM |
FIX |
FREEZING UP (YOU WIL FIRST NOTICE THIS AT THE PIPES LEAVING THE FURNACE, YOUR AIR FLOW WILL PROBALLY ALSO BE AFFECTED) |
1.CHECK FILTER, REPLACE AS NECESSARY 2.INSPECT THE INDOOR COIL, CLEAN AS NECESSARY 3. INSPECT THE OUTDOOR UNIT, CLEAN AS NECESSARY4. Is the blower motor running?5. CALL A TECHNICIAN TO LEAK CHECK AND RECHARGE or replace the blower motor. |
NO AIR COMING FROM THE SUPPLY REGISTERS AND THE FAN IS RUNNING |
FOLLOW FREEZING UP FIX |
NO AIR COMING FROM THE SUPPLY REGISTERS AND THE FAN IS NOT RUNNING |
CHECK THERMOSTAT, MAKE SURE IT IS ON! CHECK BREAKERS/FUSES, RESET OR REPLACE AS NECESSARY (REMEMBER WITH A BREAKER IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO PUSH IT AL THE WAY TO THE OFF POSITION BEFORE IT WILL RESET. |
BREAKER OR FUSE BLOWS AS SOON AS THEY ARE REPLACED OR RESET |
CALL A TECHNICIAN |
ELECTRIC HEATNO HEAT, FAN RUNNING, THERMOSTAT IS SET FOR HEAT |
CALL A TECHNICIAN |
HEAT PUMP NO HEAT, FAN RUNNINGTHERMOSTAT IS SET FOR HEAT |
CHECK OUTDOOR UNIT IS IT RUNNING? IF NOT CHECK THE FUSES OR BREAKERSIF IT IS RUNNING FEEL THE PIPES COMING FROM THE UNIT, BOTH SHOULD FEEL HOT! IF THEY DON’T YOU ARE LOW ON REFRIGERANT (FREON) CHARGE AND NEED A TECHNICIAN.IF THEY ARE HOT CHECK THE FILTER CLEAN/REPLACE AS NECESSARY. IF THE FILTER IS CLEAN YOU NEED TO CHECK/CLEAN THE INDOOR COIL |
|
ELECTRIC FURNACENOT COOLING, FAN RUNNING, THERMOSTAT SET FOR COOLING. AIRFLOW IS GOOD THROUGH THE REGISTERS |
CHECK THE OUTDOR UNIT, IS IT RUNNING? IF NOT CHECK THE FUSES/BREAKERS REPLACE/RESET AS NECESSARY. IF IT IS RUNNING FEEL THE PIPES THE BIG ONE SHOULD BE COLD TO TOUCH (40’ OR SO) THE SMALL ONE SHOULD BE HOT! IF THEY A LUKE WARM CHECK THE UNIT TO SEE IF IT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED, CLEAN AS NECESSARY. IF THIS DOESN’T WORK YOU PROBALLY NEED A RECHARGE OF REFRIGERANT, CALL A TECHNICIAN |
HEAT PUMPNOT COOLING, FAN RUNNING THERMOSTAT SET FOR COOLING, AIRFLOW AT REGISTERS IS GOOD |
SAME AS FOR ELECTRIC FURNACE |
OUT DOOR UNIT EITHER HEAT PUMP OR AIR CONDITIONER NOT RUNNING |
CHECK THE THERMOSTAT, MAKE SURE IT IS SET FOR EITHER COOLING OR HEAT AND THAT THE OUTDOOR UNIT SHOULD BE RUNNING. CHECK THE FUSES OR BREAKERS, REMEMBER TO CHECK BOTH PLACES THE PANEL IN THE HOUSE AND THERE MAY ALSO BE A “DISCONNECT” WITH FUSES OR BREAKERS BY, THE UNIT, THIS IS NORMALLY A SMALL GRAY BOX AT THE END OF THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION FROM THE OUTSIDE UNIT WHERE THE WIRE MEETS THE WALL. |
OUT DOOR UNIT COMPRESSOR RUNNING (MOTOR RUNNING INSIDE, THE SMALL PIPE WILL BE HOT AND THE BIG ONE COLD) FAN MOTOR NOT RUNNING |
CALL A TECHNICIAN |
OUT DOOR UNIT, FAN RUNNING COMPRESSOR NOT ( THE PIPES ARE SAME TEMPERATURE AS THE OUTSIDE AIR) |
CALL A TECHNICIAN |
FURNACE OR OUTDOOR UNIT CONTINUES TO THROW BREAKERS OR BLOW OUT FUSES AS SOON AS THEY ARE REPLACED |
CALL A TECHNICIAN |
Here is a picture of a blown capacitor, the older ones commonly have a (rupture disc) a small hole with a fiber insert, when they blow off white sandy looking stuff will blow out of it and sometimes cover the whole thing. The new ones will just swell up the top like the picture below. Capacitors are relatively inexpensive a dual like this one will cost $30.00 to $40.00 bucks. Dual Caps provide starting for both the fan and the compressor, they are marked on top HERM, FAN, and COMMON.
A single cap will not have any markings and does not matter which wire you hook to which terminal. Caps are available in 370 or 440 volts it is best to match voltage but if necessary either will normally work.
Next, we have what is called a hard start capacitor, these are commonly used if your compressor checks out ok electrically the original capacitor is ok but it won’t start. They provide a big bang of electricity to get things moving.
Available at your local supply house for around $30.00.
This is a picture of a defrost control board for a heat pump. This is the heart of the heat pump system (I will go into diagnostics in my advanced booklet for the guy who uses a multi-meter cost is about $125.00 to $300.00.
Here, we have a picture of a CONTACTOR; this is nothing more then an electro-magnet controlled switch that turns everything on when the thermostat tells it to.
This is a picture of the entire control area of a heat pump showing the capacitor, contactor and defrost board.
This one is a close up of the blower assembly. The thing on the front in the metal box with the wires going to it is the capacitor, normally they are held on with a strap.
These confusing bunch of wires go to the heating elements and the fan control relay. Remember if a tech comes out the fan relay cost him about $25.00 and new re-string kits for the heat elements cost about $15.00. If he is charging much more then this he is a rip off! Remember POWER OFF, vacuum, wipe as necessary. Contact cleaner will de-oxidize and prevent problems resulting from poor contact!
This picture is what happens when you don’t KEEP your equipment CLEAN! The first one is of my son Henry and my cousin Gary scraping out a condensing unit. They are smiling because they get paid $40.00 to haul them off and then they sell them as scrap!
If You follow these simple steps your equipment will have the best chance for an extended life that can be had. Hopefully you don’t have any problems but when you do, please remember who told you how to care for your equipment and Jeff at Advanced Construction Services for your repairs!
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Sincerely,
Jeff Rau
Henry and Gary (smiling) turning YOUR equipment into THEIR money!
